A system for monitoring and maintaining a health of animals, comprising:
- a light source for illuminating excretions from one or more animals;
- a portable image capture unit;
- a computer system which is coupled to the portable image capture unit, wherein the computer system contains analysis software and a database, wherein the portable image capture unit is designed to record at least one image which depicts the excretions from the one or more of the animals, wherein the analysis software is configured to:
- store the at least one recorded image in the database;
- input the at least one recorded image into the analysis software;
- carry out an analysis of the at least one image;
- output a recommended action suitable for maintaining or improving the current physiological state of the animals, wherein the recommended action depends on a result of the analysis of the at least one image;
- wherein the computer system is a distributed computer system comprising a server computer and at least one client computer, wherein the analysis software is designed as a distributed client-server software application with a server application on the server computer and a client application on each of the at least one client computers;
- at least one slaughterhouse computer system configured for operation by a slaughterhouse and configured for coupling to a slaughterhouse image capture unit, wherein the slaughterhouse computer system includes a feedback application, wherein the slaughterhouse image capture unit is designed to record images which depict the gastrointestinal tract of one or more of the animals after slaughter, wherein the feedback application is configured to transmit the recorded gastrointestinal tract images to the server application via a network for storing the gastrointestinal tract images in the database;
- wherein the server application is configured to receive at least one digital image of excretions from one or more of the animals from the at least one client application, and to store this at least one image in the database, wherein the server application is further configured to receive from the client application or from the feedback application at least one manifestation of a performance indicator, measured or entered by a user via a GUI of the client application or the feedback application, of the animals whose excretions are depicted in the at least one received image, wherein the manifestation of the performance indicator is, in particular, images of the gastrointestinal tract after the slaughter of the animals, wherein the server application is further configured to train a machine learning algorithm to automatically provide an improved version of the analysis software, wherein the training comprises an analysis of the received combination made up of a digital image of the excretions and a measured manifestation of the performance indicator;
- and
- an electronic or mechanical system coupled to the computer system and configured to implement the recommended action, wherein the electronic or mechanical system is operatively coupled to one or more of a heating system for an animal barn, an air conditioning system for the animal barn, an automatic feeder system for the animal barn and a drinking water system for the animal barn, the recommended action causing the electronic or mechanical system to change one or more operational parameters of the one or more heating system, air conditioning system, automatic feeder system and drinking water system for the animal barn.