OptiScore - Applying new electronic sensors to create animal condition scoring protocols for the automated measurement of health and welfare traits for use in sustainable organic dairy cow breeding programs

Accelerometers can be used to identifiy activity. Depending on the part of the body where the sensors are attached, walking or lying as well as head movements can be recorded.

Background and Objective

Functional traits are an important part of the breeding goal to increase the lifetime of dairy cows. The monthly animal recording provides data concerning milk yield, milk composition and - indirectly - udder health and metabolic status of a cow. These data are used in the estimation of breeding values. However, other information, e. g. lameness scores, are not available on such a regular base. The project focused on these readings. Accelerometers, which offer the opportunity to record the activity and resting behaviour directly on the animal, were evaluated with regard to other applications. We tried to monitor the grazing behaviour of cows.

Approach

In repeated studies, direct observations on pasture were compared with the signals recorded by the sensors. Accelerometers were attached either with a halter around the neck or hanging on a neckband. Algorithms were developed to differentiate between grazing and other head-neck-movements. In another experiment, the sensitivity and specificity of algorithms and sensors were evaluated.

Repe

Results

The tested accelerometers (IceTag3D, IceRobotics Ltd., UK) can - on principle – be used to record grazing behaviour of dairy cows and distinguish grazing from other head-neck-movements. However, sensitivity and specificity of sensors and algorithms have to be improved before the system might be used to automatically monitor grazing behaviour in dairy cows.

Links and Downloads

www.optiscore.eu

Duration

1.2007 - 12.2010

Thünen-Contact

• Barth, Kerstin Institute of Organic Farming

Involved external Thünen-Partners

• Aahrus University
  (Tjele, Dänemark)
• Wageningen University
  (Wageningen, Niederlande)
• Slovak Agricultural University
  (Nitra, Slowakei)
• Agricultural Research Organization (ARO)
  (Bet Dagan, Israel)
• SRUC
  (Edinburgh, Großbritannien (Vereinigtes Königreich))
• University of Ljubljana
  (Ljubljana, Slowenien)

Funding Body

• European Union (EU)
  (international, öffentlich)

Duration

1.2007 - 12.2010

More Information

Projekt type:
Funding program: EU - Marie Curie Action
Project status: finished

hits: 1