Head Butt Research Articles

Classification of multiple cattle behavior patterns using a recurrent neural network with long short-term memory and inertial measurement units

In this study, we aimed to develop a recurrent neural network (RNN) with a long short-time memory (LSTM) model to monitor and classify cattle behavior patterns using inertial measurement units (IMU). This model was trained using motion data obtained from 6 Japanese steers. Each steer was fitted with an IMU sensor inside a waterproof box attached to a collar on the neck. Classified behavior classes included feeding, lying, ruminating (while lying), ruminating (while standing), licking salt, moving, social licking and head butt. LSTM-RNN model was trained to classify and measure cattle’s behavior across three window-sizes including window-size 64, 128 and 256 (3.2 s, 6.4 s and 12.8 s). A convolution neural network (CNN) model was used for comparison. The results reveal the LSTM-RNN model classification performance was superior to the CNN model. The LSTM-RNN model was found to achieve the best performance when using a window-size of 64 (accuracy, precision, recall, f1-score all were 88.7%). With a window-size 64, classification accuracy of specific behaviors was 97.8% (feeding), 88.7% (lying), 88.4% (ruminating-lying), 92.9% (ruminating-standing), 94.4% (licking salt), 84.8% (moving), 80.3% (social licking), and 81.9% (head butt). A few physically similar behaviors were easily misclassified. In conclusion, the LSTM-RNN demonstrated reasonable classification of cattle behavior. In future, additional sensors, such as a microphone, could be added to the cattle behavior monitoring system and behavior classification extended to cattle welfare and growth behaviors, such as feeding, reproduction and disease prediction.

Venomous frogs headbutt foe

Venomous frogs headbutt foe

Comparison of Holstein-Friesian and Norwegian Red dairy cattle for estrus length and estrous signs

This study addressed the effect of breed on estrus length and estrous behavior by observing 20 Holstein-Friesian (HF) and 20 Norwegian Red (NRF) cows on an outdoor wood-chip pad through 1 estrous cycle (22d). Detailed behavioral data were collected by continuous (24 h) video monitoring of all cows. Accurate estimation of duration of estrous periods, behavioral signs (sum per period and counts per hour), and duration and number of sexually active groups were reported through all stages of mount estrus (prestand, standing estrus, and poststand). These dependent variables were analyzed with a basic statistical model that included fixed effects for breed and lactation group. Other independent variables (milk yield, body condition score, and number of cows in standing estrus) were added to the basic model one by one and included in an expanded model if they had an effect on the respective dependent variables. Estrus duration was considerably shorter in HF compared with NRF cows for all the major periods: mount estrus (11.2±3.0 vs. 21.3±2.7 h), standing estrus (7.1±1.4 vs. 11.7±1.3 h), mounting period (6.9±2.7 vs. 18.2±2.4 h), and mounted period (9.2±2.8 vs. 17.5±2.6 h). Additionally, the NRF cows spent more time in sexually active groups (36.1±4.0 vs. 17.6±4.8%) during standing estrus compared with HF cows. The NRF cows participated in a greater number of sexually active groups (9.6±1.3 vs. 5.5±1.3) with longer average duration (0.42±0.04 vs. 0.20±0.04 h) and continued to be more active in these groups through late stages of estrus (poststand) compared with the HF breed. Mounting activity differed between breeds as NRF mounted more times in total (46.3±6.2 vs. 18.1±6.3) and per hour (2.6±0.4 vs. 1.5±0.5) during mount estrus. In addition, NRF tended to express the primary estrous sign, standing when mounted, more often during standing estrus (32.4±5.0 vs. 18.5±5.2). The HF initiated more unsuccessful mounts (1.6±0.3 vs. 0.6±0.3) per hour than did NRF during mount estrus. A significant effect of milk yield was demonstrated only on this behavior. For other estrous signs, HF cows initiated chase-up (2.0±0.5 vs. 0.5±0.4) and anogenital sniff (3.7±0.6 vs. 2.0±0.5) more frequently (counts per hour), whereas NRF expressed more total head butt behavior (32.3±4.7 vs. 14.2±4.8) during mount estrus. Body condition score had a significant effect on receptive behavior. Measures of estrus duration, sexually active group activity, and behavior related to estrus should be subjected to larger studies for improved heat detection and possible implementation in breeding programs.

Understanding Agricultural Liability: Livestock and Other Farm Animals

Animal agriculture carries certain potential legal risks for liability from injuries caused by livestock. Stable operators may have a horse that throws a rider or a horse that kicks another rider. Cattle producers may have stock that injures a recreational user of the farmland. Others may have that ornery goat or ram that insists upon giving whoever enters the field a solid head butt. Still others may have that unfriendly goose that must give chase. You get the point. As a livestock owner, understanding the law as it relates to liability for personal injuries caused by livestock will better help you develop a risk management plan that fits the needs of your operation. After reviewing this fact sheet, the reader should take a moment to consider his/her own operation. After reviewing the operation, the reader will be able to understand the potential legal risks that could exist and be able to develop strategies to limit some of potential liability.

Affiliative and Aggressive Behavior in a Group of Female Somali Wild Ass (Equus africanus somalicus)

We observed a group of three young female Somali wild asses to develop an ethogram of social behavior in the first phase of a longer term study of social, sexual, and maternal/infant behavior. The most unexpected finding was the frequency and extent of aggressive interactions, which included Charge, Drive, Neck Wrestle, Head Butt, and Body Slam, behaviors previously reported only for males of other equid species. The overall frequency of aggressive behavior was higher than that of affiliative behavior (84±16.5 vs. 32±5.5, P=0.03), yet no injuries occurred. The dyadic directionality of aggressive behavior suggested a dominance hierarchy, a feature not previously reported for either wild ass or domestic donkeys. The aggression observed may be an accurate representation of the behavior of this species, or their relatively young ages, or their recent transfer from their natal group through quarantine and into a new enclosure may have heightened agonistic tendencies. Further studies will determine whether with time their aggressive behavior becomes more intense or dissipates with maturity.

Behavior of lactating Holstein-Friesian cows during spontaneous cycles of estrus

The objectives of the present study were to describe, in detail, behavior associated with standing estrus (STE) in lactating dairy cows and behavioral changes during complete estrous cycles. Estrus signs were monitored by continuous video recording of 20 Holstein-Friesian (HF) cows housed on an outdoor wood-chip pad during 1 estrous cycle (22 d). Other social behavior was recorded during STE and, for comparison, during 1 selected day when none of the cows were in estrus. Standing stationary when mounted was defined as the primary estrus sign. Anogenital sniff, chin rest, attempt to mount, and mount were defined as secondary estrus signs. Ovarian cyclicity was confirmed by progesterone measurements. This study reports short mean duration of STE (7.1±1.44h) and estrus (mount period; 12.9±1.84h) of the 13 cows expressing these signs. All mounting activities involved at least one cow in, or within 4h of, STE. The most frequent sign during STE was anogenital sniff initiated, followed by chin rest received, chin rest initiated, chase up initiated, anogenital sniff received, mount initiated, head butt, mount received, attempt to mount initiated, push away received, play rub, attempt to mount received, follow initiated, threat received, flehmen, avoid, bellow, and social lick received. Standing and mounting activity in HF cows was inconsistent during estrus, indicating that other signs could be of greater use. The frequency of secondary estrus signs initiated and received increased gradually during the last 12h before STE, revealing significant differences between periods from 4 to 6 and 1 to 3h before STE. A considerable increase in receptive behavior (secondary estrus signs received) was identified between 1 to 3h prior to STE and STE. Both frequent initiated and received behaviors were associated with STE. A significant decrease in the frequency of secondary estrus signs initiated and received occurred 3h after STE. Cows in STE simultaneously predominantly chose the other standing cow as mate and expressed secondary estrus signs more frequently. Based on the results of this study, we suggest that chase up could be regarded as a reliable indicator of estrus and that the changes in proceptive (initiated) and receptive (received) behavior could be used as predictors of different stages in estrus. Knowledge of these behavioral signs may improve heat detection rates and the ability to predict the optimum breeding time for dairy cows.

Picture this: a new way of seeing risk

Conveying the statistics of risk is often a classic head butt between patient and doctor. You say: Smokers have a 50% greater chance of dying younger than non-smokers. The patient responds: Yes, but my uncle lived until he was 95 and he smoked his whole life. Well, you say, we are talking about the

On the rutting behaviour of the Himalayan goralNemorhaedus goral (Hardwicke, 1825)

The rutting behaviour of the Himalayan goralNemorhaedus goral was studied in an area of the Himalayan foothills, Himachal Pradesh, Northern India, from October 13 to 25, 1989. Twenty seven qualitatively different behaviour patterns were observed. Males showed a more extensive repertoire (25 patterns, 14 performed only by this sex) than did females (12 patterns, 1 of them-Reactive urination-unique). The Head butt and the Intentional head butt were the most frequently shown behaviour patterns of both sexes, and Naso-nasal contact followed. Males interacted mainly with females and usually seemed to ignore each other. Courtship activities peaked on October 22–25, when mounts were also recorded. “Following” was the only mating system observed. Pairs sometimes courted at short distances from each other, without eliciting any apparent aggressive reaction. No evidence of territoriality was found throughout our study period. The goral behaviour appears to be more closely related to that ofOreamnos (in quality and quantity of behaviour patterns, as well as the mating system) than to that ofCapricornis.

Courtship and agonistic behavior in mouflon sheep

Although native to Corsica and Sardinia, mouflon sheep ( Ovis orientalis musimon) have been widely introduced to other areas, including the United States. This study examines the courtship and agonistic behavior of 2 captive mixed-sex herds in west-central Texas, U.S.A. These herds were observed in large enclosures on game ranches during the autumn of 1980. Inter- or intra-sexual interactions consisted of one or more repeated behavioral postures (i.e. low stretch, twist, foreleg kick, sniff rear, urination, flehmen, mount, horn threat, chest push, neck fighting, head butt, clash, horn rubbing, chase). Ninety-five male-male, 63 female-female and 155 male-female interactions were observed. Low intensity agonistic displays (with total number of occurrences in the interactions given in paren-theses) such as foreleg kicks (154) and twists (141) were most frequently seen in male-male interactions. Although head butting (96) was commonly observed in male-male encounters, clashes (52) were also prominent. In female-female agonistic interactions, an unexpectedly high frequency of head butts (99) were regularly exhibited. Agonistic and courtship behavior patterns such as twist (131) and flehmen (106) were prominent in the behavior of males toward females. Although males would occasionally head butt a female (22), they seemed to inhibit clashing in their interactions with the hornless females. In most cases, female-female interactions were initiated by head butts (46) and male-male encounters began with either a head butt (23) or twist (18). Male-female interactions showed more variation in the behaviors which initiated the encounter, but usually began with a twist (39), flehmen (29) or low stretch (20) by the male. The observations of mouflon in this study conformed well with previous reports of sheep behavior.

Soccer-Related Eye Injuries in Children and Adolescents.

In brief: To determine the severity and frequency of soccer-related injuries, the medical charts of 13 soccer players who had sustained blunt trauma to the eye were reviewed. The patients (five girls, eight boys) ranged in age from 8 to 15 years. Hyphema was the most common injury; others included retinal edema, angle recession, secondary glaucoma, and chorioretinal rupture. Six injuries were caused by the ball, three by a kick, and one by a head butt; in three cases the cause was unknown. Education of coaching staff, parents, and officials; protective eye wear; proper conditioning; strictly enforced rules; and an emphasis on having fun would help reduce the number and severity of soccer-related eye injuries.

Agonistic behaviour and electric signalling in a mormyrid fish, Gnathonemus petersii

1. Agonistic motor behaviour and concurrent electric signalling were studied in individually held, residential Gnathonemus petersii. Aggressive behaviour was elicited by presenting a specimen of a closely related species, Mormyrus rume, for 3 min a day. 2. The principal agonistic motor patterns are described (Fig. 2). Among them head butt, approach and lateral display were further analysed. 3. The electrical activity displayed during agonistic behaviour was found to differ fundamentally both from isolated resting and swimming conditions. The mean discharge rate recorded during aggressive behaviour (31 Hz, Fig. 3 c) is approximately twice the rate observed in an isolated swimming fish (Fig. 3b) and three times the rate displayed by a resting animal (Fig. 3a). An attacking G. petersii exhibits a much greater range of electric organ discharge (EOD) intervals than isolated swimming or resting individuals. EOD-interval histograms recorded from attacking fish show two sharp modes at high discharge rate; there are no intermediate intervals. 4. During the course of an attack, the initially low and variable discharge rate increases fairly linearly as the distance from the attacked fish diminishes (Fig. 9). The EOD rate associated with physical contact (head butt) comprises between 60 and 80 Hz in 24 of 28 attacks analysed; the dominant mode of the distribution is 61 Hz (Fig. 8). 5. During subsequent lateral display, G. petersii emits a high discharge rate pattern consisting of two types of “steady-state” activities which may last up to a few seconds: the first is a fairly regular alternation of approx. 16 and 8 ms intervals (paired pulses); this pattern gives rise to the two peaks of high discharge rate in the interval histogram (Fig. 3c). The second is a regular sequence of either 16 or 8 ms intervals (Fig. 4A). The only female among the animals used in our study showed the same display but did not exhibit the highest possible discharge rate (i.e. a regular sequence or 8 ms intervals; Fig. 4B). The high discharge rate is terminated by a sudden discharge break (Figs. 4A and 6). 6. It is suggested that the attack-associated EOD rate increase is a remnant of an ordinary locomotory pattern which has changed its function to a ritualised aggressive signal that occurs in a socially significant and well-defined context. The high discharge rate might serve three functions: (i) behavioural isolation of closely related, sympatrically living mormyrids (perhaps by character displacement); (ii) recognition of sexes; (iii)_synchronisation of mates during courtship.

Assessment of the signal value of certain discharge patterns in the electric fish,Gymnotus carapo, by means of playback

The signal value of 4 distinct discharge patterns inGymnotus carapo was investigated by means of a model electric fish. The model produced an electrical approximation to theGymnotus discharge and field but bore no physical resemblance to the real animal (Figs. 1, 2). Three of the sequences used: Bursts, Offs and Shifts (Fig. 3) were simulations of patterns known to be involved in the agonistic behaviour ofGymnotus. The fourth was that characteristic of a resting fish and was used as a control. 1. No aggressive behaviour was shown towards the model when it was electrically inactive. Components directed to the head region during normal interaction (Head Butt, Bite, etc.) were invariably directed to the electrical “head” of the otherwise symmetrical model. Polarity inversion resulted in a corresponding reversal of the end attacked. 2. Comparison of the frequency distributions and rate of occurrence of behaviour components during interaction with the model and conspecifics revealed great similarity-the differences found being due to the immobility of the model (Fig. 4). 3. A repeated measures analysis of variance (AOV) was used to examine the 6 replications of the experiment. The factors in the analysis were: Playback Sequence (Conditions), Amplitude (Level), Dominance and Days. Two groups of agonistic components, Approaches and Contacts were examined. 4. The Days factor was significant for Contact scores only, due to the rapid habituation of high intensity (Contact) components; Approach scores remained at the same level (Fig. 5). 5. Animals in a given dominance group showed the highest level of aggression towards the model when the amplitude was closest to their own (Fig. 6). 6. High score for dominant and low for submissive in the Shifts condition, compared with the control, suggest that this is a “dominance” signal. 7. Contact scores in the Offs condition were very low (Fig. 7) while Approaches remained at a high level (Fig. 6)-demonstrating the extreme effectiveness of the Off as a submissive signal. 8. Contact scores in the Bursts condition showed a highly significant difference for the dominant group between the two playback amplitudes. Highest scores were for high level playback, the fish showing little interest in an apparently small fish (low amplitude) behaving aggressively (producing Bursts). These scores were even lower than for submissive animals at either amplitude (Fig. 7).