Monitoring Livestock Health by Modeling Rumination Behavior According to Accelerometer-Based Information

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

• E. Vahedi Tekmehdash ¹
• H. Navid ¹
• H. Ghasemzadeh ¹
• H. Karimi ²
• M. Javani Holan ¹

¹ Department of Biosystems Engineering, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

² Agricultural Engineering Research Department, Kerman Agricultural and Resource Research and Education Center, Areeo, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22067/jam.2024.86082.1216

Abstract

Introduction
The livestock sector excels in the production of dairy and meat products. These products, serving as vital sources of animal protein, hold a significant position in household diets. The significance of these two products in the food basket has heightened awareness around animal health. Regularly tracking rumination time serves as a vital and insightful measure to obtain information about the rest and overall health of an animal. This information enables prompt intervention for health or nutritional issues, allowing for earlier management adjustments and veterinary care to effectively combat the onset of disease. In the past, rumination was usually monitored through visual observation by on-site staff or through videos recorded by cameras installed on the livestock. Nowadays, the growing scale of livestock farms makes it impractical to effectively monitor the animals individually. The traditional method of visual observation demands the continuous presence of livestock professionals and is extremely time-consuming. Currently, sensors and digital technologies have become important tools for accurate animal husbandry, enabling real-time monitoring of rumination. A review of the research in the field of precision animal husbandry shows that many efforts are being made to develop precision monitoring sensors to overcome the mentioned problems. Continuous and automatic monitoring of animal behavior through sensors can offer valuable insights into nutrition, reproduction, health, and overall well-being of dairy cows.
Materials and Methods
In this research, an accelerometer-based sensor was developed and used in the precision agriculture laboratory of Tabriz University, Iran. The sensor was installed in three different positions on the cow's body to collect data. Important factors were calculated from the raw data, and the modeling was done using the logistic regression method. The logistic regression model was trained to distinguish rumination from the other cow's behaviors. The developed model was evaluated using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and three other evaluation criteria: precision, sensitivity, and F-score. Finally, the performance of the final model and sensor was evaluated in the field for a few days.
Results and Discussion
After calculating the evaluation criteria for different calculation factors, four optimal factors were finally selected from the 50 arrays. Muzzle mode was found to be the best place to install the sensor. Logistic regression was the best modeling method for binary classification between rumination and other behaviors. The evaluation criteria of the model in the proposed sensor are the highest, and the values of sensitivity 88%, accuracy 94%, and F-score 91% were obtained through logistic regression analysis. The final test results of the model revealed that the sensor demonstrated an impressive detection capability of 89.47%. Furthermore, the developed system exhibited strong alignment with the actual field observations, highlighting its effectiveness and reliability. Finally, the results of the current study were compared with other studies in the literature.
Conclusion
This study investigated recording and monitoring rumination behavior using an accelerometer, which can help prevent financial losses in cattle farms. After examining different mounting locations of the sensor, it was found that the muzzle position provided more accurate detections than the other mounting locations. The final model was created using the statistical factors and the calculation of the evaluation criteria. The results showed that the proposed model provided more correct diagnoses and achieved the optimal solution.
Acknowledgment
We would like to express our gratitude to the Khalat Poushan Cattle Farming Complex of the University of Tabriz, Iran, its professors and staff for supporting this project, and for their commitment to promote animal husbandry science.

Keywords

• Accuracy
• Classification
• ROC curve
• Sensitivity

Main Subjects

• Design and Construction

©2025 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

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