Recently, drone technology advanced, and its safety and operability markedly improved, leading to its increased application in animal research. This study demonstrated drone application in livestock management, using its technology to observe horse behavior and verify the appropriate horse–drone distance for aerial behavioral observations. Recordings were conducted from September to October 2017 on 11 horses using the Phantom 4 Pro drone. Four flight altitudes were tested (60, 50, 40, and 30 m) to investigate the reactions of the horses to the drones and observe their behavior; the recording time at each altitude was 5 min. None of the horses displayed avoidance behavior at any flight altitude, and the observer was able to distinguish between any two horses. Recorded behaviors were foraging, moving, standing, recumbency, avoidance, and others. Foraging was the most common behavior observed both directly and in the drone videos. The correlation coefficients of all behavioral data from direct and drone video observations at all altitudes were significant (p < 0.01). These results indicate that horse behavior can be discerned with equal accuracy by both direct and recorded drone video observations. In conclusion, drones can be useful for recording and analyzing horse behavior.

Understanding cattle behavior is important for discerning their health and management status. However, manual observations of cattle are time-consuming and labor-intensive. Moreover, during manual observations, the presence or position of a human observer may alter the normal behavior of the cattle. Wearable cameras are small and lightweight; therefore, they do not disturb cattle behavior when attached to their bodies. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the suitability of wearable cameras for monitoring and analyzing cattle behavior. From December 18 to 27, 2017, this study used four 2-month-old, group-housed Holstein calves at the Field Science Center of the Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Japan. Calf behavior was recorded every 30 s using a wearable camera (HX-A1H, Panasonic, Japan) from 10:00 to 15:30 and observed directly from 11:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 15:00. In addition, the same observer viewed the camera recordings corresponding to the direct observation periods, and the results were compared. The correlation coefficients of all behavioral data from direct and wearable camera video observations were significant (p < 0.01). We conclude that wearable cameras are suitable for observing calf behavior, particularly their posture (standing or lying), as well as their ruminating and feeding behaviors.