Tag Archives: lameness

223-230 E. Kokin,, J. Praks, I. Veermäe, V. Poikalainen and M. Vallas
IceTag3D™ accelerometric device in cattle lameness detection
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IceTag3D™ accelerometric device in cattle lameness detection

E. Kokin¹,*, J. Praks², I. Veermäe², V. Poikalainen² and M. Vallas²

¹Institute of Technology, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 56, EE51014 Tartu, Estonia; *Correspondence: eugen.kokin@emu.ee 2Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, EE51014 Tartu, Estonia

Abstract:

The objective of the pilot study was to evaluate the possibility of using IceTag3D™ accelerometric device for the early detection of lame cows in dairy herd. The measurements were carried out in the experimental cowshed of Estonian University of Life Sciences in the free-stall section with milking parlour. The time the cow spent lying and standing, number of lying bouts, step count and the motion index of 33 dairy cows (14 lame and 19 sound cows) was registered during 15 days period. The measurements confirmed that the lame cows stand and move less than sound animals. As the same trend was in force for older cows it was impossible to differentiate the influence of lameness and age. To clarify the inequality in activity between lame and sound rear legs both legs of lame cows were equipped with loggers (eight cows). Great difference in recordings of diseased and healthy leg lying bouts (ratio 2.47) indicates that this parameter may be one possibility to identify leg disorders. However, further investigations are needed to synchronize video- and IceTag recordings and identify threshold values.

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216-225 V. Poikalainen, J. Praks, E. Kokin, A. Aland, I. Veermäe, S. Peets, J. Ahokas, M. Pastell, M. Hautala, D. Berckmans, C. Bahr, and D. Miljkovic
Elaboration of Basic Methods for Automatic Analysis of Cows’ Gait
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Elaboration of Basic Methods for Automatic Analysis of Cows’ Gait

V. Poikalainen¹, J. Praks¹, E. Kokin¹, A. Aland¹, I. Veermäe¹, S. Peets¹, J. Ahokas², M. Pastell², M. Hautala², D. Berckmans³, C. Bahr³, and D. Miljkovic³

1 Estonian University of Life Sciences, 1 Kreutzwaldi Str., EE51014 Tartu, Estonia
e-mail: vaino.poikalainen@emu.ee
² University of Helsinki, Department of Agrotechnology, P.O. Box 28 (Koetilantie 3),
00014 Helsinki, Finland; e-mail: Jukka.ahokas@helsinki.fi
³ Division Measure, Model & Manage Bioresponses (M3-BIORES), Katholike Universiteit
Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
e-mail: Claudia.Bahr@biw.kuleuven.be

Abstract:

Two different methods for automatic registration and analysis were used to produce data for comparison and analysis of lame and healthy animals’ gait in Estonia. A walk over mat with two quazi-piezoelectric sensors was elaborated and tested in co-operation with University of Helsinki. Preliminary analysis indicates that lameness can be seen as asymmetric gait and thus the quazi-piezoelectric walk-over mat is a promising tool for automatic leg problem detection.
A video-system was introduced to record walking pattern of cows in co-operation with Catholic University of Leuven. For video recordings three cameras were used to obtain top, side and leg views with StreamPix software video-signal capture. Possibilities of image based separation of dairy cows with real time vision system and preliminary settlement of this was developed. A model-based motion scoring system is proposed for derivation of image parameters needed for lameness detection.
About 600 cows once a week were investigated in a large dairy farm during four months’ period.
Dairy cows’ gait pattern was recorded with the aid of quazi-piezoelectric walk-over mat and video-system. Preliminary lameness scoring was performed in the cowshed visually by two experts. These scoring results were later specified by expert commission on the basis of video-recordings. Lameness scores (according to Sprecher et al) were assigned as follows: 1–6,012 cases, 2–1,181 cases, 3–522 cases, 4–105 cases and 5–37 cases from total 10,653 cases. The database of cows’ identification numbers, lameness scores and disordered legs description was created, that allows synchronization of walk-over mat signals data and video files.

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