Validation of a commercial system for the continuous and automated monitoring of dairy cows activity

In order to improve animal welfare and enhance the comfort of dairy cows, the application of information technology (IT) within the intensive livestock farming takes a key role in a proper routine management. This study aims to compare localisation and activity data provided by the CowView system, an automatic indoor localisation system for dairy cattle, with those obtained by a manual labelling procedure, twice within an observation period of minimum 25 hours per dataset. Data from five selected dairy cows were represented by behaviours performed in relation to the occupied zones, and were classified in two categories: activity and localisation. The identified activities performed by the dairy cows were standing, walking (both considered as being in the alley), resting (being in the cubicle) and feeding (being at the feeder). Indeed, the zone considered in the analysis were alley, in bed and feeding zone. Data automatically and manually classified (used as a reference) were compared. Among all the behaviours detected by the automated software, the most reliable results are those related to the activity of feeding (accuracy higher than 95%). The results showed that the CowView automatic monitoring system is able to identify activity zone classification (ALLEY, THROUGH, CUBICLES) with higher reliability compared to the specific activities performed by dairy cows. The results obtained support the CowView system as an innovative and effective solution for an easier management of dairy cows

Observational constraints on the curvaton model of inflation

Simple curvaton models can generate a mixture of of correlated primordial adiabatic and isocurvature perturbations. The baryon and cold dark matter isocurvature modes differ only by an observationally null mode in which the two perturbations almost exactly compensate, and therefore have proportional effects at linear order. We discuss the CMB anisotropy in general mixed models, and give a simple approximate analytic result for the large scale CMB anisotropy. Working numerically we use the latest WMAP observations and a variety of other data to constrain the curvaton model. We find that models with an isocurvature contribution are not favored relative to simple purely adiabatic models. However a significant primordial totally correlated baryon isocurvature perturbation is not ruled out. Certain classes of curvaton model are thereby ruled out, other classes predict enough non-Gaussianity to be detectable by the Planck satellite. In the appendices we review the relevant equations in the covariant formulation and give series solutions for the radiation dominated era.Comment: Minor changes and corrections to match version accepted by PR

Technical note : validation and comparison of 2 commercially available activity loggers

To validate the accuracy of 2 commercially available activity loggers in determining lying, standing, walking, and number of steps in dairy cows, 30 cows were fitted with the CowScout Leg (GEA Farm Technologies, B\uf6nen, Germany) system and the IceTag (IceRobotics Ltd., Edinburgh, Scotland) system. The CowScout Leg logger reports standing and lying in 15-min periods, whereas the IceTag logger reports standing and lying every second. To make data comparable, the IceTag data were therefore also summarized over 15-min periods corresponding to the paired CowScout Leg sensor. These data from the 2 systems were then analyzed (more than 1,000 cow days in total). Video recordings of a total of 29.5 h were used for labeling the behaviors of the selected cows (n = 10) and these labels were used as a gold standard to determine the accuracy with which these 2 loggers can record behavioral states lying, standing, walking, and the behavioral event number of steps. A concordance correlation coefficient analysis showed that both the standing and lying durations obtained with the 2 systems were almost perfectly correlated with the video labeling (IceTag: \u3c1c = 0.999 and 0.999, respectively; CowScout Leg: \u3c1c = 0.995 and 0.996, respectively). However, both loggers performed poorly regarding number of steps (classified as an event; IceTag: \u3c1c = 0.629; CowScout Leg: \u3c1c = 0.678) and CowScout Leg did not detect walking (classified as a state) very accurately (\u3c1c = 0.860). The IceTag system does not measure walking behavior. When comparing the 2 loggers, the correlation between them for standing and lying was substantial (\u3c1c = 0.953 and \u3c1c = 0.953, respectively). The number of steps poorly correlated between the 2 loggers (\u3c1c = 0.593), which might be due to the CowScout Leg logger being attached to the front leg and the IceTag logger being attached to the hind leg. We conclude that both the IceTag and the CowScout Leg logger are able to record standing and lying almost perfectly, but the step counting by both loggers and the walking recording by the CowScout Leg logger are not very accurate

Technical note : Validation of a commercial system for the continuous and automated monitoring of dairy cow activity

Current farm sizes do not allow the precise identification and tracking of individual cows and their health and behavioral records. Currently, the application of information technology within intensive dairy farming takes a key role in proper routine management to improve animal welfare and to enhance the comfort of dairy cows. An existing application based on information technology is represented by the GEA CowView system (GEA Farm Technologies, B\uf6nen, Germany). This system is able to detect and monitor animal behavioral activities based on positioning, through the creation of a virtual map of the barn that outlines all the areas where cows have access. The aim of this study was to validate the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of data provided by the CowView system. The validation was performed by comparing data automatically obtained from the CowView system with those obtained by a manual labeling procedure performed on video recordings. Data used for the comparisons were represented by the zone-related activities performed by the selected dairy cows and were classified into 2 categories: activity and localization. The duration in seconds of each of the activities/localizations detected both with the manual labeling and with the automated system were used to evaluate the correlation coefficients among data; and subsequently the accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the automated monitoring system were calculated. The results of this validation study showed that the CowView automated monitoring system is able to identify the cow localization/position (alley, trough, cubicles) with high reliability in relation to the zone-related activities performed by dairy cows (accuracy higher than 95%). The results obtained support the CowView system as an innovative potential solution for the easier management of dairy cows

Effects of frequent feed pushes of mixed feed on feeding behaviour, feed intake, and milk production in an AMS herd

Precision Livestock Farming offers new technologies to substitute man hours spent on feeding management in intensive dairy farming, including automated feed pusher robots. Value of the technology may be more than just labour replacing if it creates increased feeding activity leading to higher feed intake and milk production. A trial was set up in a commercial dairy herd with an automatic milking system (AMS). The experimental treatments in terms of three versus ten feed pushes per day were performed twice in one large group of lactating dairy cows during July-August 2015. Mixed models were used to evaluate the effect of the applied feed pushing frequencies on three feed event-based feeding behaviours and three meal-based feeding behaviours, dry matter and energy intake, daily milk yield and milking attendance. Results from this study could not support increasing number of feed pushes in this herd in order to improve production as ten feed pushes did not as expected increase feeding activity of the cows. Instead it resulted in significantly longer duration of feed events, fewer meals and less total meal time compared to three feed pushes per day. Furthermore, feed intake and daily milk yield were significantly lower during experimental periods with ten feed pushes. Parity, days in milk and repetition included as fixed effects in the mixed models all proved to be important factors for the response variables