How are BioThermo Microchips Different to Rectal Temperatures?
Temperature reading microchips give a different measurement of rectal temperature.
The microchips, if correctly placed, give a reading much closer to core body temperature and are therefore more sensitive.
Being able to measure body temperature without contact with the animal offers several advantages.
The number of staff required is decreased.
The animal is not touched so the need for hand washing, disinfectant wipes etc for staff is reduced.
Disease is not passed on by thermometers or faecal contamination on staff clothing.
Measuring a temperature with a microchip is contactless and safe.
This allows more frequent temperature monitoring.
Most farms using the microchips check temperatures at least twice a day if not three times.
How does EquiTrace help with monitoring and how does it help with bio security?
The EquiTrace app plots these readings onto individual temperature graphs allowing a trend and fever ‘spikes’ to be very quickly identified.
Once an abnormality is detected the animal can be isolated and fully examined.
As well as detecting disease this more frequent accurate temperature monitoring has been used to detect impending foaling, ovulation, heat stress in competition and thermal comfort of animals in very cold environments e.g. commercial farms in Canada.
Farms report that animals developing disease have demonstrated a change in their temperature graph two days before any other clinical signs.
These changes were within the ‘normal range’ and without the EquiTrace App would not have been identified as abnormal. With the App foals could be isolated early preventing disease spread.