Automatic Scoring System for Monitoring Foot Pad Dermatitis in Broilers

Helen Louton, Shana Bergmann, Andre Piller, Michael Erhard, Jenny Stracke, Birgit Spindler, Paul Schmidt, Jan Schulte-Landwehr and Angela Schwarzer
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Helen Louton: Animal Health and Animal Welfare, Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Rostock, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6b, D-18059 Rostock, Germany
Shana Bergmann: Chair of Animal Welfare, Ethology, Animal Hygiene and Animal Husbandry, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, Veterinaerstr. 13/R, D-80539 Munich, Germany
Andre Piller: Chair of Animal Welfare, Ethology, Animal Hygiene and Animal Husbandry, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, Veterinaerstr. 13/R, D-80539 Munich, Germany
Michael Erhard: Chair of Animal Welfare, Ethology, Animal Hygiene and Animal Husbandry, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, Veterinaerstr. 13/R, D-80539 Munich, Germany
Jenny Stracke: Institute of Animal Science, Farm Animal Ethology, University of Bonn, Endenicher Allee 15, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
Birgit Spindler: Institute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Behavior, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischofsholer Damm 15, D-30173 Hannover, Germany
Paul Schmidt: Statistical Consulting for Science and Research, Große Seestraße 8, D-13086 Berlin, Germany
Jan Schulte-Landwehr: CLK GmbH, Zur Steinkuhle 3, D-48341 Altenberge, Germany
Angela Schwarzer: Chair of Animal Welfare, Ethology, Animal Hygiene and Animal Husbandry, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, LMU Munich, Veterinaerstr. 13/R, D-80539 Munich, Germany

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: The assessment of foot pad dermatitis at slaughter is a suitable method to assess and monitor the welfare of broilers. The goals of this study were to define and validate a camera-based score that could identify macroscopic lesions of the foot pads, to identify errors, and to assess possible external factors that could influence the assessment. In the first phase 200 feet of broilers and in the second phase 500 feet were collected at slaughter, assessed visually, hung back into the evisceration line, and assessed by an automatic system. The camera score cut-off values were defined in the first (=calibration) phase. In the second (=validation) phase, the performance of diagnosis for these cut-off values was evaluated, and possible errors in the assessment of reference surface area and foot pad lesions were analyzed. The results showed that, in particular, Macro Scores 0, 2, and 3 could be identified with sufficiently high sensitivity. For Macro Score 1, the sensitivity of diagnosis was not sufficiently high in the two evaluated software versions. The current automatic assessment systems at slaughter could be adjusted to the cut-off values in order to classify foot pad dermatitis lesions. Furthermore, software updates can enhance the performance measures and lower the probability of errors.

Keywords: automatic assessment; foot pad lesion; precision livestock farming; welfare assessment; welfare indicator (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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