All Outputs (8)

Using big data in cattle practice (2018)
Journal Article
Hudson, C., Kaler, J., & Down, P. (2018). Using big data in cattle practice. In Practice, 40(9), 396-410. https://doi.org/10.1136/inp.k4328

© 2018 BMJ Publishing Group Limited. The concept of big data, associated data sources and analytics is becoming increasingly talked about both in society as a whole and within the livestock industry. This article provides a clinician-focused review o... Read More about Using big data in cattle practice.

Feature selection and comparison of machine learning algorithms in classification of grazing and rumination behaviour in sheep (2018)
Journal Article
Mansbridge, N., Mitsch, J., Bollard, N., Ellis, K., Miguel-Pacheco, G. G., Dottorini, T., & Kaler, J. (2018). Feature selection and comparison of machine learning algorithms in classification of grazing and rumination behaviour in sheep. Sensors, 18(10), Article 3532. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18103532

Grazing and ruminating are the most important behaviours for ruminants, as they spend most of their daily time budget performing these. Continuous surveillance of eating behaviour is an important means for monitoring ruminant health, productivity and... Read More about Feature selection and comparison of machine learning algorithms in classification of grazing and rumination behaviour in sheep.

Application of multiple behaviour change models to identify determinants of farmers’ biosecurity attitudes and behaviours (2018)
Journal Article
Richens, I., Houdmont, J., Wapenaar, W., Shortall, O., Kaler, J., O’Connor, H., & Brennan, M. L. (2018). Application of multiple behaviour change models to identify determinants of farmers’ biosecurity attitudes and behaviours. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 155, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2018.04.010

It has been recognised that few cattle farmers undertake biosecurity practices on their farms. Approaches that take into consideration individuals’ preparedness for change, alongside beliefs thought to motivate the enactment of certain behaviours, ma... Read More about Application of multiple behaviour change models to identify determinants of farmers’ biosecurity attitudes and behaviours.

Short- and long-term association between individual levels of milk antibody against Ostertagia ostertagi and first-lactation heifer’s production performances (2018)
Journal Article
Bellet, C., Green, M., Bradley, A., & Kaler, J. (2018). Short- and long-term association between individual levels of milk antibody against Ostertagia ostertagi and first-lactation heifer’s production performances. Veterinary Parasitology, 256, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vetpar.2018.04.008

It is agreed that exposure of adult dairy cattle to helminths on pasture can negatively affect production performances as milking herd. Young animals, especially replacement heifers, represent the future of a dairy farm and are among the most vulnera... Read More about Short- and long-term association between individual levels of milk antibody against Ostertagia ostertagi and first-lactation heifer’s production performances.

Evaluation of sampling frequency, window size and sensor position for classification of sheep behaviour (2018)
Journal Article
Walton, E., Casey, C., Mitsch, J., Vázquez-Diosdado, J. A., Yan, J., Dottorini, T., …Kaler, J. (2018). Evaluation of sampling frequency, window size and sensor position for classification of sheep behaviour. Royal Society Open Science, 5(2), https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171442

Automated behavioural classification and identification through sensors has the potential to improve health and welfare of the animals. Position of a sensor, sampling frequency and window size of segmented signal data has a major impact on classifica... Read More about Evaluation of sampling frequency, window size and sensor position for classification of sheep behaviour.

Sheep farmers’ attitudes to farm inspections and the role of sanctions and rewards as motivation to reduce the prevalence of lameness (2018)
Journal Article
Liu, N. L., Kaler, J., Ferguson, E., O’Kane, H., & Green, L. E. (2018). Sheep farmers’ attitudes to farm inspections and the role of sanctions and rewards as motivation to reduce the prevalence of lameness. Animal Welfare Journal, 27(1), https://doi.org/10.7120/09627286.27.1.067

The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 make it an offence to allow unnecessary suffering to animals, highlighting that farmers have a duty of care for their animals. Despite this, the current global mean prevalence of lameness in sh... Read More about Sheep farmers’ attitudes to farm inspections and the role of sanctions and rewards as motivation to reduce the prevalence of lameness.

True cowmen and commercial farmers: exploring vets’ and dairy farmers’ contrasting views of ‘good farming’ in relation to biosecurity (2018)
Journal Article
Shortall, O., Sutherland, L., Ruston, A., & Kaler, J. (in press). True cowmen and commercial farmers: exploring vets’ and dairy farmers’ contrasting views of ‘good farming’ in relation to biosecurity. Sociologia Ruralis, https://doi.org/10.1111/soru.12205

Responsibility for biosecurity in UK farming is being devolved from government to industry, with a greater emphasis on the veterinarian (vet)-farmer relationship. Although social science has shown that care for animals is part of ‘good farming’, the... Read More about True cowmen and commercial farmers: exploring vets’ and dairy farmers’ contrasting views of ‘good farming’ in relation to biosecurity.

Drivers for precision livestock technology adoption: a study of factors associated with adoption of electronic identification technology by commercial sheep farmers in England and Wales (2018)
Journal Article
Lima, E., Hopkins, T., Gurney, E., Shortall, O., Lovatt, F., Davies, P., …Kaler, J. (2018). Drivers for precision livestock technology adoption: a study of factors associated with adoption of electronic identification technology by commercial sheep farmers in England and Wales. PLoS ONE, 13(1), Article e0190489. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190489

The UK is the largest lamb meat producer in Europe. However, the low profitability of sheep farming sector suggests production efficiency could be improved. Although the use of technologies such as Electronic Identification (EID) tools could allow a... Read More about Drivers for precision livestock technology adoption: a study of factors associated with adoption of electronic identification technology by commercial sheep farmers in England and Wales.