Smart Dairy Farming-The Potential of the Automatic Monitoring of Dairy Cows' Behaviour Using a 360-Degree Camera

Simple Summary This study investigates the extent to which a 360 degrees camera is suitable for detecting the behaviour of cows in a dairy barn. The focus is on animal behaviour, as this is a suitable indicator that allows conclusions about animal health. Therefore, 2299 snapshots from a 360 degrees camera installed in a dairy cattle barn were evaluated manually to identify lying, standing and eating behaviours. Based on the principle of the multi-moment study, the number of animals in each image is determined according to the behavioural patterns. During the 18 h of observation, the average lying time per cow was 5.9 h, standing time was 6.9 h, and feeding time was 5.2 h. Since the accuracy rate of correctly detected animals is 93.1%, the camera technology seems to be a suitable tool for observing animal behaviour and, thus, their health in real time. In the ongoing project, the behavioural patterns will be recognised automatically using artificial intelligence.Abstract The aim of this study is to show the potential of a vision-based system using a single 360 degrees camera to describe the dairy cows' behaviour in a free-stall barn with an automatic milking system. A total of 2299 snapshots were manually evaluated, counting the number of animals that were lying, standing and eating. The average capture rate of animals in the picture is 93.1% (counted animals/actual numbers of animals). In addition to determining the daily lying, standing and eating times, it is also possible to allocate animals to the individual functional areas so that anomalies such as prolonged standing in the cubicle or lying in the walkway can be detected at an early stage. When establishing a camera monitoring system in the future, attention should be paid to sufficient resolution of the camera during the night as well as the reduction of the concealment problem by animals and barn equipment. The automatic monitoring of animal behaviour with the help of 360 degrees cameras can be a promising innovation in the dairy barn.