Projektnummer: 26.15.17.01.03_PhysioBovini
PhysioBovini: Physiologische Vorteile, Risiken und Bewertung von Rindern in graslandbasierten Systemen
The PhysioBovini project addresses the physiological benefits, risks and evaluation of dairy and beef cattle in herbage-based systems, aiming to enhance health, welfare, and sustainability. It addresses key nutritional challenges, including energy deficits resulting from low-energy, high-protein diets, gastrointestinal health issues related to subacute ruminal acidosis (SARA), hindgut acidosis and the dietary inclusion of former-food products. Stress and behavioral physiology are also examined to improve welfare assessment. The project’s core approach involves developing innovative, non-invasive measurement techniques such as breath, feces and urine analyses, metabolomic profiling, behavior analysis, and machine learning to enable early detection of metabolic imbalances before clinical symptoms emerge, to identify metabolomic profiles related to adaptation capacity/resilience, and to detect stress. It also evaluates performance, productivity, and product quality to achieve a holistic understanding. PhysioBovini contributes to efforts for One-Quality and One-Welfare concepts by aligning animal health and welfare with sustainable food production.