The use of behavioural biometrics to assess biological states in livestock

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Disease in feedlot cattle presents substantial costs to the beef industry, as well as implications for animal welfare and public health. The early detection of sick individuals is essential for prompt treatment and to control the transmission of pathogens through a population. The incorporation of fidgeting as a behavioural biometric in combination with infrared thermography has revealed an increase in the accuracy of detecting respiratory disease one week or more prior to the onset of clinical symptoms up to 83.5%. My research program is both original and innovative in that it specifically investigates how behavioural biometrics can be used as part of automated technology and detection systems in livestock to improve the health and well-being of livestock. My research has already established proof of concept that fidgeting behaviour correlates to the onset of illness in cattle and that we are able to automatically detect this phenomenon using an infrared thermography scanning station. This technology and software has recently been patented (Bench and Schaefer, 2013) and continues to receive international interest.In the proposed research, we will continue to investigate disease behavioural biometrics in cattle in order to answer the question: Is fidgeting and other micro-behaviours an epiphenomenon for disease in livestock? And, if so, what is the underlying physiological mechanism and how do these micro-behaviours develop and change over time so they can be used as an early disease biometric? The specific short-term objectives of my research program are to characterize the ontogeny of fidgeting micro-behaviours in beef cattle and to ascertain the physiological mechanisms underlying micro-behaviours as a disease biometric using kinematic (biomechanical) analysis. One primary hypothesis to be tested is that fidgeting behaviour in sick cattle results from hyperalgesia (an increased sensitivity to pain) as a result of viral cytokines and inflammation, which can be kinetically mapped through the head, neck and shoulder regions of calves. This research has a strong potential for further technology innovation and to advance basic science questions about the development of sickness behaviour in calves.Our current research investigations will further knowledge of fundamental disease behaviours that are crucial to the survival of many organisms and, in the long-term, will serve as the foundation work for determining the heritability of behaviour biometrics associated with disease and their energetic requirements of an animal. The primary benefit of this research in Canada will be improved animal health, welfare and food safety through the early identification of disease which will enable earlier treatment and recovery in animals. An overall reduction in livestock antibiotic use is also a benefit by targeting only animals in need of treatment, leading to a subsequent reduction in antibiotic-resistant microbes and decreased transfer of such microbes to food products.