Date Available
1-8-2019
Year of Publication
2019
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
College
Agriculture, Food and Environment
Department/School/Program
Animal and Food Sciences
Advisor
Dr. Joao H. C. Costa
Abstract
Body condition scoring is a technique used to noninvasively assess fat reserves. It provides an objective estimate to describe the current and past nutritional status of the dairy cow and has been associated with increased disease risk and breeding success. Traditionally body condition scores are taken manually by visual appraisal on a 1 to 5 scale, in one-quarter increments. However, recent studies have shown the potential of automating the body condition scoring of cows using images. The first objective was to estimate the likelihood of disease development and breeding success, using odds ratios, associated with body condition score scored automatically at various points in lactation. The second objective of our research was to use a commercially available automated body condition scoring camera system to monitor body condition across the lactation period to evaluate differences between stratified parameters and to develop an equation to predict the dynamics of the body condition score. We found that poor body condition score at different times during the transition period are associated with increased disease occurrence and lower reproductive success. Automated body condition scoring (ABCS) curve during lactation was influenced by many factors, such as parity, ABCS at time of calving, disease occurrence, and milk production.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.004
Recommended Citation
Truman, Carissa Marie, "AUTOMATED BODY CONDITION SCORING: PROGRESSION ACROSS LACTATION AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH DISEASE AND REPRODUCTION IN DAIRY CATTLE" (2019). Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences. 96.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/animalsci_etds/96
