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74
Poster 2
Claudia Bahr presents Poster 2 during the poster sessions in the Aula.
Session theme 1: Development, validation and automated measurements of indicators of animal welfare
DAIRY COW HOOF MOVEMENT ANALYSIS BY VISION TECHNIQUES
C. Bahr 1 , A. Koppenol 1 , A. Pluk 1 , X. Song 1 , W. Maertens 2 , A. Van Nuffel 2 , J. Vangeyte 2 , B.
Sonck 2 , D. Berckmans 1
1 M3-BIORE), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
2 Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research Technology & Food Unit - Agricultural Engineering, B-
9820 Merelbeke, Belgium
Early detection of dairy cow lameness is important for effective treatment and ailment prevention.
Most of the lameness cases are caused by infectious and non-infectious diseases in hoof region.
Therefore, the hoof movement is one of the first indicators to show that cows become lame. The
objective of this research is the analysis of hoof movement by using vision techniques to detect
lameness in dairy cows in an early stage.
First experiments with video data acquisition were done on a commercial farm with 108 milking
cows. The recording of hoof movement was done using a Guppy F036C camera with a SV-03514
lens. The locomotion of all lactating Holstein cows was scored in the barn visually by one expert. A
scoring method with a scale of 1 (sound), 2 (moderately lame) and 3 (severe lame) was applied. The
focus in the experiment was on the image parameter “ankle angle”, which contains information
about the way a cow places the hoofs on the ground. The ankle angle was calculated two times for a
step of each hoof: first in the image taken just before the hoof touches the floor (touch angle) and
secondly in the image taken just after the hoof is released from the floor (release angle).
First results are based on 46 cows with gait score 1, 12 cows with gait score 2 and 5 cows with gait
score 3. From these results it can be seen that the mean touch angle differs in between the hoofs
from 54, 5○ to 63, 4○ and the release angle differs from 102, 7○ to 125, 5○. In case of occurring
lameness, a decrease of touch and release angle is expected. In conformity with this expectation the
results show a trend of decrease in touch and release angle within an increasing gait score especially
in the hind hoofs.
Contact information: Claudia Bahr or email claudia.bahr@biw.kuleuven.be
Complete address: Division of Measure, Model & Manage Bioresponses (M3-BIORES), Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 30 - B3001 Leuven, Belgium
Species: Dairy cattle