Passive breath monitoring of livestock: using factor analysis to deconvolve the cattle shed.

Respiratory and metabolic diseases in livestock cost the agriculture sector billions each year, with delayed diagnosis a key exacerbating factor. Previous studies have shown the potential for breath analysis to successfully identify incidence of disease in a range of livestock. However, these techniques typically involve animal handling, the use of nasal swabs or fixing a mask to individual animals to obtain a sample of breath.

Characterisation of white line degeneration in sheep and evidence for genetic influences on its occurrence.

Shelly hoof in sheep occurs when the hoof wall becomes detached from the laminar corium; it often then becomes impacted with debris leading to infection, pain and lameness. The problem of shelly hoof is under-reported and is often confused with classical footrot. A study was conducted using data on 9,169 Blackface and Texel sheep from 22 farms in the UK.