Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; CARE OF BIRDS, FISHES, INSECTS; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
  • A01K29/00—Other apparatus for animal husbandry
  • A01K29/005—Monitoring or measuring activity, e.g. detecting heat or mating
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; CARE OF BIRDS, FISHES, INSECTS; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
  • A01K11/00—Marking of animals
  • A01K11/001—Ear-tags
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
  • G06V10/00—Arrangements for image or video recognition or understanding
  • G06V10/88—Image or video recognition using optical means, e.g. reference filters, holographic masks, frequency domain filters or spatial domain filters
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06V—IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING
  • G06V20/00—Scenes; Scene-specific elements
  • G06V20/10—Terrestrial scenes
  • G06V20/13—Satellite images

Definitions

• the invention is about a system that provides detection of estrous in cows with a drone and gains time to cattle breeders by saving labor, making the operations easy and minimize the errors due to human.
• Said invention will provide trouble-free job convenience thanks to its software that shortens the calving interval of cows, provides economic advantage and is easy to use. Thanks to the algorithm of the software to be installed on the drone, an automation has been developed which can detect the cow's estrous based on the principle of matching the images with the image processing techniques by taking photographs that show the behavior and physical properties of the cows' estrous period.
• IPS Image Processing Systems
• Images are obtained using different physical devices such as video cameras, X-ray devices, electron microscopes, radars and ultrasound devices. These images were previously used for entertainment, health, business, industry, military, civilian, security and scientific purposes but nowadays the new field of use for these images is agriculture. In all cases, the objective is to obtain useful information about the location displayed for an observer (human or machine).
• Mollo Neto et al. (2004) used an image processing system based on the quality control system rules and developed an automated inspection system that classifies wet blue skin. It has been demonstrated through studies that video analysis is a potential tool for assessing the movements of domestic animals and for investigating the relationship between their environment and their behavior (Dao et al. 2015; Souza et al., 2004: Bercovich et al. 2015).
• Drones or long-name unmanned aerial vehicle were first developed for the defense industry like many of the technologies of the 20th century. The use of these vehicles in military attacks, which were initially designed for observation purposes, has allowed them to be recognized by wider masses.
• Today's UAV technology is a leading player in many different sectors.
• UAVs are in use in the film industry, especially in the defense and defense industry, there is even today in the transportation industry (package delivery) that comes along with Amazon.
• the use of autonomous systems in agricultural production which have the power to make decisions and implement decisions, are considered to be an important tool. farmers who want to follow the technology in this way can also have an idea about the ripening of their crops thanks to the infrared rays on the drones.
• Insemination The process in which the male and female reproductive cells in the functional state are arranged to find each other in the reproductive organs of the female that is in estrous period is called "insemination". Insemination can be done naturally or artificially. As long as the cow is not pregnant, it enters the estrous period at an average of 21 days intervals. The cycle of estrous may change for even the same animal. Nevertheless, it is very rare that the time period between the two estrous periods went up to 21 days or fell below 18 days. Inseminated cows should be closely monitored at least twice a day for the next 3 weeks following the last estrous period.
• Cows normally do not enter the estrous period during the pregnancy. However, with very few, this situation can be experienced otherwise. Such cows often have dead births at the end of the estrous. Nonetheless, there are also cows that gives normal birth at the end of the pregnancy period, which enters estrous period in regular intervals during their pregnancy. If the pregnant cow in the estrous period is artificially inseminated, it will give a dead birth or the fetus will be mummified. Because during the artificial insemination the cervical region is damaged and the cervical plug is deteriorated.
• the first estrous after birth is approximately seen in 6-10 weeks after birth. But this period can be shortened to 4 weeks.
• the time from birth to the first estrous is very important. There are many factors that are effective on the length of this time. The effects of these factors are mostly that the estrous is delayed.
• Involution time depends on many factors and most importantly the type of delivery (single, twin, difficult birth), the season of calving, the number of calves and the race. ⁇ ekerden et al.
• the function of the female is much more complex than the male. Because, the role of the female in the breeding continues after the insemination. Functions of the female in reproduction can be named as; produce a living egg (female sex cell), deliver the egg to the part where fertilization will take place, fertilization, embryo development, prepare appropriate environment for implantation and fetus development, ensure that the calf reaches live and healthy at the end of the pregnancy period, bringing reproductive organs to their normal situations that have worn out during birth.
• the egg that develops in the follicles of the ovaries is released from the follicles.
• the released egg is taken up by the infundibulum of the egg channel. If the cow is breeded during this time, the egg can be fertilized in the egg channel.
• the zygote is transported to the uterine horn. It is implanted into the uterus 30-33 days after fertilization. The embryo stays here during the entire developmental period. Finally, at the end of the pregnancy period, the calf gets out of the body through the cervix, vagina and vulva.
• Reproduction in the female cattle means egg production and ovulation, begins at 6-10 months of age. This period is called "adolescence".
• the female shows a desire to breed with an average of 21 day intervals after reaching the age of adolescence. Externally visible signs of breeding are called “estrous symptoms”. Each estrous period is 18 hours on average.
• the behavioral characteristics of the animal which is estrous period vary greatly. It allows other animals in the flock to jump over and it jump overs on other animals, when examined closely it is seen that its vulva swollen and a gentle flow comes from it, not often but there may also be a slight blood leak from its vulva until a day or two after the end of estrous.
• the ovulation is known to be 14-16 hours later or later than the end of estrous. For this reason, delaying artificial insemination until the end of the day after estrous has been discovered increases the chances of fertilization. However, it should be known that this practice may also cause embryonic mortality. The reason for this is the senescence of the egg, rather than the sperm. Because, as in other pet species, sperm cells in cattle need to be exposed to the uterine secretion for several hours before the egg gains fertilization ability. This phenomenon, called capacitation, can explain the low conception rate that occurs when the seeding is done before or after it is necessary.
• estrous is perhaps the greatest challenge of insemination. Because in insemination, a human determines whether the cow is in estrous period or not, instead of a bull.
• Cows show a wide variety of estrous indications; they scream, run and jump over other cows. In addition, their appetite diminishes and their yield decreases. However, everyone cannot easily understand the mentioned changes. For this, it must be well known what kind of behavior the cows will show in their estrous period. - To know the estrous cycle of the cows in the flock:
• the time between two estrous periods is 90% likely to be 18-24 days. Cows which enters the estrous period at longer intervals should be recorded and monitored closely.
• the estrous period is 18 hours on average, ranging from 4 hours to 14 hours. For this reason, it is necessary to try to understand whether or not they are in estrous period, by monitoring them while feeding, milking and all other times.
• the egg After the egg has been ovulated, it can remain fertile for a very short period of time, such as 2-4 hours.
• the ovulation time is 5-6 hours after the end of the estrous, as mentioned earlier.
• the sperm can remain fertile for up to 28 hours in the female reproductive organ. For this reason, the breeding time, at which optimum fertilization rate can be achieved, is very limited. If the breeding is done in the middle of the estrous period, the highest pregnancy rate is achieved. If the breeding is earlier or later than the middle of the estrous, it reduces the pregnancy rate.
• the insemination should be done in the afternoon or in the evening but if the estrous is noticed in the afternoon or in the evening the insemination should be done in the next morning.
• the average estrous period is 18 hours
• the average ovulation time is 10-11 hours after the end of estrous, when estrous is detected, it is very close to the beginning of the estrous cycle.
• a farmer who performs estrous control at 12-hour intervals may even need to inseminate his/her cow as soon as detecting the estrous.
• the breeding period can be extended up to 6 hours after the end of estrous. However, further delay of insemination reduces fertility rapidly.
• estrous is not seasonal in cows, they may show estrous all year.
• the average estrous cycle is 21 days, ranging from 14-25 days.
• the estrous cycle consists of four periods in cows: Proestrus, Estrous, Metoestrus and Diestrous.
• Proestrus This stage of the estrous involves the development of follicles, releasing of estrogen, is a period of 2-4 days, and occurs between the 17th and 20th days. In this stage,
• Estrous duration is shorter comparing to other pets. The changes that started during the proestrus period increased even more during this period, which could be 18 hours approximately:
• Estrous appears with inner and outer estrous indications.
• outer estrous indications are: it is considered to be the 1st day of the new cycle.
• the dominant follicle reaches its maximum size, matures and becomes an ovule.
• Ovulation occurs after an average of 30 hours from the beginning of the estrous.
• the ovulation is triggered by LH at high concentration (preovulatory LH pike).
• Estrous is also called rut and lasts from 4 to 24 hours. During the estrous the cow / heifer agrees to breed. With effects of the estrogen, estrous behaviors occur:
• Metoestrus is a two-day transition period following the end of estrous. 2nd-4th Days:
• Diestrous is the longest stage in the cow's estrous cycle. In this period of approximately fifteen days, the corpus luteum, which started in the period of metoestrus, completed its normal development during this period.
• the corpus luteum begins to lyse.
• Cows shows an estrous every 21 days as long as they are not pregnant. The next 30-90 days after the calving is out of this rule and they show anestrous state after birth. The duration of anestrous varies depending on factors such as race, temperature, light and nutrition.
• estrous detection which is the most important point for fertility in cattle breeding, is still a challenge. The success of estrous detection in cows for various reasons may vary (Chart 1 ).
• Calm estrous is defined as the state in which the ovaries are functioning normally and the estrous is not observed despite ovulation (Gray and Varner, 2003).
• the invention is about a system that provides detection of estrous in cows with a drone and gains time to cattle breeders by saving labor, making the operations easy and minimize the errors due to human. Thanks to the algorithm of the software to be installed on the drone, an automation has been developed which can detect the cow's estrous based on the principle of matching the images with the image processing techniques by taking photographs that show the behavior and physical properties of the cows' estrous period.
• the invention comprises a drone, a camera connected to the drone, image processing software including a specific algorithm, and a standby platform on which the drone can be charged while waiting.
• Drones or long-name unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) were first developed for the defense industry like many of the technologies of the 20th century. The use of these vehicles in military attacks, which were initially designed for observation purposes, has allowed them to be recognized by wider masses.
• the unmanned aerial vehicles which have the power to make decisions and implement decisions (autonomous), shortly called drones.
• Today's UAV technology is in use in the film industry, especially in the defense and defense industry and in package delivery.
• Night Vision Technology provides visibility and traceability as it is in daylight hours, up to 18 meters in the dark.
• the software used with the system is designed to carry the following possibilities:
• the estrous activity in the heifers is less than the old cows and the duration of the estrous is shorter.
• the estrous activity in cows varies according to the number of lactations (Chart 2).
• Cows that are close to the beginning of the estrous tend to gather together. If there is a bull around, they tend to be as close as possible to the bull. If there are more than one cow in estrus at the same time ensures that the symptoms are more distinct. It is known that the fact that if two or more cows are estrous at the same that increases the number of jump overs significantly (Chart 3).
• Chart 3 The relation of the number of jump overs with the number of cows in estrous at the same time.
• the feathers on the tail head is fluffy or scattered due to the breeding. Mud or fertilizer contamination may appear on the hip or on the back during breeding.
• the feathers on the tail or the lower part of the vulva can be matted due to the dried mucus-like fluid.
• Vulva lips are red and slightly swollen, becomes slightly watery, when the vulva lips are opened with two fingers, the vulvar inner part is seen to have a red color (carrot color).
• the places where the cows are bred do not concentrate in the walking area or the paddock. There are places where breed actions are concentrated. These areas are called hot spots. The location of the hot spots is sometimes associated with the place of the walking. For example, it is effective if the ground is soil or concrete. Cows do not prefer concrete floors. Another hot spot might be beside the bull's division. Grazing area and pastures can be considered as hot spots. Cow milking divisions and milking chambers are rarely considered hot spots.
• the drone makes a flight in the stable, when it detects one of the above-mentioned estrous behavior characteristics, it records video from different angles and takes different photos of the cows.
• the ear tag on the cow that is photographed is read through the RFID reader on the drone, and the captured photo or recorded video is matched with this number.
• the photographs are converted from analogue picture format to digital picture format, a comparison of the obtained pictures with respect to the estrous behavior characteristics, evaluation of the photographs for the estrous behavior features, comparison of the findings detected at these stages with the reference information previously coded in the database is made, the estrous indications are scored, the total score is calculated and the warning list is prepared, a warning message about the animal's estrous is prepared taking into consideration the reference information showing the most similarity in comparison and prepared to the user notification step. When this information is requested, it can be shared with the user audible, written or visually.

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• 2017
  • 2017-04-11 TR TR2017/05367A patent/TR201705367A2/tr unknown
• 2018
  • 2018-04-09 WO PCT/TR2018/050153 patent/WO2019009857A2/en active Application Filing

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