Free-ranging cows at Biebrza Marshes

A herd of thirty semi-free grazing dairy cows was studied with GPS telemetry in 2016. The cows were followed across whole grazing season: from 27th April till last day of October. GPS logger (Holux RCV-3000) with a waterproof coating was attached to a collar on one of the cow’s necks. The logger was taken off, charged and mounted once, on average, at 1.6 days intervals and acquired data at 1-minute intervals. GPS data were collected on 119 out of 187 days of grazing season. The whole herd moved together, therefore it was only necessary to follow one animal. During that time adult cows where not supplementary fed. They were also not milked by the farmer but instead nursed their calfs. The cows were released around 5:50 am from a private farm, where they headed out on their own to foraging sites in the wetland of Biebrza National Park. They were later led back to the farm by a farmer about 4:30 pm.
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