A sensor to measure cattle vocalisations for welfare monitoring at the slaughterhouse

The evaluation of cattle vocalisations at slaughterhouses may be useful in detecting welfare problems. Evidence suggests that a lack of well-being prior to slaughter can lead to a loss in meat quality. Monitoring the animals' welfare at the lairage pens is crucial. The study aimed to associate the incidence and type of vocalisations with other behavioural indicators representative of poor welfare. A total of 17 cattle groups were observed at lairage pens for 10-minute repeated observations (n = 44). Observations included scan samplings for welfare indicators such as lying down and ruminating, as well as frequency of agonistic and cohesive social behaviours. In parallel, the vocalisations were recorded using an environmental microphone and categorised as VH (high frequency) or VL (low frequency). The incidence of vocalisations was negatively correlated with the rumination rate, while VH incidence was found to be positively correlated with agonistic social interactions. These findings suggest that cattle vocalisations could serve as a real-time welfare monitoring indicator at lairage pens in the slaughterhouse, as VH appear to be associated with welfare deficiencies. These vocalisations could be detected and processed by an acoustic sensor, providing automatic detection of the welfare of cattle at the slaughterhouse.