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23 pages, 4313 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Behavioural Responses of Beef Cattle to Hot Conditions

by Musadiq Idris, Megan Sullivan, John B. Gaughan and Clive J. C. Phillips

Animals 2024, 14(16), 2444; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14162444 - 22 Aug 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 604

Abstract

Cattle are increasingly exposed to hot temperatures as a result of climate change, and a better understanding of behavioural responses could be beneficial for the diagnosis of heat loads. The changes in the positioning of key body parts, feeding behaviour, body maintenance, and [...] Read more.

Cattle are increasingly exposed to hot temperatures as a result of climate change, and a better understanding of behavioural responses could be beneficial for the diagnosis of heat loads. The changes in the positioning of key body parts, feeding behaviour, body maintenance, and respiratory dynamics were assessed in 24 Black Angus steers individually exposed to hot conditions and fed a finisher diet based on cereal grain or a substituted diet (8% of the grain replaced by an isoenergetic amount of lucerne hay). Increased respiration rate during the heat load period, compared to the recovery period, was associated with increased stepping, especially by left limbs. Cattle also reduced eating, grooming, and scratching during the heat load period. The lowered head, backward ear, vertical or raised tail, and increased respiration rate and panting persisted in cattle during the heat load period. Cattle on the cereal grain diet stood for longer and were more likely to hold their ears backward and tail vertical than those on the substituted diet. We conclude that these behaviours could be used to detect animals that are most affected and that changing from a cereal-based diet to a substituted diet containing a higher amount of fibre, such as lucerne hay, can reduce hyperthermic behavioural responses to a heat load. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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15 pages, 1271 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Goats on the Move: Evaluating Machine Learning Models for Goat Activity Analysis Using Accelerometer Data

by Arthur Hollevoet, Timo De Waele, Daniel Peralta, Frank Tuyttens, Eli De Poorter and Adnan Shahid

Animals 2024, 14(13), 1977; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14131977 - 4 Jul 2024

Viewed by 772

Abstract

Putting sensors on the bodies of animals to automate animal activity recognition and gain insight into their behaviors can help improve their living conditions. Although previous hard-coded algorithms failed to classify complex time series obtained from accelerometer data, recent advances in deep learning [...] Read more.

Putting sensors on the bodies of animals to automate animal activity recognition and gain insight into their behaviors can help improve their living conditions. Although previous hard-coded algorithms failed to classify complex time series obtained from accelerometer data, recent advances in deep learning have improved the task of animal activity recognition for the better. However, a comparative analysis of the generalizing capabilities of various models in combination with different input types has yet to be addressed. This study experimented with two techniques for transforming the segmented accelerometer data to make them more orientation-independent. The methods included calculating the magnitude of the three-axis accelerometer vector and calculating the Discrete Fourier Transform for both sets of three-axis data as the vector magnitude. Three different deep learning models were trained on this data: a Multilayer Perceptron, a Convolutional Neural Network, and an ensemble merging both called a hybrid Convolutional Neural Network. Besides mixed cross-validation, every model and input type combination was assessed on a goat-wise leave-one-out cross-validation set to evaluate its generalizing capability. Using orientation-independent data transformations gave promising results. A hybrid Convolutional Neural Network with

L^{2}

-norm as the input combined the higher classification accuracy of a Convolutional Neural Network with the lower standard deviation of a Multilayer Perceptron. Most of the misclassifications occurred for behaviors that display similar accelerometer traces and minority classes, which could be improved in future work by assembling larger and more balanced datasets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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21 pages, 1909 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Classification of Behaviour in Conventional and Slow-Growing Strains of Broiler Chickens Using Tri-Axial Accelerometers

by Justine Pearce, Yu-Mei Chang, Dong Xia and Siobhan Abeyesinghe

Animals 2024, 14(13), 1957; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14131957 - 2 Jul 2024

Viewed by 898

Abstract

Behavioural states such as walking, sitting and standing are important in indicating welfare, including lameness in broiler chickens. However, manual behavioural observations of individuals are often limited by time constraints and small sample sizes. Three-dimensional accelerometers have the potential to collect information on [...] Read more.

Behavioural states such as walking, sitting and standing are important in indicating welfare, including lameness in broiler chickens. However, manual behavioural observations of individuals are often limited by time constraints and small sample sizes. Three-dimensional accelerometers have the potential to collect information on animal behaviour. We applied a random forest algorithm to process accelerometer data from broiler chickens. Data from three broiler strains at a range of ages (from 25 to 49 days old) were used to train and test the algorithm, and unlike other studies, the algorithm was further tested on an unseen broiler strain. When tested on unseen birds from the three training broiler strains, the random forest model classified behaviours with very good accuracy (92%) and specificity (94%) and good sensitivity (88%) and precision (88%). With the new, unseen strain, the model classified behaviours with very good accuracy (94%), sensitivity (91%), specificity (96%) and precision (91%). We therefore successfully used a random forest model to automatically detect three broiler behaviours across four different strains and different ages using accelerometers. These findings demonstrated that accelerometers can be used to automatically record behaviours to supplement biomechanical and behavioural research and support in the reduction principle of the 3Rs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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20 pages, 4319 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Characterization of the Temperament and Reactivity of Nelore Cattle (Bos indicus) Associated with Behavior Scores during Corral Management in the Humid Tropics

by Welligton Conceição da Silva, Jamile Andréa Rodrigues da Silva, Lucieta Guerreiro Martorano, Éder Bruno Rebelo da Silva, Tatiane Silva Belo, Kedson Alessandri Lobo Neves, Raimundo Nonato Colares Camargo Júnior, Cláudio Vieira de Araújo, Luís Gustavo Paixão Vilela, Leonel António Joaquim, Thomaz Cyro Guimarães de Carvalho Rodrigues and José de Brito Lourenço-Júnior

Animals 2024, 14(12), 1769; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14121769 - 12 Jun 2024

Viewed by 710

Abstract

The evaluation of the reactivity and distress of cattle during corral management, by means of subjective scores, aims at the standardization of behavioral indicators, through non-invasive methods, in addition to enabling the development of more appropriate management practices, thus promoting the comfort and [...] Read more.

The evaluation of the reactivity and distress of cattle during corral management, by means of subjective scores, aims at the standardization of behavioral indicators, through non-invasive methods, in addition to enabling the development of more appropriate management practices, thus promoting the comfort and well-being of these animals. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to characterize the temperament and distress of cattle managed in a corral using behavioral indicators during the rainiest period. For this, the experiment was conducted on a property located in the municipality of Mojuí dos Campos, during the rainiest quarter (February–April). Thus, 30 male cattle, not castrated, approximately 29 months of age, clinically healthy, and weighing 310 + 20 kg, were divided into three rearing systems: silvopastoral (SP), traditional (SS), and integrated (SI) systems. There were 10 animals per system. Physiological parameters were collected to evaluate rectal temperature (RT) and respiratory rate (RR), as well as body surface temperature (BST), through thermal windows (head and flank infrared temperature and rump infrared temperature). To evaluate temperament and reactivity, scores indicative of corral behavior were used, namely escape speed (ES), tension score (SS_1), tension score (SS_2), reactivity scale (RS), movement score (MS), and temperament scale (TS). The results showed that there was a thermal amplitude of 5.9 °C on average and 8.6 °C at maximum when comparing the structure of the corral and the trees. In addition, the comparisons between the production systems for the behavioral variables did not differ at the 5% significance level, except for ES, where the traditional system differed from the integrated system and the silvopastoral system, showing intermediate average values for both. In addition, there was a positive correlation between the variables RT and RR (r = 0.72; p < 0.01), RR and SS_2 (r = 0.38; p = 0.04), flank infrared temperature and MS (r = 0.47; p = 0.01), rump infrared temperature and RS (r = 0.37; p = 0.04), SS_1 and RS (r = 0.41; p = 0.02), SS_1 and SS_2 (r = 0.39; p = 0.03), RS and SS_2 (r = 0.58; p = 0.00), RS and MS (r = 0.50; p = 0.01), RS and TS (r = 0.61; p = 0.00), SS_2 and MS (r = 0.51; p = 0.00), SS_2 and TS (r = 0.47; p = 0.01), and MS and TS (r = 0.44; p = 0.02), and a negative correlation between ES and TS (r = −0.42; p = 0.02). The rainy season had a major influence on the evaluation of temperature and distress levels during handling in the corral, as evidenced by the association between physiological and behavioral parameters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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15 pages, 10305 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Social Facilitation and Introduction Methods for Cattle on Virtual Fence Adaptation

by Pernille Arent Simonsen, Niels Søborg Husted, Magnus Clausen, Amalie-Maria Spens, Rasmus Majland Dyrholm, Ida Fabricius Thaysen, Magnus Fjord Aaser, Søren Krabbe Staahltoft, Dan Bruhn, Aage Kristian Olsen Alstrup, Christian Sonne and Cino Pertoldi

Animals 2024, 14(10), 1456; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14101456 - 14 May 2024

Viewed by 926

Abstract

Agricultural industries rely on physical fences to manage livestock. However, these present practical, financial, and ecological challenges, which may be solved using virtual fencing. This study aimed to identify how experienced cattle through social facilitation and the introduction method influence inexperienced cattle. Based [...] Read more.

Agricultural industries rely on physical fences to manage livestock. However, these present practical, financial, and ecological challenges, which may be solved using virtual fencing. This study aimed to identify how experienced cattle through social facilitation and the introduction method influence inexperienced cattle. Based on three stocks held in Fanø, Denmark, containing 12, 17 and 13 Angus (Bos taurus), we examined the virtual fence learning in three case studies using one gradual introduction with zero experienced cattle (A) and two different instant introductions with one (B) and ten (C) experienced cattle. Gradual introduction had the virtual fence moved 20 m every other day for eleven days, and in the two instant introductions, the physical fence was removed in one day. Warnings and impulses were recorded during an 11-day learning period and a 26-day post-learning period, using the impulses per warning to quantify if the cattle adapted. Case studies A and B showed a significant reduction in the warnings and impulses, but only A showed a significant reduction in the impulses per warning when comparing the learning period to the post-learning period. Due to the non-standardised experiments, it was not possible to conclude if the number of experienced cattle or the introduction method had an effect on the results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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15 pages, 27194 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Detection of Pig Movement and Aggression Using Deep Learning Approaches

by Jiacheng Wei, Xi Tang, Jinxiu Liu and Zhiyan Zhang

Animals 2023, 13(19), 3074; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13193074 - 30 Sep 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2274

Abstract

Motion and aggressive behaviors in pigs provide important information for the study of social hierarchies in pigs and can be used as a selection indicator for pig health and aggression parameters. However, relying only on visual observation or surveillance video to record the [...] Read more.

Motion and aggressive behaviors in pigs provide important information for the study of social hierarchies in pigs and can be used as a selection indicator for pig health and aggression parameters. However, relying only on visual observation or surveillance video to record the number of aggressive acts is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and lasts for only a short period of time. Manual observation is too short compared to the growth cycle of pigs, and complete recording is impractical in large farms. In addition, due to the complex process of assessing the intensity of pig aggression, manual recording is highly influenced by human subjective vision. In order to efficiently record pig motion and aggressive behaviors as parameters for breeding selection and behavioral studies, the videos and pictures were collected from typical commercial farms, with each unit including 8~20 pigs in 7~25 m² space; they were bred in stable social groups and a video was set up to record the whole day’s activities. We proposed a deep learning-based recognition method for detecting and recognizing the movement and aggressive behaviors of pigs by recording and annotating head-to-head tapping, head-to-body tapping, neck biting, body biting, and ear biting during fighting. The method uses an improved EMA-YOLOv8 model and a target tracking algorithm to assign a unique digital identity code to each pig, while efficiently recognizing and recording pig motion and aggressive behaviors and tracking them, thus providing statistics on the speed and duration of pig motion. On the test dataset, the average precision of the model was 96.4%, indicating that the model has high accuracy in detecting a pig’s identity and its fighting behaviors. The model detection results were highly correlated with the manual recording results (R² of 0.9804 and 0.9856, respectively), indicating that the method has high accuracy and effectiveness. In summary, the method realized the detection and identification of motion duration and aggressive behavior of pigs under natural conditions, and provided reliable data and technical support for the study of the social hierarchy of pigs and the selection of pig health and aggression phenotypes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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14 pages, 2856 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dairy Cow Mastitis Detection by Thermal Infrared Images Based on CLE-UNet

by Qian Zhang, Ying Yang, Gang Liu, Yuanlin Ning and Jianquan Li

Animals 2023, 13(13), 2211; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13132211 - 5 Jul 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2734

Abstract

Thermal infrared technology is utilized for detecting mastitis in cows owing to its non-invasive and efficient characteristics. However, the presence of surrounding regions and obstacles can impede accurate temperature measurement, thereby compromising the effectiveness of dairy mastitis detection. To address these problems, we [...] Read more.

Thermal infrared technology is utilized for detecting mastitis in cows owing to its non-invasive and efficient characteristics. However, the presence of surrounding regions and obstacles can impede accurate temperature measurement, thereby compromising the effectiveness of dairy mastitis detection. To address these problems, we proposed the CLE-UNet (Centroid Loss Ellipticization UNet) semantic segmentation algorithm. The algorithm consists of three main parts. Firstly, we introduced the efficient channel attention (ECA) mechanism in the feature extraction layer of UNet to improve the segmentation accuracy by focusing on more useful channel features. Secondly, we proposed a new centroid loss function to facilitate the network’s output to be closer to the position of the real label during the training process. Finally, we used a cow’s eye ellipse fitting operation based on the similarity between the shape of the cow’s eye and the ellipse. The results indicated that the CLE-UNet model obtained a mean intersection over union (MIoU) of 89.32% and an average segmentation speed of 0.049 s per frame. Compared to somatic cell count (SCC), this method achieved an accuracy, sensitivity, and F1 value of 86.67%, 82.35%, and 87.5%, respectively, for detecting mastitis in dairy cows. In conclusion, the innovative use of the CLE-UNet algorithm has significantly improved the segmentation accuracy and has proven to be an effective tool for accurately detecting cow mastitis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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20 pages, 3063 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Pilot Study on Behavioural and Physiological Indicators of Emotions in Donkeys

by Samanta Seganfreddo, Diletta Fornasiero, Marta De Santis, Franco Mutinelli, Simona Normando and Laura Contalbrigo

Animals 2023, 13(9), 1466; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13091466 - 25 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2316

Abstract

Recognizing animal emotions is critical to their welfare and can lead to a better relationship with humans and the environment, especially in a widespread species like the donkey, which is often prone to welfare issues. This study aims to assess the emotional response [...] Read more.

Recognizing animal emotions is critical to their welfare and can lead to a better relationship with humans and the environment, especially in a widespread species like the donkey, which is often prone to welfare issues. This study aims to assess the emotional response of donkeys through an operant conditioning task with two presumed different emotional contents. Specifically, a within-subject design including positive and negative conditions was conducted, collecting behavioural and physiological (heart rate variability and HRV) parameters. Facial expressions, postures, and movements were analysed by principal component analysis and behavioural diversity indexes (frequencies, activity budgets, richness, Shannon and Gini-Simpson). During the positive condition, both ears were held high and sideways (left: r = −0.793, p < 0.0001; right: r = −0.585, p = 0.011), while the ears were frontally erected (left: r = 0.924, p < 0.0001; right: r = 0.946, p < 0.0001) during the negative one. The latter was also associated with an increased tendency to walk (r = 0.709, p = 0.001), walk away (r = 0.578, p = 0.012), more frequent changes in the body position (V_{Body position} = 0, p = 0.022), and greater behavioural complexity (V_{Gini-Simpson Index} = 4, p = 0.027). As for HRV analysis, the root mean square of successive beat-to-beat differences (rMSSD) was significantly lower after the negative condition. These non-invasive parameters could be considered as possible indicators of donkeys’ emotional state. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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31 pages, 1070 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Non-Invasive Methods for Assessing the Welfare of Farmed White-Leg Shrimp (Penaeus vannamei)

by Ana Silvia Pedrazzani, Nathieli Cozer, Murilo Henrique Quintiliano, Camila Prestes dos Santos Tavares, Ubiratã de Assis Teixeira da Silva and Antonio Ostrensky

Animals 2023, 13(5), 807; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13050807 - 23 Feb 2023

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6638

Abstract

Gradually, concern for the welfare of aquatic invertebrates produced on a commercial/industrial scale is crossing the boundaries of science and becoming a demand of other societal actors. The objective of this paper is to propose protocols for assessing the Penaeus vannamei welfare during [...] Read more.

Gradually, concern for the welfare of aquatic invertebrates produced on a commercial/industrial scale is crossing the boundaries of science and becoming a demand of other societal actors. The objective of this paper is to propose protocols for assessing the Penaeus vannamei welfare during the stages of reproduction, larval rearing, transport, and growing-out in earthen ponds and to discuss, based on a literature review, the processes and perspectives associated with the development and application of on-farm shrimp welfare protocols. Protocols were developed based on four of the five domains of animal welfare: nutrition, environment, health, and behaviour. The indicators related to the psychology domain were not considered a separate category, and the other proposed indicators indirectly assessed this domain. For each indicator, the corresponding reference values were defined based on literature and field experience, apart from the three possible scores related to animal experience on a continuum from positive (score 1) to very negative (score 3). It is very likely that non-invasive methods for measuring the farmed shrimp welfare, such as those proposed here, will become a standard tool for farms and laboratories and that it will become increasingly challenging to produce shrimp without considering their welfare throughout the production cycle. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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13 pages, 1218 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Limitations of Spatial Judgment Bias Test Application in Horses (Equus ferus caballus)

by Giovanna Marliani, Irene Vannucchi, Irini Kiumurgis and Pier Attilio Accorsi

Animals 2022, 12(21), 3014; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12213014 - 3 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1778

Abstract

Affective states are of increasing interest in the assessment of animal welfare. This research aimed to evaluate the possible limitations in the application of a spatial judgment bias test (JBT) in horses, considering the influence of stress level, personality traits, and the possible [...] Read more.

Affective states are of increasing interest in the assessment of animal welfare. This research aimed to evaluate the possible limitations in the application of a spatial judgment bias test (JBT) in horses, considering the influence of stress level, personality traits, and the possible bias due to the test structure itself. The distinction between two positions, one rewarded (Positive) and the other not (Negative), was learned by 10 horses and 4 ponies,. Then, the latency to reach three unrewarded ambiguous positions (Near Positive, Middle, Near Negative) was measured. Furthermore, the validated Equine Behavior Assessment and Research Questionnaire (E-BARQ) was employed to assess personality traits. Fecal and hair cortisol levels were measured through radioimmunoassay (RIA), and the frequency of behavioral stress indicators was recorded. Results showed that horses that had the rewarded position (Positive) on the right approached Near Negative and Middle faster than those that had Positive on the left. Certain personality traits influenced the latency to reach Middle and Near Positive, but chronic stress did not seem to affect horses’ judgment bias. This preliminary study highlighted several limitations in the employment of spatial JBT for the assessment of affective state in horses and that personality traits can partially influence the cognitive process. Further research is needed to refine the use of this test in horses, considering the peculiarities both of species and of individuals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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Review

Jump to: Research

31 pages, 1121 KiB

Open AccessReview

Opportunities for Regulatory Authorities to Assess Animal-Based Measures at the Slaughterhouse Using Sensor Technology and Artificial Intelligence: A Review

by Annika M. Voogt, Remco S. Schrijver, Mine Temürhan, Johan H. Bongers and Dick T. H. M. Sijm

Animals 2023, 13(19), 3028; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13193028 - 26 Sep 2023

Viewed by 3227

Abstract

Animal-based measures (ABMs) are the preferred way to assess animal welfare. However, manual scoring of ABMs is very time-consuming during the meat inspection. Automatic scoring by using sensor technology and artificial intelligence (AI) may bring a solution. Based on review papers an overview [...] Read more.

Animal-based measures (ABMs) are the preferred way to assess animal welfare. However, manual scoring of ABMs is very time-consuming during the meat inspection. Automatic scoring by using sensor technology and artificial intelligence (AI) may bring a solution. Based on review papers an overview was made of ABMs recorded at the slaughterhouse for poultry, pigs and cattle and applications of sensor technology to measure the identified ABMs. Also, relevant legislation and work instructions of the Dutch Regulatory Authority (RA) were scanned on applied ABMs. Applications of sensor technology in a research setting, on farm or at the slaughterhouse were reported for 10 of the 37 ABMs identified for poultry, 4 of 32 for cattle and 13 of 41 for pigs. Several applications are related to aspects of meat inspection. However, by European law meat inspection must be performed by an official veterinarian, although there are exceptions for the post mortem inspection of poultry. The examples in this study show that there are opportunities for using sensor technology by the RA to support the inspection and to give more insight into animal welfare risks. The lack of external validation for multiple commercially available systems is a point of attention. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Monitoring of Behavior, Affective States, and Health to Identify Welfare Concerns of Farm Animals)

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