CowXNet: An automated cow estrus detection system

dc.contributor.authorLodkaew, Thanawat
dc.contributor.authorPasupa, Kitsuchart
dc.contributor.authorLoo, Chu Kiong
dc.date.accessioned2026-08-06T10:40:39Z
dc.date.available2026-08-06T10:40:39Z
dc.date.issued2023-01-01
dc.description.abstractEstrus detection is essential for dairy farms to take cows for artificial insemination promptly. Conventional approaches for detecting estrus cows use electronic devices attached to cows to gather data for software analysis. However, electronic devices can be costly and make a cow moody and uncomfortable while moving. In a common approach, observers detect estrus cows by observing their behaviors. However, continuous observation can easily lead to errors due to the observer's fatigue. Therefore, we designed CowXNet, an automatic estrus detection system for cows, to assist farmers to detect estrus cows. CowXNet requires only a camera attached in a pen and a computer to analyze recorded videos. CowXNet analyzes the estrus behaviors of each cow in a pen and helps farmers to identify estrus cows. To develop and evaluate CowXNet efficiently and effectively, we collected data from Chokchai Farm, the biggest dairy farm in Asia (14.65483<sup>∘</sup>N, 101.34853<sup>∘</sup>E). CowXNet has four modules: (i) cow detection uses YOLOv4 to detect cows in recorded videos; (ii) body part detection uses a convolutional neural network to estimate locations of body parts of detected cows; (iii) estrus behavior detection uses body part coordinates to extract a set of discriminative features, and a classification algorithm to detect estrus behaviors, and (iv) behavior analysis module displays estrus behavior for analysis purposes. We evaluated CowXNet for two instances: module-independent evaluation and end-to-end framework evaluation. Overall, CowXNet was promising; it correctly detected estrus behavior interval of cows 83% of cases.
dc.identifier.citationExpert Systems with Applications, 211, 2023
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.eswa.2022.118550
dc.identifier.issn09574174
dc.identifier.other2-s2.0-85137164453
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.kmitl.ac.th/handle/123456789/14202
dc.sourceExpert Systems with Applications
dc.subjectBehavior analysis
dc.subjectCattle
dc.subjectDeep learning
dc.subjectEstrus detection
dc.titleCowXNet: An automated cow estrus detection system
dc.typeArticle

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