CROSSFIELD, Alta. – If it walks, crawls or flies, it’s possible to track an animal or bird with a microchip embedded somewhere in its body.
That kind of technology is under investigation as a way to identify beef animals as they grow from wobbly legged calves to animals in the slaughter house.
Doreen Tischer of AVID Canada, which manufactures identification chips for domestic and wild animals, sees placing chips in a rumen bolus as a way to end the problem of anonymous steers.
It can also end human error in tracing animals, said Tischer.
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The number and letter codes encoded into the microchips create billions of combinations. The bolus can also be reused. The used numbers would be out of use for awhile after the animal is slaughtered, and then returned to the owner.
Researchers at Agriculture Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre are studying the system.
A bolus with an embedded microchip is sent into an animal’s rumen with a bolus gun where it remains until someone removes it. The bolus, made of a ceramic material with plastic ends, is heavy enough that once it settles into the rumen, it can’t be regurgitated.
Beef researcher Tim McAllister said the system has potential, but as with all identification systems, producers must put the data to practical use.
“If you are going to collect data, you have to use it to make decisions,” he said.
A microchip in the bolus carries a number and codes that identify the country, owner and animal.
It has a transponder activated by an external antenna that sends the signal to a decoder. From there a producer can obtain a computer readout showing everything from health status to the animal’s family tree.
“The sky’s the limit,” sad McAllister.
The broadcast time is 39 milliseconds, so a successful reading is possible even if an animal races through a chute. A success rate of 100 percent in more than 1,000 reads in feedlot heifers was achieved at the research centre.
At Lethbridge, an antenna was attached to a wooden panel on a cattle chute where the animals passed.
Studies showed the bolus was sturdy enough to survive in the animals’ rumen intact with only some discoloration.
Researchers recovered 79 percent of the boli at the slaughter house but feel this could improve by reminding staff to be more careful when removing them from the stomach contents.
The boli can also be introduced to young calves with pill pliers.
Ideally, it is hoped animals can carry their numbers beyond slaughter, till the carcass is split. Further research is needed to link electronic identification with the hook holding the carcass so it can be traced back to that number to determine carcass quality.
The bolus has other advantages. It is good for health traceback or research purposes to measure rumen temperature or catch subclinical acidosis before the condition goes too far.
