University of Liverpool (The) and Cattle Eye Limited KTP 24_25 R2

Dairy farmers will use a camera system that watches cows’ gaits to catch lameness before it becomes severe. Lameness is one of the most costly and painful problems in dairy herds. A lame cow produces less milk, requires veterinary treatment, and may need to be culled early. Current detection relies on farmers spotting a limp, which often happens late. This project combines expertise in dairy cow science with an existing machine-vision platform—a system of cameras and deep-learning neural networks that already monitors livestock autonomously. The goal is to develop on-farm protocols that reliably reduce lameness levels across a herd. If the protocols succeed, farmers could treat lameness earlier, cutting veterinary costs and improving animal welfare without adding labour. The system would quietly run in the background, flagging subtle changes in a cow’s movement that a human eye would miss. This is applied research with a direct practical outcome: a proven, scalable method to keep dairy cows healthier and more productive, with no immediate implications beyond the farm gate.