Swartz T H, McGilliard M L, Petersson-Wolfe C S
Department of Dairy Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg 24061.
Department of Dairy Science, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg 24061.
J Dairy Sci. 2016 Nov;99(11):9109-9113. doi: 10.3168/jds.2016-11297. Epub 2016 Sep 7.
Calf behaviors such as step activity, lying bouts, and lying time may be an indicator of calf health and welfare. To reduce time-consuming visual observations, the use of behavioral monitoring systems have been developed to capture these data. Previous studies have validated lying behaviors using an accelerometer (HPG; HOBO Pendant G data logger, Onset Computer Corp., Bourne, MA) in calves. However, the HPG does not measure step activity. The objectives of this study were to (1) validate step activity, lying bouts, and lying time of AfiTag II (AT2; AfiTag II, Afimilk Ltd., Kibbutz Afikim, Israel) to observations from video, and (2) to compare the behavioral data from AT2 to the HPG. Calves (n=5) were group housed with an automatic calf feeder. Video cameras were installed at both sides of the pen, and observations were analyzed for 7h/calf. The AT2 and the HPG were both attached to the lateral side of the right rear leg of 5 calves, and data were recorded for 10 d. The full 10-d data set was used to examine correlations for lying bouts and lying time between AT2 and the HPG. The HPG was set at a 60-s sampling interval and the output was analyzed both unfiltered as well as utilizing a 1-min event filter to remove potentially erroneous readings. The AT2 recorded step activity, lying bouts, and lying time, and summarized these behaviors in 15-min periods. The AT2 recorded lying time in 3-min intervals, which were then automatically summarized in 15-min periods. The correlations of step activity, lying bouts, and lying time between video recordings and AT2 were 0.99. For the second objective, correlations between AT2 and the HPG were 0.99 for lying time and 0.93 for lying bouts. The 1-min event filter resulted in a 0.03 improvement in correlations for lying bouts between the HPG and AT2. The high correlation between video recordings and AT2 suggest that this device can be used to measure step activity, lying time, and lying bouts in unweaned dairy calves housed in groups.
犊牛的行为，如步活动、躺卧周期和躺卧时间，可能是犊牛健康和福利的一个指标。为了减少耗时的视觉观察，已开发出行为监测系统来获取这些数据。先前的研究已使用加速度计（HPG；HOBO Pendant G数据记录器，Onset Computer Corp.，伯恩，马萨诸塞州）对犊牛的躺卧行为进行了验证。然而，HPG无法测量步活动。本研究的目的是：（1）将AfiTag II（AT2；AfiTag II，阿菲米尔克有限公司，基布兹阿菲基姆，以色列）的步活动、躺卧周期和躺卧时间与视频观察结果进行验证，以及（2）将AT2的行为数据与HPG进行比较。将犊牛（n = 5）与自动犊牛饲喂器一起成组饲养。在围栏两侧安装摄像机，对每头犊牛进行7小时的观察分析。将AT2和HPG都连接到5头犊牛右后腿的外侧，并记录10天的数据。使用完整的10天数据集来检验AT2和HPG之间躺卧周期和躺卧时间的相关性。HPG设置为60秒的采样间隔，对输出数据进行未滤波分析以及使用1分钟事件过滤器以去除潜在的错误读数。AT2记录步活动、躺卧周期和躺卧时间，并在15分钟时间段内汇总这些行为。AT2以3分钟间隔记录躺卧时间，然后自动汇总为15分钟时间段。视频记录与AT2之间步活动、躺卧周期和躺卧时间的相关性为0.99。对于第二个目标，AT2与HPG之间躺卧时间的相关性为0.99，躺卧周期的相关性为0.93。1分钟事件过滤器使HPG与AT2之间躺卧周期的相关性提高了0.03。视频记录与AT2之间的高相关性表明，该设备可用于测量成组饲养的未断奶奶牛犊的步活动、躺卧时间和躺卧周期。
