Cow key point detection in indoor housing conditions with a deep learning model.

Lameness in dairy cattle is a costly and highly prevalent problem that affects all aspects of sustainable dairy production, including animal welfare. Automation of gait assessment would allow monitoring of locomotion in which the cows' walking patterns can be evaluated frequently and with limited labor. With the right interpretation algorithms, this could result in more timely detection of locomotion problems.

Correlations of feed intake predicted with milk infrared spectra and breeding values in the Dutch Holstein population.

Feed is a major cost in dairy production, and substantial genetic variation in feed efficiency exists between cows. Therefore, breeders aim to improve feed efficiency of dairy cattle. However, phenotypic data on individual feed intake on commercial farms is scarce, and accurate measurements are very costly.

Animal Health in Compost-Bedded Pack and Cubicle Dairy Barns in Six European Countries.

The purpose of this study was to compare animal health in compost-bedded pack (CBP) and cubicle housing (CH) systems using data from dairy herd improvement associations. Thirty-two commercial dairy farms located in Austria, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Slovenia, and Sweden were included in the study. A matching design (pairing CBP and CH within country) according to herd selection criteria was used.

A data-driven prediction of lifetime resilience of dairy cows using commercial sensor data collected during first lactation.

Reliable prediction of lifetime resilience early in life can contribute to improved management decisions of dairy farmers. Several studies have shown that time series sensor data can be used to predict lifetime resilience rankings. However, such predictions generally require the translation of sensor data into biologically meaningful sensor features, which involve proper feature definitions and a lot of preprocessing.

Productive life span and resilience rank can be predicted from on-farm first-parity sensor time series but not using a common equation across farms.

A dairy cow's lifetime resilience and her ability to recalve gain importance on dairy farms, as they affect all aspects of the sustainability of the dairy industry. Many modern farms today have milk meters and activity sensors that accurately measure yield and activity at a high frequency for monitoring purposes. We hypothesized that these same sensors can be used for precision phenotyping of complex traits such as lifetime resilience or productive life span.