An evaluation of early intervention protocols based on camera-based autonomous mobility score trends
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro20228650Abstract
Lameness is a major animal welfare issue in the dairy industry and its measurement is a component of both industry- and processor-led animal welfare audits. Although lameness is highly prevalent on dairy farms, farm personnel have difficulties identifying mild cases of lameness. Reasons for this difficulty include the time, human resources and training required to detect lameness, along with the lack of belief that early intervention works. Automatizing the process of lameness detection through the implementation of autonomous camera-based deep learning will provide dairy farms with an effective and easy-to-implement tool to reduce lameness duration. Combining early and accurate lameness detection with appropriate treatment protocols will result in lower levels of lameness. The objective of this project was to determine if changes in camera-based autonomous mobility scores could be used to reduce the duration of lameness.