Mobile measuring systems as a tool for reliable measuring of the parameters of the exterior of animals, live weight and establishing their correlation with the intensity of growth

Abstract

Relevance. Accurate monitoring of the live weight of animals provides important information about the state of health, the predicted age of removal from fattening and the timing of the sale of livestock. However, weighing animals at all stages is a time-consuming process, unsafe for livestock breeders; it also causes stress to livestock. To overcome these problems, it is necessary to create non-invasive weighing mechanisms. Based on the results of experimental studies, a method for determining live weight based on ultra-precise neural networks applied to deep images of animals has been developed.Methods. Scientific research was carried out in 2021–2022 in the KFH Lekomtsev M.M., Glazovsky district of the Udmurt Republic. The volume of the sample set of animals was 78 bulls raised for meat and 75 heifers raised for herd repairs. All animals were divided into three groups depending on their origin: group 1 — bulls (n = 27) and heifers (n = 25) of the Black-and-White breed; group 2 — bulls (n =25) and heifers (n = 25) of the Aberdeen-Angus breed; group 3 — crossbred bulls (n = 26) and heifers (n = 25) of the first generation, obtained by crossing Black-and-White cows with bulls-producers of the Aberdeen-Angus breed. The intensity of growth was studied by indicators of live weight and average daily gains. The animals were weighed on electronic scales. The exterior was evaluated according to the following measurements: height at the withers, straight trunk length, chest depth, chest width, width of loin at hips, width of loin at pin bones, straight hip length, circumference of cannon bone. Exterior parameters were determined by the method of processing images obtained using a depth sensor Structure Sensor 3D.Results. The biological regularity of the formation of the exterior-constitutional features of cattle in age dynamics and the close correlation between the parameters of the physique and the intensity of growth have been revealed, which give reason to believe that the calculated values of the body mass index (in heifers — 0.34–0.35, bulls — 0.28–0.29) can be used as coefficients for predicting the live weight of young animals, excluding at the same time laborious weighing process.