All Outputs (78)

Personality and predictability in farmed calves using movement and space-use behaviours quantified by ultra-wideband sensors (2022)
Journal Article
Occhiuto, F., Vázquez-Diosdado, J. A., Carslake, C., & Kaler, J. (2022). Personality and predictability in farmed calves using movement and space-use behaviours quantified by ultra-wideband sensors. Royal Society Open Science, 9(6), Article 212019. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.212019

Individuals within a population often show consistent between individual differences in their average behavioural expression (personality), and consistent differences in their within-individual variability of behaviour around the mean (predictability... Read More about Personality and predictability in farmed calves using movement and space-use behaviours quantified by ultra-wideband sensors.

Repeatability and Predictability of Calf Feeding Behaviors—Quantifying Between- and Within-Individual Variation for Precision Livestock Farming (2022)
Journal Article
Carslake, C., Occhiuto, F., Vázquez-Diosdado, J. A., & Kaler, J. (2022). Repeatability and Predictability of Calf Feeding Behaviors—Quantifying Between- and Within-Individual Variation for Precision Livestock Farming. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 9, Article 827124. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.827124

Individual calves show substantial between- and within-individual variation in their feeding behavior, the existence and extent of which are not fully researched. In this study, 57,196 feeding records, collected by a computerized milk feeder from 48... Read More about Repeatability and Predictability of Calf Feeding Behaviors—Quantifying Between- and Within-Individual Variation for Precision Livestock Farming.

A randomised controlled trial to evaluate the impact of indoor living space on dairy cow production, reproduction and behaviour (2022)
Journal Article
Thompson, J. S., Hudson, C. D., Huxley, J. N., Kaler, J., Robinson, R. S., Woad, K. J., …Green, M. J. (2022). A randomised controlled trial to evaluate the impact of indoor living space on dairy cow production, reproduction and behaviour. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 3849. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-07826-9

As a global society, we have a duty to provide suitable care and conditions for farmed livestock to protect animal welfare and ensure the sustainability of our food supply. The suitability and biological impacts of housing conditions for intensively... Read More about A randomised controlled trial to evaluate the impact of indoor living space on dairy cow production, reproduction and behaviour.

Cattle farmer psychosocial profiles and their association with control strategies for bovine viral diarrhea (2022)
Journal Article
Prosser, N. S., Green, M. J., Ferguson, E., Tildesley, M. J., Hill, E. M., Keeling, M. J., & Kaler, J. (2022). Cattle farmer psychosocial profiles and their association with control strategies for bovine viral diarrhea. Journal of Dairy Science, 105(4), 3559-3573. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2021-21386

Bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) is endemic in the United Kingdom and causes major economic losses. Control is largely voluntary for individual farmers and is likely to be influenced by psychosocial factors, such as altruism, trust, and psychological prox... Read More about Cattle farmer psychosocial profiles and their association with control strategies for bovine viral diarrhea.

Genome-Scale Metabolic Models and Machine Learning Reveal Genetic Determinants of Antibiotic Resistance in Escherichia coli and Unravel the Underlying Metabolic Adaptation Mechanisms (2021)
Journal Article
Pearcy, N., Hu, Y., Baker, M., Maciel-Guerra, A., Xue, N., Wang, W., …Dottorini, T. (2021). Genome-Scale Metabolic Models and Machine Learning Reveal Genetic Determinants of Antibiotic Resistance in Escherichia coli and Unravel the Underlying Metabolic Adaptation Mechanisms. mSystems, 6(4), Article e00913-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00913-20

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is becoming one of the largest threats to public health worldwide, with the opportunistic pathogen Escherichia coli playing a major role in the AMR global health crisis. Unravelling the complex interplay between drug re... Read More about Genome-Scale Metabolic Models and Machine Learning Reveal Genetic Determinants of Antibiotic Resistance in Escherichia coli and Unravel the Underlying Metabolic Adaptation Mechanisms.

From the other perspective: Behavioural factors associated with UK sheep farmers’ attitudes towards antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance (2021)
Journal Article
Doidge, C., Lima, E., Lovatt, F., Hudson, C., & Kaler, J. (2021). From the other perspective: Behavioural factors associated with UK sheep farmers’ attitudes towards antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance. PLoS ONE, 16(5), Article e0251439. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251439

Research suggests that many sheep farmers continue to carry out traditional antibiotic use practices despite new’good practice’ recommendations. The aim of this study was to group farmers depending on their attitudes around antibiotic use and antibio... Read More about From the other perspective: Behavioural factors associated with UK sheep farmers’ attitudes towards antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance.

Lameness Detection in Cows Using Hierarchical Deep Learning and Synchrosqueezed Wavelet Transform (2021)
Journal Article
Jarchi, D., Kaler, J., & Sanei, S. (2021). Lameness Detection in Cows Using Hierarchical Deep Learning and Synchrosqueezed Wavelet Transform. IEEE Sensors Journal, 21(7), 9349-9358. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSEN.2021.3054718

Objectives: Identification of cow lameness is important to farmers to improve and manage cattle health and welfare. No validated tools exist for automatic lameness detection. In this research, we aim to early detect the cow lameness by identifying th... Read More about Lameness Detection in Cows Using Hierarchical Deep Learning and Synchrosqueezed Wavelet Transform.

Machine Learning Algorithms to Classify and Quantify Multiple Behaviours in Dairy Calves Using a Sensor: Moving Beyond Classification in Precision Livestock (2020)
Journal Article
Carslake, C., Vázquez-Diosdado, J. A., & Kaler, J. (2021). Machine Learning Algorithms to Classify and Quantify Multiple Behaviours in Dairy Calves Using a Sensor: Moving Beyond Classification in Precision Livestock. Sensors, 21(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.3390/s21010088

Previous research has shown that sensors monitoring lying behaviours and feeding can detect early signs of ill health in calves. There is evidence to suggest that monitoring change in a single behaviour might not be enough for disease prediction. In... Read More about Machine Learning Algorithms to Classify and Quantify Multiple Behaviours in Dairy Calves Using a Sensor: Moving Beyond Classification in Precision Livestock.

Understanding farmers' naturalistic decision making around prophylactic antibiotic use in lambs using a grounded theory and natural language processing approach (2020)
Journal Article
Doidge, C., Ferguson, E., Lovatt, F., & Kaler, J. (2021). Understanding farmers' naturalistic decision making around prophylactic antibiotic use in lambs using a grounded theory and natural language processing approach. Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 186, Article 105226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.105226

The routine use of antibiotics for prevention of disease in neonatal lambs has been highlighted as inappropriate, yet research suggests that many farmers in the UK still carry out this practice. The aim of the study was to understand farmers' natural... Read More about Understanding farmers' naturalistic decision making around prophylactic antibiotic use in lambs using a grounded theory and natural language processing approach.

Impact of Flock Health Clubs (2020)
Journal Article
Noble, N., Occhiuto, F., Lovatt, F., Johnson, M., Jones, W., & Kaler, J. (2020). Impact of Flock Health Clubs. Livestock, 25(6), 301-307. https://doi.org/10.12968/live.2020.25.6.301

Sheep farming is an important part of UK agriculture with significantly more breeding females than either the pig or cattle sectors. Whether grazing alongside arable rotations or utilising the marginal uplands, sheep farms arguably play a key role th... Read More about Impact of Flock Health Clubs.

Antimicrobial use practices and opinions of beef farmers in England and Wales (2020)
Journal Article
Doidge, C., Hudson, C. D., Burgess, R., Lovatt, F., & Kaler, J. (2020). Antimicrobial use practices and opinions of beef farmers in England and Wales. Veterinary Record, 187(12), e119-e119. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.105878

© British Veterinary Association. Background Limited research exists on antimicrobial use practices of beef farmers. This study aimed to investigate antimicrobial practices and perceptions of beef farmers in England and Wales, and identify drivers of... Read More about Antimicrobial use practices and opinions of beef farmers in England and Wales.

Farmers' Perceptions of Preventing Antibiotic Resistance on Sheep and Beef Farms: Risk, Responsibility, and Action (2020)
Journal Article
Doidge, C., Ruston, A., Lovatt, F., Hudson, C., King, L., & Kaler, J. (2020). Farmers' Perceptions of Preventing Antibiotic Resistance on Sheep and Beef Farms: Risk, Responsibility, and Action. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7, Article 524. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.00524

© 2020 Doidge, Ruston, Lovatt, Hudson, King and Kaler. Antibiotic resistance is one of the most serious public health risks facing humanity. The overuse of antibiotics in the treatment of infectious disease have been identified as sources of the... Read More about Farmers' Perceptions of Preventing Antibiotic Resistance on Sheep and Beef Farms: Risk, Responsibility, and Action.

Variable selection for inferential models with relatively high-dimensional data: Between method heterogeneity and covariate stability as adjuncts to robust selection (2020)
Journal Article
Lima, E., Davies, P., Kaler, J., Lovatt, F., & Green, M. (2020). Variable selection for inferential models with relatively high-dimensional data: Between method heterogeneity and covariate stability as adjuncts to robust selection. Scientific Reports, 10, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64829-0

Variable selection in inferential modelling is problematic when the number of variables is large relative to the number of data points, especially when multicollinearity is present. A variety of techniques have been described to identify ‘important’... Read More about Variable selection for inferential models with relatively high-dimensional data: Between method heterogeneity and covariate stability as adjuncts to robust selection.

Influencing Change: When “Best Practice” Changes and the Prototypical Good Farmer Turns Bad (2020)
Journal Article
Green, L., Kaler, J., Liu, N., & Ferguson, E. (2020). Influencing Change: When “Best Practice” Changes and the Prototypical Good Farmer Turns Bad. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 7, Article 161. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.00161

Twenty-nine farmers with a flock prevalence of lameness >5% were visited in 2013. They participated in a facilitated discussion on treatment of footrot, and evidence-based new “best practice.” One year later, farmers were revisited and management and... Read More about Influencing Change: When “Best Practice” Changes and the Prototypical Good Farmer Turns Bad.

Is it just about grazing? UK citizens have diverse preferences for how dairy cows should be managed (2020)
Journal Article
Jackson, A., Green, M., Millar, K., & Kaler, J. (2020). Is it just about grazing? UK citizens have diverse preferences for how dairy cows should be managed. Journal of Dairy Science, 103(4), 3250-3263. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2019-17111

© 2020 American Dairy Science Association Conflicting views between the dairy industry and the public about how dairy cows should be managed, together with an increase in the availability of alternatives to dairy foods, challenge future markets for m... Read More about Is it just about grazing? UK citizens have diverse preferences for how dairy cows should be managed.

Field survey to evaluate space allowances for dairy cows in Great Britain (2020)
Journal Article
Thompson, J. S., Huxley, J. N., Hudson, C. D., Kaler, J., Gibbons, J., & Green, M. J. (2020). Field survey to evaluate space allowances for dairy cows in Great Britain. Journal of Dairy Science, 103(4), 3745-3759. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2019-17004

© 2020 American Dairy Science Association Housing conditions can affect health of cows by increasing exposure to biological, chemical, and physical hazards, resulting in increased disease. A report in 2014 indicated that 99% of UK dairy cows are hous... Read More about Field survey to evaluate space allowances for dairy cows in Great Britain.

Automated detection of lameness in sheep using machine learning approaches: novel insights into behavioural differences among lame and non-lame sheep (2020)
Journal Article
Kaler, J., Mitsch, J., Vázquez-Diosdado, J. A., Bollard, N., Dottorini, T., & Ellis, K. A. (2020). Automated detection of lameness in sheep using machine learning approaches: novel insights into behavioural differences among lame and non-lame sheep. Royal Society Open Science, 7(1), Article 190824. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.190824

Lameness in sheep is the biggest cause of concern regarding poor health and welfare among sheep producing countries. Best practice for lameness relies on rapid treatment, yet there are no objective measures of lameness detection. Use of accelerometer... Read More about Automated detection of lameness in sheep using machine learning approaches: novel insights into behavioural differences among lame and non-lame sheep.

Koala retrovirus viral load and disease burden in distinct northern and southern koala populations (2020)
Journal Article
Sarker, N., Fabijan, J., Owen, H., Seddon, J., Simmons, G., Speight, N., …Tarlinton, R. E. (2020). Koala retrovirus viral load and disease burden in distinct northern and southern koala populations. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 263. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-56546-0

Koala retrovirus (KoRV) displays features of both an endogenous and exogenous virus and is linked to neoplasia and immunosuppression in koalas. This study explores the apparent differences in the nature and impact of KoRV infection between geographic... Read More about Koala retrovirus viral load and disease burden in distinct northern and southern koala populations.

Environmental and field characteristics associated with lameness in sheep: a study using a smartphone lameness app for data recording (2019)
Journal Article
Vittis, Y., & Kaler, J. (2019). Environmental and field characteristics associated with lameness in sheep: a study using a smartphone lameness app for data recording. Veterinary Record, https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.105476

Background: Sheep lameness is a major concern among farmers and policymakers with significant impacts on animal welfare standards as well as financial and production performance. The present study attempts to identify the relative importance of envir... Read More about Environmental and field characteristics associated with lameness in sheep: a study using a smartphone lameness app for data recording.

Best practice versus farm practice: Perspectives of lecturers and students at agricultural colleges in England on management of lameness in sheep (2019)
Journal Article
Clifton, R., Reeves, M. C., Kaler, J., & Green, L. E. (2019). Best practice versus farm practice: Perspectives of lecturers and students at agricultural colleges in England on management of lameness in sheep. Journal of Rural Studies, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2019.11.014

We use the concepts of trust and knowledge to explore translation of scientific evidence about treatment of ovine footrot to students studying at agricultural colleges. We explore the role of different forms of trust (companion, competence and commit... Read More about Best practice versus farm practice: Perspectives of lecturers and students at agricultural colleges in England on management of lameness in sheep.