Automatic assessment of dairy cattle body condition score using thermal imaging

Automatic and objective dairy cow body condition scoring has the potential to be used as a feed, reproduction, health and longevity management tool. The feasibility of including a body shape measurement in automatic monitoring of body condition was evaluated. The hypothesis tested was that the body shape of a fatter cow is more round than that of a thin cow and, therefore, may better fit a parabolic shape. The more prominent hooks and the tailhead depressions of a thin cow tended to diverge from the parabolic shape. An image-processing model appraised body shape. The novelties in this study compared to the previous ones (Halachmi et al., 2008, Bewley et al., 2008) were: (1) completing the full-automation of the system and (2) more accurate reference, not ultrasound. The model was implemented and its outputs were validated against manual body condition scoring (BCS) of 186 Holstein-Friesian cows. Pearson correlation between the thermally sensed BCS and the manual BCS was 0.94.