Cosmos
Cosmos is a quarterly science magazine. We aim to inspire curiosity in ‘The Science of Everything’ and make the world of science accessible to everyone.
By Cosmos
Every day, thousands of cattle pass through the yards at the Casino Food Co-op in northern NSW providing an ideal opportunity to monitor animal behaviour.
Ensuring the well-being of these animals is not just good business, it is required by law. Currently, staff and vets monitor animal health and welfare. However, watching every animal, in every pen, is a difficult task.
Technology is increasingly being used to monitor individual animal welfare and identify issue, while ensuring animals are adequately hydrated, comfortable and healthy.
Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO’s r animal welfare and behaviour analysis specialists and data researchers are working with industry partner Casino Food Co-op to develop an artificial intelligence-powered monitoring system to keep an eye on animals.
How now brown cow
Identifying cattle behaviours can be difficult for a computer. Cattle of the same breed can look very similar, with similar shape, similar coloured hair, and they stick together in groups.
Using the power of AI, the researchers are developing software that can automatically identify cattle herd behaviours. The software can help determine if the animals are relaxed, hydrated, or showing signs of lameness. Using a series of cameras positioned above a pen, the technology can automatically produce video-based metrics which detects animal head count; behaviours such as lying down, standing, walking, or drinking; estimate activity level and detect lameness.
These metrics support on-site vets to identify at-risk animals and make more timely decisions on their management. It also provides objective evidence to management on how to improve their practices and ensure compliance with current industry animal welfare standards.
Like a bull at a gate
Based on state-of-the-art AI models, the researchers have developed smart algorithms to analyse animal behaviour from multiple viewpoints. This provides a robust assessment of individual animal behaviour over time. It can be used to inform on best practice animal welfare, compliance and assurance for the red meat industry.
This stage of the project has been designed to prove the technology can be useful for the industry in real-world conditions. From 2026, video surveillance systems will be mandated at Australian Meat Industry Council-certified processors under the Australian Livestock Processing Industry Animal Welfare Certification System.
“AI-powered monitoring could be a valuable addition to existing methods for ensuring animal welfare,” says Dr Caroline Lee, a Senior Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO.
“Measuring animal behaviour manually at processing is challenging due to time and labour constraints. The development of a tool to automate animal welfare assessment and provide information to decision makers has the potential to transform the industry,” she said.
“Automating inspections will help the industry improve animal welfare,” adds Dr Dadong Wang, Research Group Leader.
“The technologies CSIRO’s Data61 is developing will help make sense of the videos captured at the processing facility, provide objective evidence of animal welfare assurance, and support better decision making for management.”
The team is looking to expand from tracking animals in holding pens to unloading ramps to improve early detection capabilities.
This article first appeared on CSIRO News
Get a-herd of innovations in AI for animal welfare.
Climate friendly animal behaviour
