Development of Terrain-use, Behavioral & Thermal Traits in Rangeland Sheep Using Precision Livestock Farming Tools

Abstract

Extensive sheep production faces imminent challenges brought about by climate change and increased agricultural product demand. Without intervention, productivity and welfare losses are expected. In response to this, an emerging suite of technologies are being developed and deployed across the globe to describe animal performance using automated and autonomous systems to drive digital phenotyping of hard to measure traits pertaining to climatic resilience. However, genetic parameter estimation for traits derived from these tools are minimally reported for small ruminants. We estimate the repeatability of GPS collar and vaginal temperature sensor derived traits in sheep in an extensive rangeland setting. We then used multiple imputation to simulate travel paths using a Hidden Markov Model to identify hidden activity states. Differences in land use and vaginal temperature traits are significant across activity states, as are their repeatability estimates. Shade usage is linked to a resilience indicator, change in live body weight.