Volume VII Number 3 May/June 1999

Infrared Thermography Could Be Key to Future Cattle Sorting and Selection by Detecting Heat in Cattle

by David Bowser



Dr. Mark Spire carefully scrutinizes the green, red and yellow cattle on his television monitor.

Spire's not a mad scientist studying genetic mutants. He's with Kansas State University's Food and Animal Health and Management Center and is scanning cattle using infrared thermography.

"We have a thermal camera that looks at heat coming off an animal," he says.

One of the calves on the television monitor has green highlights. The other one has less green and more yellow and red.

The calf above has a higher rate of
gain, according to Dr. Spire. Red and white
indicates a warmer calf, thus one that
is gaining more weight.
"That tells us it's a warmer calf," Spire says.

There is about an eight degree surface temperature difference between those calves.

While this information is open to interpretation, Spire says he knows that one of the calves is on a hotter ration and is gaining over three pounds a day while the other is on a control ration and is gaining only a little more than a pound a day.

Using a similar scenario with more numbers, the system could detect the differences in metabolic energy that's given off in a pen of 100 cattle. With that information, producers could develop management profiles for a more efficient operation.

Research is also being done using the system to detect health problems. While the camera won't penetrate the body of an animal, it will pickup differences in temperatures that may indicate infections within.

"Anything that causes inflammation causes increased circulation at the skin, and will show up as a hotter zone," Spire says.

Spire said their studies include not just the animal, but also the environment in which the animal operates. They are trying to build different types of profiles under disease, different weather conditions, different rations and stress.

The researchers also looked at abscesses, lameness and injection site reactions.

"We've done a number of experiments like injection site reactions with different products," Spire says. "We've also worked with commercial companies looking at implants."

Much of their recent work has revolved around using the system to scan for implant problems as a camera travels down a bunk line. From that, they have developed a screening system to look for abscessed implants.

The contrast of the internal temperatures of the
cattle in the pen illustrates the difference
in their rate of gain.
They have also developed an identification system. A conventional ear tag generally shows up black, or cold, on their scan. So they developed a tag that the camera could read. Now they can scan the animals in the day or at night since the camera detects ranges in temperature, not light.

They've looked at using the system for health work, looked at cattle upon receiving in the feedyard, and investigated animals on different rations.

Right now, Spire said, the system appears to be more adaptable to use in a feedyard than at the ranch.

They're still developing a database that might indicate how calves would perform. It involves developing data on fat cover and a thermal profile, and work out a correlation as they monitor a cow herd.

While the current system costs $50,000, newer cameras coming on the market cost less. There may also be savings in how the system is used. If it is used simply as an early warning device, a less sophisticated camera would be needed.

If a feedyard operator wants to use the system as a sorting tool in connection with such things as dark cutters or total health aspects, then the system should be more advanced.

The more that is expected from the system will lead to more sophisticated equipment and higher costs. The system is also vulnerable to weather conditions and distance.

Right now, Spire says 60 feet is about the maximum predictable range of the camera and lens he's presently using. That can be a problem in a feedyard where the pens are 300 feet deep, but there may not be the need to cover the whole pen.

"We want to get it down to bunk level where you drive down the bunks and look," he says.

Dr. Spire's infrared camera is similar in
size to a home video camera. The images
he shoots are displayed with their thermal
temperatures on the screen.
While light by itself won't influence the system, ambient temperature will. Wind, too, will effect it when shooting cattle over a distance. Moisture can also have an effect.

Spire says that in a comparison on a 38-degree day between a wet and a dry steer made a 15 degree difference between the animals.

The system doesn't do very well with mud and manure, either. Mud will trap the heat in, and it won't show up on the surface.

Right now, a lot of the interpretation depends upon the person reading it, similar to early day ultrasound systems.

As the database grows and becomes broader, eventually Spire sees a plug in system where the input will be compared to stored data and the results will be more consistent.
 








  

   
   

   


   

   		
  
   



  

    



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