• Smart Media Journal
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• v.11 no.8
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• pp.84-92
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• 2022

Precision livestock monitoring promises greater management efficiency for farmers and higher welfare standards for animals. Recent studies on video-based animal activity recognition and tracking have shown promising solutions for understanding animal behavior. To achieve that, surveillance cameras are installed diagonally above the barn in a typical cattle farm setup to monitor animals constantly. Under these circumstances, tracking individuals requires addressing challenges such as occlusion and visual appearance, which are the main reasons for track breakage and increased misidentification of animals. This paper presents a framework for multi-cattle tracking in closed barns with appearance and motion models. To overcome the above challenges, we modify the DeepSORT algorithm to achieve higher tracking accuracy by three contributions. First, we reduce the weight of appearance information. Second, we use an Ensemble Kalman Filter to predict the random motion information of cattle. Third, we propose a supplementary matching algorithm that compares the absolute cattle position in the barn to reassign lost tracks. The main idea of the matching algorithm assumes that the number of cattle is fixed in the barn, so the edge of the barn is where new trajectories are most likely to emerge. Experimental results are performed on our dataset collected on two cattle farms. Our algorithm achieves 70.37%, 77.39%, and 81.74% performance on HOTA, AssA, and IDF1, representing an improvement of 1.53%, 4.17%, and 0.96%, respectively, compared to the original method.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.107-114
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• 2009

Civil appeals on odor from swine barn have been increasing. This study was conducted to compile basic data of odor from swine barns as civil appeals on odor have been increasing. Odor was monitored from two gestating sow barns and the boundary of those barns in Suwon and Hwaseong city from June to November, 2008. Mean ammonia concentration measured at the boundary of A piggery in Suwon city was 0.9 ppm with occasional breaks of permissible limit (1.0 ppm). Mean concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan were 0.37 ppb and 0.01 ppb, which were lower than permissible limits of 20 ppb and 2 ppb, respectively. Mean ammonia concentration was 3.22 ppm and was maintained under 5.0 ppb. Ammonia concentration had increased since November when the barns were closed. Hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan were lower than the permissible limits. Mean ammonia concentration measured at the boundary of B piggery in Hwaseong city was 16.3 ppm and steep increase of concentration was monitored after October when the barn was sealed up. Hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan were 26.66 ppb and 7.45 ppb, respectively. In appropriate ventilation and raising environment would cause high ammonia concentration in swine barns. Emitted ammonia from barns and composting facilities were mixed, which would cause higher ammonia concentration on the boundary of barns. Hence improvement of raising environment, rapid manure treatment, and correct use of microbial preparation would be needed.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.1110-1120
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• 2024

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of offering (OSF) or not (NSF) supplemental feed at milking on temperament (TS), udder hygiene (UHS) and body condition (BCS) scores, and milk yield per milking (MYM), milk quality traits, and profitability of primiparous Anatolian buffalo cows at 90 days of lactation confined in closed-tied (CB) or semi-open free-stall (OB) barns. Methods: In Experiment I, 108 cows were selected to encompass four treatments (OBOSF, OB-NSF, CB-OSF, and CB-NSF) of 27 cows, considering barn type (OB and CB) and supplementary feed (OSF and NSF) at milking. In Experiment II, 60 OB cows were selected to encompass one of five groups of 12 cows each: i) no supplemental feed (CON), ii) commercial concentrate (CC), iii) CC + corn silage (CCS), iv) CCS + alfalfa hay (CSA), or v) CC + ryegrass silage (CRS) at milking. Results: The TS and UHS of the OB and OSF cows were lower (better) than those of the CB and NSF cows, respectively. The OSF increased milk protein, lactose, and solids-not-fat but decreased milk freezing point and electrical conductivity compared with the NSF. The MYM and milk fat of the OB-OSF cows were higher than those of the OB-NSF and CBNSF cows. The TS and UHS of the cows negatively correlated with MYM and some milk chemicals (fat, protein, and solids-not-fat), but BCS correlated positively. The TS and milk electrical conductivity of the CCS, CSA, and CRS cows were lower than those of the CON and CC cows, but BCS, MYM, and milk fat were higher. Partial budget analysis identified a higher net profit for supplemental feed-offered groups (OB-OSF, CCS, CSA, and CRS). Conclusion: Offering roughage with concentrates at milking for indoor primiparous buffalo cows is more conducive to well-being, milk yield, milk quality, and economy.