Lameness detection in dairy cows: Part 2. Use of sensors to automatically register changes in locomotion or behavior

Abstract

Despite the research on opportunities toautomatically measure lameness in cattle, lameness detection systems are notwidely available commercially and are only used on a few dairy farms. However, farmers need to be aware of the lame cows in their herds in order treat themproperly and in a timely fashion. Many papers have focused on the automatedmeasurement of gait or behavioral cow characteristics related to lameness. Inorder for such automated measurements to be used in a detection system, algorithms to distinguish between non-lame and mildly or severely lame cowsneed to be developed and validated. Few studies have reached this latter stageof the development process. Also, comparison between the different approachesis impeded by the wide range of practical settings used to measure the gait or behavioralcharacteristic (e.g., measurements during normal farming routine or duringexperiments; cows guided or walking at their own speed) and by the differentdefinitions of lame cows. In the majority of the publications, mildly lame cowsare included in the non-lame cow group, which limits the possibility of alsodetecting early lameness cases. In this review, studies that used sensortechnology to measure changes in gait or behavior of cows related to lamenessare discussed together with practical considerations when conducting lamenessresearch. In addition, other prerequisites for any lameness detection system onfarms (e.g., need for early detection, real-time measurements) are discussed.