Toward automated digital technologies for piglet behavior analysis

Young pigs (< 21 days of age) can be utilized as a model within many agricultural and biomedical research applications. Behavior observations can provide insight into the biological and affective state of animals in response to stimuli without invasive techniques, but barriers to collecting behavior often exclude it from research approaches. Housed piglets in individual research pens overcomes many of the barriers to video data collection and the confounding effects of group housing. Advances in automated behavior analysis through computer vision or other digital tools have the potential to improve research with the inclusion of valuable behavior metrics. A behavior ethogram for individually housed 6-day-old pigs was developed and included 23 different behaviors and postures. For the application of the ethogram, an evaluation of interval-based sampling strategies was performed to determine the impact of increasing and decreasing sampling frequency on the representation of the complete behavior. The results revealed that increasing sampling frequency did not always equate to better representation, and bias was observed. The behavior ethogram and a representative sampling strategy were applied to develop a time budget for individually housed 6-day-old pigs. This time budget for 6-day-old pigs revealed that a significant portion (85.45%) of the day is occupied with rest, and it revealed the importance of social resting, as the behavior “lying socially” represented 38.48% of all behavior observations. The manual behavior ethogram and representative sampling strategy were also applied to assess the impact of oral gamma-cyclodextrin-encapsulated tributyrin (TBCD) supplementation on behavior outcomes for 6-day-old pigs. The observance of 23 total postures and behaviors was compared for two metrics, total number of occurrences and average bout length, across three treatment groups: Control (n = 8), Pre-DSS (dextran sodium sulfate, n = 6), and TBCD + Pre-DSS (n = 7) for 6-day old pigs over a 24-h period. The results revealed no differences between the three groups for any of the observations included within the ethogram. Automated behavior analysis methods would allow behavior to be included in applications where it may not previously have been possible, as it would overcome the barrier of added labor and limited visibility.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Animal Sciences

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2023

Author dc:creator

• Williams-Stroud, Tawni N.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Green-Miller, Angela
• Dilger, Ryan N.
• Condotta, Isabella

• Welfare
• Ethogram
• Resting

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2023 Tawni Williams-Stroud

Language dc:language

en, eng

Handle dc:identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/122035

OAI record oai:identifier

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=etdms&identifier=oai%3Awww.ideals.illinois.edu%3A2142%2F122035