What Are Sheep Doing? Tri-Axial Accelerometer Sensor Data Identify the Diel Activity Pattern of Ewe Lambs on Pasture

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dc.citation.issue20
dc.citation.volume21
dc.contributor.authorIkurior SJ
dc.contributor.authorMarquetoux N
dc.contributor.authorLeu ST
dc.contributor.authorCorner-Thomas RA
dc.contributor.authorScott I
dc.contributor.authorPomroy WE
dc.coverage.spatialSwitzerland
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-09T02:01:13Z
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-25T06:52:00Z
dc.date.available2021-10-13
dc.date.available2024-01-09T02:01:13Z
dc.date.available2024-07-25T06:52:00Z
dc.date.issued2021-10
dc.description.abstractMonitoring activity patterns of animals offers the opportunity to assess individual health and welfare in support of precision livestock farming. The purpose of this study was to use a triaxial accelerometer sensor to determine the diel activity of sheep on pasture. Six Perendale ewe lambs, each fitted with a neck collar mounting a triaxial accelerometer, were filmed during targeted periods of sheep activities: grazing, lying, walking, and standing. The corresponding acceleration data were fitted using a Random Forest algorithm to classify activity (=classifier). This classifier was then applied to accelerometer data from an additional 10 ewe lambs to determine their activity budgets. Each of these was fitted with a neck collar mounting an accelerometer as well as two additional accelerometers placed on a head halter and a body harness over the shoulders of the animal. These were monitored continuously for three days. A classification accuracy of 89.6% was achieved for the grazing, walking and resting activities (i.e., a new class combining lying and standing activity). Triaxial accelerometer data showed that sheep spent 64% (95% CI 55% to 74%) of daylight time grazing, with grazing at night reduced to 14% (95% CI 8% to 20%). Similar activity budgets were achieved from the halter mounted sensors, but not those on a body harness. These results are consistent with previous studies directly observing daily activity of pasture-based sheep and can be applied in a variety of contexts to investigate animal health and welfare metrics e.g., to better understand the impact that young sheep can suffer when carrying even modest burdens of parasitic nematodes.
dc.format.pagination6816-
dc.identifier.author-urlhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34696028
dc.identifier.citationIkurior SJ, Marquetoux N, Leu ST, Corner-Thomas RA, Scott I, Pomroy WE. (2021). What Are Sheep Doing? Tri-Axial Accelerometer Sensor Data Identify the Diel Activity Pattern of Ewe Lambs on Pasture.. Sensors (Basel). 21. 20. (pp. 6816-).
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/s21206816
dc.identifier.eissn1424-8220
dc.identifier.elements-typejournal-article
dc.identifier.issn1424-8220
dc.identifier.numberARTN 6816
dc.identifier.piis21206816
dc.identifier.urihttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/71062
dc.languageeng
dc.publisherMDPI (Basel, Switzerland)
dc.relation.isPartOfSensors (Basel)
dc.rights(c) 2021 The Author/s
dc.rightsCC BY 4.0
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectclassification algorithm
dc.subjectdiel activity
dc.subjecthealth monitoring
dc.subjectsheep
dc.subjecttri-axial accelerometers
dc.subjectAcceleration
dc.subjectAccelerometry
dc.subjectAlgorithms
dc.subjectAnimals
dc.subjectFarms
dc.subjectFemale
dc.subjectSheep
dc.subjectWalking
dc.titleWhat Are Sheep Doing? Tri-Axial Accelerometer Sensor Data Identify the Diel Activity Pattern of Ewe Lambs on Pasture
dc.typeJournal article
pubs.elements-id449066
pubs.organisational-groupOther
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