Machine Vision Analysis of Ujumqin Sheep’s Walking Posture and Body Size
Author:
Qin Qing123ORCID, Zhang Chongyan123, Lan Mingxi13, Zhao Dan13, Zhang Jingwen12, Wu Danni12, Zhou Xingyu13, Qin Tian12, Gong Xuedan13, Wang Zhixin1, Zhao Ruiqiang4, Liu Zhihong123
Affiliation:
1. Animal Science Department, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Zhaowuda Road, No. 8 Teaching and Research Building, Hohhot 010010, China 2. Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Zhaowuda Road, No. 8 Teaching and Research Building, Hohhot 010010, China 3. Key Laboratory of Mutton Sheep and Goat Genetics and Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhaowuda Road, No. 8 Teaching and Research Building, Hohhot 010010, China 4. Inner Mongolia Huawen Technology and Information Co., Ltd., Alatan Street, Saihan District Hohhot, Hohhot 010010, China
Abstract
The ability to recognize the body sizes of sheep is significantly influenced by posture, especially without artificial fixation, leading to more noticeable changes. This study presents a recognition model using the Mask R-CNN convolutional neural network to identify the sides and backs of sheep. The proposed approach includes an algorithm for extracting key frames through mask calculation and specific algorithms for head-down, head-up, and jumping postures of Ujumqin sheep. The study reported an accuracy of 94.70% in posture classification. We measured the body size parameters of Ujumqin sheep of different sexes and in different walking states, including observations of head-down and head-up. The errors for the head-down position of rams, in terms of body slanting length, withers height, hip height, and chest depth, were recorded as 0.08 ± 0.06, 0.09 ± 0.07, 0.07 ± 0.05, and 0.12 ± 0.09, respectively. For rams in the head-up position, the corresponding errors were 0.06 ± 0.05, 0.06 ± 0.05, 0.07 ± 0.05, and 0.13 ± 0.07, respectively. The errors for the head-down position of ewes, in terms of body slanting length, withers height, hip height, and chest depth, were recorded as 0.06 ± 0.05, 0.09 ± 0.08, 0.07 ± 0.06, and 0.13 ± 0.10, respectively. For ewes in the head-up position, the corresponding errors were 0.06 ± 0.05, 0.08 ± 0.06, 0.06 ± 0.04, and 0.16 ± 0.12, respectively. The study observed that sheep walking through a passage exhibited a more curved knee posture compared to normal measurements, often with a lowered head. This research presents a cost-effective data collection scheme for studying multiple postures in animal husbandry.
Funder
National Key R&D Program of China Major Science and Technology Projects of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region National Natural Science Foundation of China
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