Capitals = Areas of Future Potential Study
What to watch
You’ll see it on your own cows before you measure it.
Each test cow wears a bright green sleeve, on purpose. Set her Behaviour against the penmates you picked to match her, on the round you already make. Give her a week. This page sets out the 5 moments to look, and what to look for at each.
Recorded on working US dairies, 2014–2017. Captions cover the narration and the founder.
Start with the green sleeve
Bright green, on purpose.
Anyone walking the pen can pick out the test cows at a glance. Set each one beside the penmate chosen to match her: same pen, same stage, the same day. Each cow is the other’s baseline.
What it is
A wearable neurostimulation device
Worn on the outside for about 3 weeks after calving. At the times you decide, between milkings, it prompts her to get up. She goes to the feed barrier, more often and for longer, and her intake rises with it.
She is in the fresh pen with every other cow that calved this week, moved and regrouped, at the point in her year when she has least to spare. A cow short of energy hangs back, and moves less. That is what you are watching change.
When to look · 5 moments
Green sleeve against penmate, on the round you already make.
None of these needs an extra trip. Each is a moment that is already part of the farm’s day. Give her a week; 2 weeks is the outer edge.
These are things to watch, not things we’ve measured on your farm. You see it first; your pedometers and collars, boluses, pen cameras, parlour meters and herd software then measure it.
What you can watch
In the order a stockman notices it.
Every observation is the green-sleeve cow against the penmate picked to match her, in the same pen, at the same moment. Beside each one: the vet’s or herd manager’s own account from the farms that used it, and the research where it exists.
At the prompt time
Up, and on her feet
She gets up and moves, while her matched penmate stays lying down.
she gets up and moves around
Dr Kerry McGehee, Veterinarian · the solution, step 3 of 4
Straight after
To the feed barrier first
She heads for the feed barrier.
The first thing a cow usually does is go to the feed trough and eat an extra bite of feed.
Dr Kerry McGehee, Veterinarian · the solution, step 3 of 4
At the barrier
Staying longer
More time at the barrier than her penmate, visit after visit: an extra meal between milkings.
get her up and get her to go to the feed trough and eat an extra meal
Dr Kerry McGehee, Veterinarian · the film, 2:15 · Feeding time changed most consistently ahead of disorders: González et al. 2008 · UK
Between milkings
Chewing her cud
Lying down chewing her cud while her penmate stands idle.
a lot more cud chewing
Jeremy Setters, Herd Manager · the film, 4:15 · Rumination in the 21 days after calving was lowest in the cows whose Milk fell furthest below prediction: Kemel et al. 2025 · Netherlands and Belgium
In the pen
From the back to the front
A fresh cow hanging back at the rear of the pen moving to the middle, then up to the front.
You’ll notice them start moving towards the middle of the pen, then they’d be up in the front
Jeremy Setters, Herd Manager · the film, 3:22 · his observation, not measured
On the walk to the parlour
Among the first in
Her place in the line at milking, week on week.
the first ones to come in
Jeremy Setters, Herd Manager · the film, 3:22 · his observation, not measured
Speakers in the 2014–2017 films are quoted in their own words and named; our own words on this page follow UK rules.
Watch it for yourself
2 cows, 2 sleeves, 15 minutes apart.
Before anyone tells you what they saw, the film shows it: 2 cows wearing devices in pink and green sleeves, with prompting scheduled 15 minutes apart. Watch which cow goes to the feed, and when. Sleeve colours told the cows apart during development; on a UK trial, every test cow wears bright green.
Other wearables measure what cows do.DMI Impact changes what cows do.
The pedometers and collars, boluses, cameras, parlour meters and herd software you already run are what show the change, down to the minute she gets up.
The science, step by step
How it works, in full.
How the device prompts her, the 4 decisions that are yours, and how it goes on, step by step, with its own film.
The evidence behind this page · 3 sources
This page sets out what to watch. The vet’s and herd manager’s accounts are their own words from US dairies, not measured trials; the research beside them is published and held in full.
- González LA, Tolkamp BJ, Coffey MP, Ferret A, Kyriazakis I (2008) Changes in feeding behavior as possible indicators for the automatic monitoring of health disorders in dairy cows. J Dairy Sci · UK · doi.org/10.3168/jds.2007-0530
- Kemel C et al. (2025) Association of artificial intelligence-predicted milk yield residuals to behavioral patterns and transition success in multiparous dairy cows. J Dairy Sci · Netherlands and Belgium · doi.org/10.3168/jds.2024-26134
- DMI Impact film: What to Watch, and When (2026): the 5 moments to look, the vet’s and herd manager’s accounts, and the lab demonstration, as filmed on US dairies, 2014–2017.
Next · What your kit measures
What your own kit records of what you saw.
Not a test of you: a check on what you have already seen, read from the kit you already own.
What your kit measures → Apply for a free trial →