Automatic Assessment of Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens at the Slaughter Line
Keel bone damage (KBD) can be found in all commercial laying hen flocks with a wide range of 23% to 69% of hens/flock found to be affected in this study. As KBD may be linked with chronic pain and a decrease in mobility, it is a serious welfare problem. An automatic assessment system at the slaughte...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/1/163 |
| _version_ | 1827601816257298432 |
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| author | Lisa Jung Abozar Nasirahmadi Jan Schulte-Landwehr Ute Knierim |
| author_facet | Lisa Jung Abozar Nasirahmadi Jan Schulte-Landwehr Ute Knierim |
| author_sort | Lisa Jung |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Keel bone damage (KBD) can be found in all commercial laying hen flocks with a wide range of 23% to 69% of hens/flock found to be affected in this study. As KBD may be linked with chronic pain and a decrease in mobility, it is a serious welfare problem. An automatic assessment system at the slaughter line could support the detection of KBD and would have the advantage of being standardized and fast scoring including high sample sizes. A 2MP stereo camera combined with an IDS imaging color camera was used for the automatic assessment. A trained human assessor visually scored KBD in defeathered hens during the slaughter process and compared results with further human assessors and automatic recording. In a first step, an algorithm was developed on the basis of assessments of keel status of 2287 hens of different genetics with varying degrees of KBD. In two optimization steps, performance data were calculated, and flock prevalences were determined, which were compared between the assessor and the automatic system. The proposed technique finally reached a sensitivity of 0.95, specificity of 0.77, accuracy of 0.86 and precision of 0.81. In the last optimization step, the automatic system scored on average about 10.5% points lower KBD prevalences than the human assessor. However, a proposed change of scoring system (setting the limit for KBD at 0.5 cm deviation from the straight line) would lower this deviation. We conclude that the developed automatic scoring technique is a reliable and potentially valuable tool for the assessment of KBD. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:04:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3493d17867574a88ab9d31c30303f0dc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T05:04:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-3493d17867574a88ab9d31c30303f0dc2023-12-03T12:55:23ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152021-01-0111116310.3390/ani11010163Automatic Assessment of Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens at the Slaughter LineLisa Jung0Abozar Nasirahmadi1Jan Schulte-Landwehr2Ute Knierim3Farm Animal Behaviour and Husbandry Section, University of Kassel, Nordbahnhofstr. 1a, 37213 Witzenhausen, GermanyAgricultural and Biosystems Engineering Section, University of Kassel, Nordbahnhofstr. 1a, 37213 Witzenhausen, GermanyCLK GmbH, Zur Steinkuhle 3, 48341 Altenberge, GermanyFarm Animal Behaviour and Husbandry Section, University of Kassel, Nordbahnhofstr. 1a, 37213 Witzenhausen, GermanyKeel bone damage (KBD) can be found in all commercial laying hen flocks with a wide range of 23% to 69% of hens/flock found to be affected in this study. As KBD may be linked with chronic pain and a decrease in mobility, it is a serious welfare problem. An automatic assessment system at the slaughter line could support the detection of KBD and would have the advantage of being standardized and fast scoring including high sample sizes. A 2MP stereo camera combined with an IDS imaging color camera was used for the automatic assessment. A trained human assessor visually scored KBD in defeathered hens during the slaughter process and compared results with further human assessors and automatic recording. In a first step, an algorithm was developed on the basis of assessments of keel status of 2287 hens of different genetics with varying degrees of KBD. In two optimization steps, performance data were calculated, and flock prevalences were determined, which were compared between the assessor and the automatic system. The proposed technique finally reached a sensitivity of 0.95, specificity of 0.77, accuracy of 0.86 and precision of 0.81. In the last optimization step, the automatic system scored on average about 10.5% points lower KBD prevalences than the human assessor. However, a proposed change of scoring system (setting the limit for KBD at 0.5 cm deviation from the straight line) would lower this deviation. We conclude that the developed automatic scoring technique is a reliable and potentially valuable tool for the assessment of KBD.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/1/163keel bone damageprecision livestock farminglaying henhealth indicatorsanimal welfare assessmentlaying hen health |
| spellingShingle | Lisa Jung Abozar Nasirahmadi Jan Schulte-Landwehr Ute Knierim Automatic Assessment of Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens at the Slaughter Line Animals keel bone damage precision livestock farming laying hen health indicators animal welfare assessment laying hen health |
| title | Automatic Assessment of Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens at the Slaughter Line |
| title_full | Automatic Assessment of Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens at the Slaughter Line |
| title_fullStr | Automatic Assessment of Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens at the Slaughter Line |
| title_full_unstemmed | Automatic Assessment of Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens at the Slaughter Line |
| title_short | Automatic Assessment of Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens at the Slaughter Line |
| title_sort | automatic assessment of keel bone damage in laying hens at the slaughter line |
| topic | keel bone damage precision livestock farming laying hen health indicators animal welfare assessment laying hen health |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/1/163 |
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