A computer vision approach to improving cattle digestive health by the monitoring of faecal samples.

The digestive health of cows is one of the primary factors that determine their well-being and productivity. Under- and over-feeding are both commonplace in the beef and dairy industry; leading to welfare issues, negative environmental impacts, and economic losses. Unfortunately, digestive health is difficult for farmers to routinely monitor in large farms due to many factors including the need to transport faecal samples to a laboratory for compositional analysis. This paper describes a novel means for monitoring digestive health via a low-cost and easy to use imaging device based on computer vision. The method involves the rapid capture of multiple visible and near-infrared images of faecal samples. A novel three-dimensional analysis algorithm is then applied to objectively score the condition of the sample based on its geometrical features. While there is no universal ground truth for comparison of results, the order of scores matched a qualitative human prediction very closely. The algorithm is also able to detect the presence of undigested fibres and corn kernels using a deep learning approach. Detection rates for corn and fibre in image regions were of the order 90%. These results indicate the potential to develop this system for on-farm, real time monitoring of the digestive health of individual animals, allowing early intervention to effectively adjust feeding strategy.

Potential of ethno-veterinary medicine in animal health care practices in the South Pacific Island countries: a review.

The South Pacific island countries (SPIC) are among the most vulnerable countries in the world to economic shocks, climate change and natural disasters. Agriculture including livestock production makes important contribution to socio-economic development in the region. However, the livestock sector is marred by many livestock diseases, which are crippling the economies as well as threatening the food security of the island nations, most of which have high dependence on imports. Limited veterinary medical facilities, high cost of conventional medicine and remoteness of some rural farming communities make it difficult for farmers to treat their diseased animals. Nevertheless, the island nations are endowed with vast reserves of medicinal plants in diverse ecosystems including mangroves, rainforests and tropical dry forests. Despite the ubiquity of traditional medicine systems, most of the plant species have been used to treat human aliments in the SPIC and very few farmers utilise herbal medicine to treat their animals. This review highlights the common diseases affecting livestock production in the SPIC, threats to ethno-veterinary knowledge, and potential plant species and their efficacies to treat animal diseases and parasites. It also discusses the common methods of preparation of veterinary herbal medicine and possible ways of making the medicine available in the formal and informal markets in the region. It is envisaged that the review will stimulate further ethno-veterinary research among livestock disease management practices in the SPIC.

Decision tree machine learning applied to bovine tuberculosis risk factors to aid disease control decision making.

Identifying and understanding the risk factors for endemic bovine tuberculosis (TB) in cattle herds is critical for the control of this disease. Exploratory machine learning techniques can uncover complex non-linear relationships and interactions within disease causation webs, and enhance our knowledge of TB risk factors and how they are interrelated. Classification tree analysis was used to reveal associations between predictors of TB in England and each of the three surveillance risk areas (High Risk, Edge, and Low Risk) in 2016, identifying the highest risk herds. The main classifying predictor for farms in England overall related to the TB prevalence in the 100 nearest cattle herds. In the High Risk and Edge areas it was the number of slaughterhouse destinations and in the Low Risk area it was the number of cattle tested in surveillance tests. How long ago the last confirmed incident was resolved was the most frequent classifier in trees; if within two years, leading to the highest risk group of herds in the High Risk and Low Risk areas. At least two different slaughterhouse destinations led to the highest risk group of herds in England, whereas in the Edge area it was a combination of no contiguous low-risk neighbours (i.e. in a 1 km radius) and a minimum proportion of 6-23 month-old cattle in November. A threshold value of prevalence in 100 nearest neighbours increased the risk in all areas, although the value was specific to each area. Having low-risk contiguous neighbours reduced the risk in the Edge and High Risk areas, whereas high-risk ones increased the risk in England overall and in the Edge area specifically. The best classification tree models informed multivariable binomial logistic regression models in each area, adding statistical inference outputs. These two approaches showed similar predictive performance although there were some disparities regarding what constituted high-risk predictors. Decision tree machine learning approaches can identify risk factors from webs of causation: information which may then be used to inform decision making for disease control purposes.

Controlling hepatitis E virus in the pig production sector: Assessment of the technical and behavioural feasibility of on-farm risk mitigation strategies.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a zoonotic agent with pigs as the main reservoir in industrialised countries. Recent studies conducted on pig farms, in experimental conditions or through modelling approaches, have led to a better understanding of the spread of HEV on pig farms. The findings have also made it possible to define a set of measures to reduce HEV prevalence and the risk of marketing contaminated products. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility of a set of HEV control strategies on pig farms. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with farmers, veterinarians and farming advisors to collect general data, their level of knowledge of HEV, their opinion on the technical feasibility of certain changes in practices, their perception of the respective responsibilities of the different stakeholders, and their feelings about the importance of the issue, following the framework of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The interviews made it possible to highlight potential barriers and preferred motivators for the implementation of on-farm risk mitigation strategies. Barriers included lack of knowledge, scientific gaps, perceived inability to control HEV, and low perception of the importance of the issue. Motivators included professional satisfaction, family recognition, and the opportunity to achieve higher quality standards. Three clusters of stakeholders were also identified, with a group of leaders who could help unlock reluctance and disseminate innovations. This type of behavioural approach appeared useful to help risk managers facilitate zoonotic control on pig farms.

Design of a joint research data platform: A use case for severity assessment.

Severity assessment in animal models is a data-driven process. We therefore present a use case for building a repository for interlaboratory collaboration with the potential of uploading specific content, making group announcements and internal prepublication discussions. We clearly show that it is possible to offer such a structure with minimal effort and a basic understanding of web-based services, also taking into account the human factor in individual data collection. The FOR2591 Online Repository serves as a blueprint for other groups, so that one day not only will data sharing among consortium members be improved but the transition from the private to the persistent domain will also be easier.

Reducing the cost and assessing the performance of a novel adult mass-rearing cage for the dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika vector, Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus).

INTRODUCTION: The widespread emergence of resistance to insecticides used to control adult Aedes mosquitoes has made traditional control strategies inadequate for the reduction of various vector populations. Therefore, complementary vector control methods, such as the Sterile Insect Technique, are needed to enhance existing efforts. The technique relies on the rearing and release of large numbers of sterile males, and the development of efficient and standardized mass-rearing procedures and tools is essential for its application against medically important mosquitoes. METHODS: In the effort to reduce the cost of the rearing process, a prototype low-cost plexiglass mass-rearing cage has been developed and tested for egg production and egg hatch rate in comparison to the current Food and Agriculture Organization/International Atomic Energy Agency (FAO/IAEA) stainless-steel cage. Additionally, an adult-index was validated and used as a proxy to estimate the mosquito survival rates by counting the number of male and female mosquitoes that were resting within each of the 6 squares at a given point of time each day in the cage. RESULTS: The study has shown that the prototype mass-rearing cage is cheap and is as efficient as the FAO/IAEA stainless-steel cage in terms of egg production, with even better overall egg hatch rate. The mean numbers of eggs per cage, after seven cycles of blood feeding and egg collection, were 969,789 ± 138,101 and 779,970 ± 123,042, corresponding to 81 ± 11 and 65 ± 10 eggs per female over her lifespan, in the prototype and the stainless-steel-mass-rearing cages, respectively. The longevity of adult male and female mosquitoes was not affected by cage type and, the adult-index could be considered as an appropriate proxy for survival. Moreover, the mass-rearing cage prototype is easy to handle and transport and improves economic and logistic efficiency. CONCLUSION: The low-cost mass-rearing prototype cage can be recommended to produce Ae. aegypti in the context of rear and release techniques. The proposed adult-index can be used as a quick proxy of mosquito survival rates in mass-rearing settings.

More than time and money: A mixed-methods study of the barriers to safer cattle handling practices.

BACKGROUND: Cattle are responsible for more injuries and fatalities than any farm animal, and cattle-related nonfatal injuries are some of the costliest, requiring more time off work than other injuries. Though research has improved our understanding of cattle behavior, developed low-stress handling practices, and determined how facilities can be safer, injury rates remain high. This project identified the types of equipment commonly used on farms and assessed farmer perceptions of safety and barriers to implementing changes. METHODS: A mixed-methods design was used for this study. The study was comprised of a survey (N = 66) and four site visits conducted at operations focusing on different types of beef production in Iowa, United States. Information collected included descriptive characteristics of the operator and operation, tasks carried out on the farm, handling facility components and design, and incidents of handling-related injuries. RESULTS: Most farms indicated that they utilized equipment like alleyways, a manual headgate, a sorting/diverter gate, and a manual squeeze chute. Farmers cited the cost of equipment, lack of necessity (their setup worked well already), and lack of time as being the main reasons they have not implemented changes in their operations. However, qualitative responses provided additional details and nuance, illuminating farmers' anxieties related to farm transitions, knowledge, and trust of equipment sales personnel. CONCLUSION: This study provides health and safety professionals with additional details about why beef cattle producers may choose not to invest in safer handling equipment, even when they recognize the safety benefits of doing so.

A Semi-Automatic Dispenser for Solid and Liquid Food in Aquatic Facilities.

We present a novel, low-footprint and low-cost semi-automatic system for delivering solid and liquid food to zebrafish, and more generally to aquatic animals raised in racks of tanks. It is composed of a portable main module equipped with a contactless reader that adjusts the quantity to deliver for each tank, and either a solid food module or a liquid food module. Solid food comprises virtually any kind of dry powder or grains below 2 mm in diameter, and, for liquid-mediated food, brine shrimps (Artemia salina) and rotifers (Rotifera) have been successfully tested. Real-world testing, feedback, and validation have been performed in a zebrafish facility for several months. In comparison with manual feeding this system mitigates the appearance of musculoskeletal disorders among regularly-feeding staff, and let operators observe the animals' behavior instead of being focused on quantities to deliver. We also tested the accuracy of both humans and our dispenser and found that the semi-automatic system is much more reliable, with respectively 7-fold and 84-fold drops in standard deviation for solid and liquid food.

Electroencephalographic assessment of pneumatically powered penetrating and non-penetrating captive-bolt stunning of bulls.

The electroencephalographic (EEG) responses of 31 bulls (zebu crossbred cattle) stunned with either pneumatically powered Jarvis penetrating (PCB) or non-penetrating captive bolt (NPCB) was examined. Animals were organized into two treatment groups: PCB (n = 20); and NPCB (n = 11) stunning, both using airline pressures of 220 psi (1517 kPa). All bulls shot with PCB (n = 20/20) had patterns of EEG activity that were inconsistent with consciousness. Of the cattle shot with NPCB 82% (n = 9/11) showed waveforms suggesting complete unconsciousness. After stunning two NPCB bulls had periods of normal EEG activity and maintenance (Ptot, delta, theta, beta) or increased (alpha) spectral power compared to pre-treatment values, indicating incomplete concussion. The study showed that pneumatic PCB stunning was effective in rendering all bulls unconscious, while NPCB was less effective. This highlights the potential animal welfare risks associated with NPCB compared to PCB stunning of mature bulls in commercial abattoirs.

Evaluation of reticuloruminal pH measurements from individual cattle: Sampling strategies for the assessment of herd status.

The application of pH observations to clinical practice in dairy cattle is based on criteria derived primarily from single time-point observations more than 20 years ago. The aims of this study were to evaluate these criteria using data collected using continuous recording methods; to make recommendations that might improve their interpretation; and to determine the relationship between the number of devices deployed in a herd and the accuracy of the resulting estimate of the herd-mean reticuloruminal pH. The study made use of 815,475 observations of reticuloruminal pH values obtained from 75 cattle in three herds (one beef and two twice-daily milking herds) to assess sampling strategies for the diagnosis of sub-acute rumen acidosis (SARA), and to evaluate the ability of different numbers of bolus devices to accurately estimate the true herd-mean reticuloruminal pH value at any time. The traditional criteria for SARA provide low diagnostic utility, the probability of detection of animals with pH values below specified thresholds being affected by a strong effect of time of day and herd. The analysis suggests that regardless of time of feeding, sampling should be carried out in the late afternoon or evening to obtain a reasonable probability of detection of animals with pH values below the threshold level. The among-cow variation varied strongly between herds, but for a typical herd, if using reticuloruminal pH boluses to detect a predisposition to fermentation disorders while feeding a diet that is high in rapidly fermentable carbohydrates, it is recommended to use a minimum of nine boluses.

Cooling cows with sprinklers: Effects of soaker flow rate and timing on behavioral and physiological responses to heat load and production.

Spray strategies (e.g., flow rate and spray timing) may affect the surrounding microclimate and how cows use soakers, affecting cooling efficiency. Our objective was to evaluate the combined effects of spray timing (i.e., frequency, low: 3 min on, 6 min off; or high: 1.5 min on, 3 min off) and flow rates (3.3 or 4.9 L/min) on behavioral and physiological responses to heat load and production in Holstein cows managed in a freestall barn. In a 2 × 2 Latin square design, 3 cohorts of 4 pairs of cows averaging (±standard deviation) 36.7 ± 5.4 kg/d of milk were tested for 3 d/treatment. Water was sprayed at the feedline from 0815 to 2330 h when air temperature and relative humidity averaged 27 ± 3°C and 37 ± 7%, respectively. The overall quantity of water sprayed was not affected by spray timing; it varied only as a function of flow rate. Cows' posture and location within the pen were measured continuously, whereas feeding and body temperature were recorded every 3 min over 24 h/d. Respiration rates were recorded daily every 45 min from 0900 to 2000 h. Neither spray timing nor flow rates affected posture, location in the pen, feeding activity, or respiration rates. Overall, on average, cows spent 12.6 ± 0.4 h/d lying down and 5.8 ± 0.3 h/d in the feed bunk area. While in the feed bunk area, cows spent 78 ± 3% of their time feeding. Average respiration rate ranged from 57 to 59 ± 3 breaths/min across treatments. Although body temperature tended to be reduced when using higher flow rate, this difference was 0.1°C when comparing 24-h averages (4.9 vs. 3.3 L/min: 38.6 vs. 38.7 ± 0.1°C). Body temperature differences, however, were more marked and statistically different when soakers were cycling, especially between 1100 and 2200 h. Despite this, the magnitude of the hourly differences were <0.2°C. Milk production also tended to increase by 1.5 kg/d when using higher flow rates. When using the same water volume, spray timing did not affect cow behavior, physiology, or production. Flow rate had a small effect on milk production and body temperature but the biological relevance of these differences is unclear, especially in this situation where all cows were relatively cool.

Modeled construction and operating costs of different ventilation systems for lactating dairy cows.

The objectives were to compare capital costs of building and installation of 7 ventilation systems for adult lactating dairy cow housing and evaluate the energy use and operating cost between systems. A cost model comprising stochastic and parametric modules was created to estimate the number of fans operating each day based on temperature set points; annual profiles of daily maximum, minimum, and average temperatures; ramping functions to transition between seasons; and weather data from 7 locations in the United States. Costs were described as US$ per stall per year and operating costs as US$ (kW·h) per stall per year. Building costs amoritized over 10 yr ranged from $246 to $318, where a 16-row cross-ventilated design had the minimum cost and a hybrid design incorporating elements of tunnel and natural ventilation had the maximum cost. Lowering the summer temperature set point from 22.2 to 18.0°C to potentially improve heat abatement for high-producing cows increased cost by $10.10 (101.0 kW·h). On average, an exponential ramping function for transitioning between seasons cost $55.40 (554 kW·h) compared with $61.40 (614 kW·h) for a linear function. A tunnel barn ranged from $79.40 (794 kW·h) to $212.30 (2123 kW·h), and a natural design ranged from $32.60 (326 kW·h) to $81.80 (818 kW·h) in operating costs due to fan selection alone. Cross-ventilated barns benefitted from economies of scale and had similar operating costs as naturally ventilated barns in larger facilities. On average, mechanical systems cost twice as much to operate as natural systems, and operating costs in hotter US climates were approximately double those in milder climates. Selecting a fan with low energy efficiency can increase the operating cost of any ventilation system approximately 2-fold, making fan choice a critical design element.

Drivers, challenges and opportunities of forage technology adoption by smallholder cattle households in Cambodia.

Forage technology has been successfully introduced into smallholder cattle systems in Cambodia as an alternative feed source to the traditional rice straw and native pastures, improving animal nutrition and reducing labour requirements of feeding cattle. Previous research has highlighted the positive impacts of forage technology including improved growth rates of cattle and household time savings. However, further research is required to understand the drivers, challenges and opportunities of forage technology for smallholder cattle households in Cambodia to facilitate widespread adoption and identify areas for further improvement. A survey of forage-growing households (n = 40) in July-September 2016 examined forage technology adoption experiences, including reasons for forage establishment, use of inputs and labour requirements of forage plot maintenance and use of forages (feeding, fattening, sale of grass or seedlings and silage). Time savings was reported as the main driver of forage adoption with household members spending approximately 1 h per day maintaining forages and feeding it to cattle. Water availability was reported as the main challenge to this activity. A small number of households also reported lack of labour, lack of fencing, competition from natural grasses, cost of irrigation and lack of experience as challenges to forage growing. Cattle fattening and sale of cut forage grass and seedlings was not found to be a widespread activity by interviewed households, with 25 and 10% of households reporting use of forages for these activities, respectively. Currently, opportunities exist for these households to better utilise forages through expansion of forage plots and cattle activities, although assistance is required to support these households in addressing current constraints, particularly availability of water, if the sustainability of this feed technology for smallholder cattle household is to be established in Cambodia.

[Use of the AquaDuc T® round drinker with Pekin ducks under field conditions--behaviour as one indicator of welfare]. / Verhalten als ein Indikator des Wohlbefindens beim Einsatz der AquaDuc T® Rundtränke bei Pekingmastenten unter Feldbedingungen.

Pekin ducks have an innate affinity for water. They seek water from the first day of life and use it for a multitude of behaviors. Currently implemented requirements to husbandry and the design of an animal-friendly offer of drinking water in commercial fattening establishments exist neither at EU-level nor in Germany. Aim of the study was to examine the use of the AquaDuc T® (Big Dutchman, Vechta, Germany) and its practical suitability concerning the behavior during the fattening of Pekin ducks under commercial conditions. The examinations took place in three farms (7140-13,515 fattening places). On farm 1 and 3, 16 fattening periods were observed (switch-over design: alternately test and control trial) with each one visited between day 28-32 and 35-39. On farm 2, only ten fattening periods could be examined. The ducks were in general supplied with drinking water via nipple drinkers. For the test trials, the AquaDuc T® drinkers were additionally installed and were accessible for a limited time. To record the natural and undisturbed behavior of the ducks in their housing system, the video recordings were started after we finished the farm visits and in total more than 6300 hours of video material were analyzed. All findings show that Pekin ducks clearly favor the round bell drinkers over the nipple drinkers. They enable the birds to immerse their heads, to drink and strain in a species-specific manner, to take care of the plumage with water and to clean beak and eyes. In the test trials, the drinking activity rose significantly during the operating time of the round drinkers (p < 0.001), whereas the nipple drinkers were used less frequently at the same time. Concerning ethology and health, the round drinkers offer the ducks very good conditions for an animal-friendly water supply. For economic and hygienic reasons, the daily access to the modified round drinkers should be limited.

Construction of an affordable and easy-to-build zebrafish facility.

In vivo biomedical research is pivotal to translate in vitro findings into clinical advances. Small academic institutions with limited resources find it virtually impossible to build and maintain typical rodent facilities for research. Zebrafish research has been demonstrated to be a valuable alternative for in vivo research in pharmacology, physiology, development and genetic studies. This article demonstrates that a functional zebrafish facility can be built in an easy and affordable manner. We demonstrate that such a facility could be built in about one working day with minimal tools and expertise. The cost of the 27 1.8 L fish tank zebrafish facility constructed in this study was approximately $1,500. We estimate that the maintenance of an initial working 150 fish colony for 3 months is $1,000. This project involved students, who were introduced to aquaculturing of zebrafish for research proposes.

Semi-stochastic models for Salmonella infection within finishing pig units in the UK.

A multi-group semi-stochastic model is formulated to describe Salmonella dynamics on a pig herd within the UK and assess whether farm structure has any effect on the dynamics. The models include both direct transmission and indirect (via free-living infectious units in the environment and airborne infection). The basic reproduction number R0 is also investigated. The models estimate approximately 24.6% and 25.4% of pigs at slaughter weight will be infected with Salmonella within a slatted-floored and solid-floored unit respectively, which corresponds to values found in previous abattoir and farm studies, suggesting that the model has reasonable validity. Analysis of the models identified the shedding rate to be of particular importance in the control of Salmonella spread, a finding also evident in an increase in the R0 value.

Recovery of ammonia from poultry litter using flat gas permeable membranes.

The use of flat gas-permeable membranes was investigated as components of a new process to capture and recover ammonia (NH3) in poultry houses. This process includes the passage of gaseous NH3 through a microporous hydrophobic membrane, capture with a circulating dilute acid on the other side of the membrane, and production of a concentrated ammonium (NH4) salt. Bench- and pilot-scale prototype systems using flat expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) membranes and a sulfuric acid solution consistently reduced headspace NH3 concentrations from 70% to 97% and recovered 88% to 100% of the NH3 volatilized from poultry litter. The potential benefits of this technology include cleaner air inside poultry houses, reduced ventilation costs, and a concentrated liquid ammonium salt that can be used as a plant nutrient solution.

Rapid effective trace-back capability value: a case study of foot-and-mouth in the Texas High Plains.

In this study our aim was to value the benefits of rapid effective trace-back capability-based on a livestock identification system - in the event of a foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak. We simulated an FMD outbreak in the Texas High Plains, an area of high livestock concentration, beginning in a large feedlot. Disease spread was simulated under different time dependent animal tracing scenarios. In the specific scenario modeled (incursion of FMD within a large feedlot, detection within 14 days and 90% effective tracing), simulation suggested that control costs of the outbreak significantly increase if tracing does not occur until day 10 as compared to the baseline of tracing on day 2. In addition, control costs are significantly increased if effectiveness were to drop to 30% as compared to the baseline of 90%. Results suggest potential benefits from rapid effective tracing in terms of reducing government control costs; however, a variety of other scenarios need to be explored before determining in which situations rapid effective trace-back capability is beneficial.