An approach for early lameness detection in dairy cattle

A common welfare issue in the dairy industry is cow lameness. Lame cows produce less milk and have other costs associated such as the loss of reproductive performance and the need for veterinary treatment. The earlier a lame cow is detected, the more effectively it can be treated. Currently, lame cows are detected by visual inspection performed by herdsmen. However, visual inspection is subjective and time consuming. We present an approach to automatically detect lameness based on a wearable motion sensor attached to a cow's hind left leg and a pressure plate.