Brushing away bovine stress

K-State collaboration results in cattle stress relief product that could increase reproduction rates.

By Bret Lanz

A new product that reduces animal stress could be the key to increasing artificial insemination rates in cattle. Kansas State University’s Technology Development Institute, or TDI, collaborated with faculty in the College of Agriculture to design, produce and test the product.

Assistant Professor Nicholas Wege Dias and Professor Sandy Johnson, both in K-State’s animal science and industry department, specialize in beef cattle reproduction and have been involved in several projects designed to improve the fertility of the animal. Their initial studies indicated that acclimating the animals to their surroundings during the artificial insemination, or AI, process reduced animal stress and increased reproduction by up to 10%.

“Once we saw the benefits of getting animals acquainted with the facilities on AI success, we began to think about adoptable strategies to promote positive reinforcement during handling,” Dias said. “You often see cow brushes and how the animals enjoy rubbing against them on social media, so we thought, ‘Let’s come up with a way to place a cow brush in the alleyway so the animals can enjoy themselves while they wait their turn.'”

Their goal was to position a brush in the center of the alley just below bovine head height so the animals could rub their backs with the brush to reduce stress.

While Dias and Johnson had an idea of what they wanted, they needed help to design and fabricate a device that could be installed on any type or size of chute and that was able to withstand the force generated by the animals. Dias and Johnson contacted the Technology Development Institute to discuss the idea and determine if the institute could help develop a prototype product for testing.

TDI engineers and interns began working on various designs that could easily be installed on chutes made of wood, pipe or any number of materials. The device had to be adjustable in height due to differences in wall and animal heights, and it also needed to be able to adjust to sloped alley walls. TDI developed various concept designs and, with feedback from Dias and Johnson, finalized the design.

The team then fabricated two prototype devices that are currently being used by Dias and his students to determine the effectiveness of having such devices included during the AI process.

“We always enjoy working with industry experts who can clearly define their needs,” said Bret Lanz, commercialization director of the Technology Development Institute. “This simplifies our job to create a product specification and design a new product that meets the needs of our customers. Nicholas and his team have been great to work with, and we are hopeful that this new tool will help to aid in their studies and perhaps have a large impact on the cattle industry.”

K-State’s Technology Development Institute in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering is a U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration University Center and received a grant from the Research and Entrepreneurship Federal Matching Grant Dollars Fund. TDI provides a broad range of engineering and business development services to both private industry and university researchers to advance the commercial readiness of new products or technologies.