Artyom R. Khakimov

The article examines the potential of video surveillance systems for contactless monitoring of cow behavior under dairy farm conditions. The aim of the study was to systematize data on the daily time budget of tethered cows and to determine approximate values of the main behavioral acts suitable for automated animal condition monitoring. The study included an analysis of scientific literature and the authors’ own observations of the daily behavior of 254 Black-and-White cows divided into three production groups: lactating cows, first-lactation cows, and young stock. For the comparative analysis, 41 publications containing quantitative data on rest, feeding, drinking, rumination, and locomotor activity were selected.Based on the comparison of published and original data, it was found that the most significant components in the structure of the daily time budget of cows are rest, feeding, rumination, drinking, and locomotor activity. Differences between published and original data were identified for certain activity types, which made it possible to determine approximate ranges of time-budget indicators for different animal groups. Based on the comparison of published and original data, a table of approximate changes in time-budget indicators was compiled; these changes may be considered behavioral signs of animal distress. The obtained results are of interest for the development of automated video monitoring systems and require further verification under clinically confirmed observation conditions.

The purpose of this study was to find the relationship between biochemical parameters of blood of pregnant cows and the development of rickets in newborn calves in order to assess the possibility of prognosis and prevention of this disease.The study was conducted on 32 pregnant zebu‐type Black‐and‐White cows and their offspring (n=30). Calcium‐phosphorus metabolism indicators and vitamin D levels were evaluated in the cows at 50 and 14 days pre‐calving, and in calves at 0, 1, 3, and 6 months of age.The concentration of vitamin D in cows turned out to be critically low (13.43–13.47 ng/ml at a rate of 28–35 ng/ml), and the ratio of Ca: The P did not correspond to the norm (1.36:1 and 1.2:1 with a norm of 1.5–2:1). The calves had vitamin D levels 80 % below normal at birth, and 80 % of the young showed signs of rickets in the first month of life. A strong positive correlation was found between the level of vitamin D in cows 50 and 14 days before calving and its level in calves at birth (r= +0.751 and r= +0.709, respectively). A stable average negative correlation was found between the level of calcium in cows and the activity of alkaline phosphatase in calves. However, the coefficient of determination (R2) for most bonds was low (11–39 %), which indicates a weak influence of the studied parameters.It was found that the indicators of calcium‐phosphorus metabolism in pregnant cows do not have a high prognostic value for reliable prediction of the risk of rickets in offspring. Based on the results, it was considered inappropriate to use these parameters for the prediction of rickets in a contactless animal assessment system.

(1) Background: Currently, there is a problem of prompt determination of fat and protein content in the milk–air mixture of milking machines. (2) Methods: A design of a sensor prototype is proposed, combining measurements of light scattering (scatterometry) and fluorescence (fluorometry) to determine the component composition of the milk–air mixture formed during milking. (3) Results: An optical and electronic circuit of a flow sensor has been developed, using four sources of optical radiation: blue, green and red semiconductor lasers (light scattering in milk) and a UV LED (milk fluorescence), as well as an axial photodiode array for recording the light scattering indicatrix and the fluorescence intensity of the milk–air mixture. The use of three laser sources in the scatterometric circuit allows for the determination of the fat content in milk with an error of 0.05%, which is better than all currently known analogs. The developed sensor enables the detection of counterfeit milk containing palm oil instead of milk fat. It operates reliably in a temperature range of 5–35 °C and at milk flow rates of up to 100 mL/sec. (4) Conclusions: The sensor is capable of transmitting real-time data on the fat and protein content of milk to an RS-232 serial port, enabling integration into milking robots and automated milking systems.

The study compares two technologies of precision animal husbandry — the SCR Heatime collar (Allflex Livestock Intelligence, Israel) and the “Agrobiotest” bolus (“Agrobiotest” LLC, Russia) — for monitoring the physiological state of dairy cows. The experiment was conducted on 10 Holstein cows at the KubSAU farm. The cicatricial bolus demonstrated high accuracy (97.8%) in measuring the pH of the scar, which is critically important for assessing the acidity and health of the gastrointestinal tract. The SCR Heatime collar (Allflex Livestock Intelligence, Israel) proved to be more effective for tracking rumination (89.4%), which allows monitoring eating behavior. The combined use of the devices increased the overall accuracy of diagnosing the metabolic status of cows to 98.5%, providing a more complete picture of the animals’ condition. A moderate correlation (r = 0.73) was found between the rumination activity and the pH level, which confirms the relationship between eating behavior and metabolic processes. The study confirms that the integration of data from different sensors (collars and boluses) makes it possible to increase the effectiveness of early diagnosis of metabolic disorders and optimize diets. The results obtained open up prospects for the creation of digital animal twins, which contributes to the development of precision animal husbandry.

In modern precision animal husbandry systems, wearable and implantable devices with accelerometers are actively used to monitor the health and productivity of livestock. In this study, a comparative evaluation of two devices was performed — the SCR Heatime collar (Allflex Livestock Intelligence, Israel) and a rumen bolus “Cow Health” (Federal Scientific Agroengineering Center VIM, Russia) — to classify activity and chewing in dairy cows. The experiment was conducted on the basis of a farm of the Kuban State Agrarian University with the participation of Holstein cows for 90 days. The devices recorded data with a frequency of 10 Hz, which was further analyzed using machine learning algorithms to identify key behavioral patterns: feeding, chewing, walking, and resting. The results showed that collars demonstrated higher accuracy (94.2%) in detecting feeding and walking, while boluses surpassed them in monitoring chewing gum (97.8%). The combined use of both devices made it possible to achieve the maximum overall accuracy of behavior classification — 98.1%. Additionally, the effectiveness of the systems in detecting sexual hunting was investigated: the combined use of collars and boluses increased detection accuracy by 12% compared with separate use. The findings highlight the complementary role of wearable and implantable sensors in digital animal husbandry. The combination of technologies not only improves the monitoring of the physiological state of cows, but also opens up prospects for the creation of digital animal twins, which helps optimize herd management and increase the economic efficiency of dairy farms.

Currently, the process of collecting linear parameters of cow exterior is mainly carried out manually, which is a labor-intensive, complex process that depends on the skills of a veterinarian. For fast and accurate grading, it is proposed to develop an intelligent system for contactless digital assessment of the exterior of cattle based on the use of video cameras and modern image analysis technologies. Such monitoring will also allow for the diagnosis of diseases and their early detection.The purpose of the study is to compare two such cameras and determine their applicability in the system being developed.We used a laboratory stand with a large number of objects at a predetermined distance from the cameras, specially developed software for processing the results and constructing a linear regression linking the real distance with the measured one. A special adjustment has been developed to reduce the camera error. As a result, it was determined that both cameras of this type have an average error of ±5 mm when measuring objects at a distance of 382 to 671 mm, taking images with an aperture of up to 60 × 45° and a resolution of up to 480 × 480 pixels. It was concluded that the error of both cameras is acceptable for equipping the system under development, not exceeding 2% per 1 m.

In the agro-industrial complex of Russia, there is a demand for technologies for digitalization of the process of collecting linear parameters of the exterior of animals, especially dairy cows. The transition from subjective manual grading to a unified automatic one will dramatically increase the productivity and accuracy of such operations. The aim of the study was to develop a methodology and conduct an initial full-scale test of a digital monitoring system for the exterior of dairy cows.The study was conducted on an operating dairy farm in the Moscow region; all animals belonged to the black-and-white zebu breed. The suitability of the digital monitoring system’s pass-through box for the passage of dairy cows, the operability and error of 8 camera units, possible animal stress, and the overall stability of the system were assessed. M5 3D TOF RGB three-dimensional time-of-flight cameras and stereo pairs of two 1/3-inch CMOS OV4689 lenses located on the board were used to collect images. In total, the system of 8 camera units located above and to the side of the digital monitoring system’s walk-through box allows for simultaneous shooting of each animal from all sides, providing for the measurement of 18 basic body measurements of the cow and the calculation of 12 body condition indices.As a result, it was determined that the camera units are able to capture images of animals moving in the digital monitoring system’s walk-through box without stopping. The resolution error of the distance map collected from the images was ±10 mm. It was confirmed that the animals were walking calmly in the entrance box of the digital monitoring system, without showing signs of excessive stress.

Milking systems used in Russia have the potential to be upgraded with devices for in-line control of milk quality parameters. Monitoring the composition of milk and tracking anomalies in the concentration of somatic cells in real time is especially important for rapid response to changes in the parameters of the physiological state of animals and timely intervention before low-quality milk enters the common reservoir. This paper provides an example of the modernization of the “Herringbone” milking system with the function of evaluating the quality of milk during milking. The milk quality express analysis device used to modernize the milking system is optical and does not affect the flow of milk in the milk hose of the milking system. The device allows for in-line analysis of the percentage concentration of fat and quantitative analysis of the concentration of somatic cells in milk with a threshold detection level of 900–1000 thousand cells / ml, analyzing a flow volume of up to 6 liters/min. In the study, the operability of the device to analyze raw cow′s milk with two different fat content parameters — 2.53% and 3.16% and a concentration of 1 × 10⁶ somatic cells per 1 ml was evaluated in two stages. As a result of the experiment, the average value ± standard deviation of fat content was (2.75 ± 0.16)% and (3.37 ± 0.20)%, and somatic cells were (0.096 ± 0.007) cu and (0.102 ± 0.006) cu, which corresponds to the range of 900–1000 thousand cells / ml. The errors of the average values of the measured fat content of milk amounted to 0.2–0.3% of the fat content of the measured milk. The maximum coefficient of variation for fat content measurements is 6%, and for qualitative analysis of somatic cells — 7%, which demonstrates the stability of the device and the success of the modernization of the milking system. In the future, the improvement of the system providing on-line monitoring of the milking process will continue.

Relevance. Increased values of temperature and relative humidity of the external environment lead to negative consequences for the animal body, forcing the thermoregulation processes to be turned on. These mechanisms allow the animal organism to adapt to new environmental conditions at the expense of productivity. In these cases heat stress is observed. It is established that its manifestation is observed after 17 hours and there is a possible decrease in productivity by 35–40%. To identify the effect of heat stress, accurate determination of temperature-humidity index (THI) is necessary.Methods. The materials and methods contain the most common formulas for determining the temperature and humidity index. The equipment and software package used for the research are presented.Results. A graph of the results of South Korean studies is presented to compare the effects of heat stress on productivity. The results and discussions display a modernized formula for determining the heat stress index and figures showing the level of heat stress at different temperature and relative humidity levels.

Mechanization and robotization of dairy farms require the development of technologies for assessing the quality of manufactured products. Monitoring milk composition and milking duration in real time is especially important for prompt response to deviations in animal physiological state parameters and timely adjustment of rations when milk yields decrease. The first version of the scatterometric device for express analysis of milk quality used a glass measuring chamber with a simple round cross-section, but it did not ensure the reduction of the turbulent flow of the milk-air mixture to laminar. This study presents the development and testing of a prototype of a measuring chamber that provides deceleration and laminarization of the milk-air mixture flow. The device operates at a milking capacity of 1 to 6 l/min, flow speed from 0.2 to 1.8 m/s. In the developed measuring chamber, a special bypass is created at an angle of 45° so that it has a common slot with the main tube. In this bypass, the flow of the milk-air mixture is slowed down to reduce turbulence and the number of air bubbles that interfere with the operation of scatterometric devices. The measurement area of the device is located in the upper part of the bypass. As a result, the developed measuring chamber has an internal diameter of the main part of 15 mm, the bypass of 11 mm, and provides close to 100% filling of the branch with liquid at the moment of the milk plug passage. The developed measuring chamber allowed the new version of the express milk quality analysis device to achieve increased accuracy and stability of measurements.