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Pig Journal Volume: 52
Publication date: November 2003

Refereed Section

ASSESSING PIGS' HEALTH STATUS BY IMAGE ANALYSIS OF POSTURAL BEHAVIOUR
N. Brandl

Abstract
An attempt has been made to measure the travelling distance for each pig in a pen, using an image analysis system (a semi-automatic system). The travelling distance of a pig measures its activities. Watching pigs' activities by video is difficult and costly. The main purpose of this work was to develop an alternative method for measuring pigs' activities without disturbing pigs in their environment. Computer PC based programme, video frame grabber and image analysis software were developed for the purpose. The programme works in two steps; first, a selected series of video frames with time lapses is made, then selected points on the computer screen locate the pigs' position on the image, and the results are saved onto a computer ASCII file for further analysis. The saved data is used to compute the travelling distance for each pig. Ten Yorkshire pigs (five healthy pigs vs. 5 dwarf pigs) have been used. Dwarf pigs usually have leg problems. The results showed that dwarf pigs had fewer activities than the healthy pigs, because of their bad legs. This pattern explained the pigs' movements around the feeder and in the sleeping and dunging areas and demonstrated the pigs' condition. The study concluded that image analysis is a promising method to monitor pigs' activities in their environment.

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