A Deep Learning Framework for Improving Lameness Identification in Dairy Cattle

Abstract Lameness, characterized by an anomalous gait in cows due to a dysfunction in their locomotive system, is a serious welfare issue for cows and farmers. Prompt lameness detection methods can prevent the development of acute lameness in cattle. In this study, we propose a deep learning framework to help identify lameness based on motion curves of different leg joints on the cow. The framework combines data augmentation and a convolutional neural network using an LeNet architecture. Performance assessed using cross validation showed promising prediction accuracies above 99% and 91% for validation and test sets, respectively. This also demonstrates the usefulness of data generation in cases where the data set is originally small in size and difficult to generate.