Stress-Free Detection Technologies for Pig Growth Based on Welfare Farming: A Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-373
Author(s):  
Feiyan Yuan ◽  
Hang Zhang ◽  
Tonghai Liu

Abstract. The detection of pig growth and monitoring of abnormal behaviors are key steps in pig breeding management. Using conventional methods to obtain information on growth and abnormal behavior causes stress to pigs, directly affects the number of live pigs for market, and decreases the quality of the pork. Moreover, this approach requires considerable labor, reduces economic returns, and does not meet the requirements of high-welfare farming. Compared to the conventional methods for obtaining growth parameters and data on abnormal behaviors, modern information technology provides a new method for stress-free growth detection and behavior monitoring in farmed pigs. This article first summarizes the importance of body size, body mass, and abnormal behaviors as well as the correlations among these factors. For the research on growth detection and behavior monitoring based on computer vision, radio frequency identification (RFID) and sensor technology, methods of detecting increases in body size and body mass and methods of monitoring abnormal behaviors are summarized separately. Through computer-computer vision technology, we found that the data sampling for growth and abnormal behaviors of the pigs was achieved without contact monitoring but, rather, occurred at the expense of complex data calculation and a higher illumination requirement during data collection. However, with the development of depth camera technology and improved product performance, technology based on high-precision depth cameras reduces the amount of data processing and complexity, making it possible to obtain real-time data on pig growth and abnormal behaviors. Moreover, with the advantages of no contact and no stress, the method conforms to the requirements of welfare farming. Keywords: Abnormal behaviors, Stress-free detection, Welfare farming.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yugma P.N. Fernando ◽  
Kasun D.B. Gunasekara ◽  
Kumary P. Sirikumara ◽  
Upeksha E. Galappaththi ◽  
Thusithanjana Thilakarathna ◽  
...  

Biomedicines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 884
Author(s):  
Hideyuki Maeda ◽  
Noritoshi Fukushima ◽  
Akihiro Hasumi

Zebrafish are easy to breed in a laboratory setting as they are extremely fertile and produce dozens of eggs per set. Because zebrafish eggs and the skin of the early-stage larvae are transparent, their embryos and the hearts and muscles of their larvae can be easily observed. Multiple rapid analyses of heart rate and behavior can be performed on these larvae simultaneously, enabling investigation of the influence of neuroactive substances on abnormal behavior, death, and associated pathogenetic mechanisms. Zebrafish larvae are becoming increasingly popular among researchers and are used in laboratories worldwide to study various vertebrate life phenomena; more experimental systems using zebrafish will undoubtedly be developed in the future. However, based on the available literature, we believe that the conceptualization of a protocol based on scientific evidence is necessary to achieve standardization. We exposed zebrafish larvae at 6–7 days post-fertilization to 50 repeated light–dark stimuli at either 15-min or 5-min intervals. We measured the traveled distance and habituation time through a video tracking apparatus. The traveled distance stabilized after the 16th repetition when the zebrafish were exposed to light–dark stimuli at 15-min intervals and after the 5th repetition when exposed at 5-min intervals. Additionally, at 15-min intervals, the peak of the traveled distance was reached within the first minute in a dark environment, whereas at 5-min intervals, it did not reach the peak even after 5 min. The traveled distance was more stable at 5-min intervals of light/dark stimuli than at 15-min intervals. Therefore, if one acclimatizes zebrafish larvae for 1 h and collects data from the 5th repetition of light/dark stimuli at intervals of 5 min in the light/dark test, a stable traveled distance result can be obtained. The establishment of this standardized method would be beneficial for investigating substances of unknown lethal concentration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-424
Author(s):  
Gregorio Moreno-Rueda ◽  
Abelardo Requena-Blanco ◽  
Francisco J Zamora-Camacho ◽  
Mar Comas ◽  
Guillem Pascual

Abstract Predation is one of the main selective forces in nature, frequently selecting potential prey for developing escape strategies. Escape ability is typically influenced by several morphological parameters, such as morphology of the locomotor appendices, muscular capacity, body mass, or fluctuating asymmetry, and may differ between sexes and age classes. In this study, we tested the relationship among these variables and jumping performance in 712 Iberian green frogs Pelophylax perezi from an urban population. The results suggest that the main determinant of jumping capacity was body size (explaining 48% of variance). Larger frogs jumped farther, but jumping performance reached an asymptote for the largest frogs. Once controlled by structural body size, the heaviest frogs jumped shorter distances, suggesting a trade-off between fat storage and jumping performance. Relative hind limb length also determined a small but significant percentage of variance (2.4%) in jumping performance—that is, the longer the hind limbs, the greater the jumping capacity. Juveniles had relatively shorter and less muscular hind limbs than adults (for a given body size), and their jumping performance was poorer. In our study population, the hind limbs of the frogs were very symmetrical, and we found no effect of fluctuating asymmetry on jumping performance. Therefore, our study provides evidence that jumping performance in frogs is not only affected by body size, but also by body mass and hind limb length, and differ between age classes.


2007 ◽  
Vol 85 (12) ◽  
pp. 1275-1285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastián P. Luque ◽  
Edward H. Miller ◽  
John P.Y. Arnould ◽  
Magaly Chambellant ◽  
Christophe Guinet

Pre- and post-weaning functional demands on body size and shape of mammals are often in conflict, especially in species where weaning involves a change of habitat. Compared with long lactations, brief lactations are expected to be associated with fast rates of development and attainment of adult traits. We describe allometry and growth for several morphological traits in two closely related fur seal species with large differences in lactation duration at a sympatric site. Longitudinal data were collected from Antarctic ( Arctocephalus gazella (Peters, 1875); 120 d lactation) and subantarctic ( Arctocephalus tropicalis (Gray, 1872); 300 d lactation) fur seals. Body mass was similar in neonates of both species, but A. gazella neonates were longer, less voluminous, and had larger foreflippers. The species were similar in rate of preweaning growth in body mass, but growth rates of linear variables were faster for A. gazella pups. Consequently, neonatal differences in body shape increased over lactation, and A. gazella pups approached adult body shape faster than did A. tropicalis pups. Our results indicate that preweaning growth is associated with significant changes in body shape, involving the acquisition of a longer, more slender body with larger foreflippers in A. gazella. These differences suggest that A. gazella pups are physically more mature at approximately 100 d of age (close to weaning age) than A. tropicalis pups of the same age.


2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad-Amri Abdul Karim ◽  
Khalid Al-Kofahi ◽  
Badrinath Roysam ◽  
Natalie Dowell-Mesfin ◽  
Rifat J. Hussain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Hartstone-Rose ◽  
Jonathan M. G. Perry

In a recent study, we quantified the scaling of ingested food size (Vb )—the maximum size at which an animal consistently ingests food whole—and found that Vb scaled isometrically between species of captive strepsirrhines. The current study examines the relationship between Vb and body size within species with a focus on the frugivorous Varecia rubra and the folivorous Propithecus coquereli. We found no overlap in Vb between the species (all V. rubra ingested larger pieces of food relative to those eaten by P. coquereli), and least-squares regression of Vb and three different measures of body mass showed no scaling relationship within each species. We believe that this lack of relationship results from the relatively narrow intraspecific body size variation and seemingly patternless individual variation in Vb within species and take this study as further evidence that general scaling questions are best examined interspecifically rather than intraspecifically.


1988 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. C. Heglund ◽  
C. R. Taylor

In this study we investigate how speed and stride frequency change with body size. We use this information to define ‘equivalent speeds’ for animals of different size and to explore the factors underlying the six-fold difference in mass-specific energy cost of locomotion between mouse- and horse-sized animals at these speeds. Speeds and stride frequencies within a trot and a gallop were measured on a treadmill in 16 species of wild and domestic quadrupeds, ranging in body size from 30 g mice to 200 kg horses. We found that the minimum, preferred and maximum sustained speeds within a trot and a gallop all change in the same rather dramatic manner with body size, differing by nine-fold between mice and horses (i.e. all three speeds scale with about the 0.2 power of body mass). Although the absolute speeds differ greatly, the maximum sustainable speed was about 2.6-fold greater than the minimum within a trot, and 2.1-fold greater within a gallop. The frequencies used to sustain the equivalent speeds (with the exception of the minimum trotting speed) scale with about the same factor, the −0.15 power of body mass. Combining this speed and frequency data with previously published data on the energetic cost of locomotion, we find that the mass-specific energetic cost of locomotion is almost directly proportional to the stride frequency used to sustain a constant speed at all the equivalent speeds within a trot and a gallop, except for the minimum trotting speed (where it changes by a factor of two over the size range of animals studied). Thus the energy cost per kilogram per stride at five of the six equivalent speeds is about the same for all animals, independent of body size, but increases with speed: 5.0 J kg-1 stride-1 at the preferred trotting speed; 5.3 J kg-1 stride-1 at the trot-gallop transition speed; 7.5 J kg-1 stride-1 at the preferred galloping speed; and 9.4 J kg-1 stride-1 at the maximum sustained galloping speed. The cost of locomotion is determined primarily by the cost of activating muscles and of generating a unit of force for a unit of time. Our data show that both these costs increase directly with the stride frequency used at equivalent speeds by different-sized animals. The increase in cost per stride with muscles (necessitating higher muscle forces for the same ground reaction force) as stride length increases both in the trot and in the gallop.


1997 ◽  
Vol 45 (5) ◽  
pp. 447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron M. Bell ◽  
Harry R. Burton ◽  
Mark A. Hindell

A longitudinal study of growth of southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina, during their first foraging trip was undertaken at Macquarie Island. On average, body mass increased by 75% while foraging at sea, with individuals growing at 0.34 ± 0.12 (s.d.) kg day-1 (n = 64), and spending 182 ± 51 days (n = 64) at sea. Relatively smaller changes in body length were recorded during the same period, suggesting that growth was composed primarily of adjustments to body composition, rather than increases in gross body size. This may be in response to the functional demands of pelagic life. Body size established early in life (birth mass and departure mass) positively influenced body mass upon return from the first foraging trip. Growth rate, however, was negatively related to departure mass for females, and this is hypothesised to be related to sex differences in body composition, as well as intrasex differences in foraging skills, diving ability and food- conversion efficiency. Despite this, there was no detectable age-specific sexual dimorphism in the first year of life. Animals that were at sea longer tended to return in better body condition. Interspecific comparison suggests that southern elephant seals grow more than do northern elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, and this difference may be related to prey abundance and distribution.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Chengfei Wu ◽  
Zixuan Cheng

Public safety issues have always been the focus of widespread concern of people from all walks of life. With the development of video detection technology, the detection of abnormal human behavior in videos has become the key to preventing public safety issues. Particularly, in student groups, the detection of abnormal human behavior is very important. Most existing abnormal human behavior detection algorithms are aimed at outdoor activity detection, and the indoor detection effects of these algorithms are not ideal. Students spend most of their time indoors, and modern classrooms are mostly equipped with monitoring equipment. This study focuses on the detection of abnormal behaviors of indoor humans and uses a new abnormal behavior detection framework to realize the detection of abnormal behaviors of indoor personnel. First, a background modeling method based on a Gaussian mixture model is used to segment the background image of each image frame in the video. Second, block processing is performed on the image after segmenting the background to obtain the space-time block of each frame of the image, and this block is used as the basic representation of the detection object. Third, the foreground image features of each space-time block are extracted. Fourth, fuzzy C-means clustering (FCM) is used to detect outliers in the data sample. The contribution of this paper is (1) the use of an abnormal human behavior detection framework that is effective indoors. Compared with the existing abnormal human behavior detection methods, the detection framework in this paper has a little difference in terms of its outdoor detection effects. (2) Compared with other detection methods, the detection framework used in this paper has a better detection effect for abnormal human behavior indoors, and the detection performance is greatly improved. (3) The detection framework used in this paper is easy to implement and has low time complexity. Through the experimental results obtained on public and manually created data sets, it can be demonstrated that the performance of the detection framework used in this paper is similar to those of the compared methods in outdoor detection scenarios. It has a strong advantage in terms of indoor detection. In summary, the proposed detection framework has a good practical application value.


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