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DEVELOPMENT OF SOFTWARE FOR SWINE WELFARE ASSESSMENT USING ANIMAL VOCALIZATION

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Computers in Agriculture and Natural Resources, 4th World Congress Conference, Proceedings of the 24-26 July 2006 (Orlando, Florida USA) Publication Date 24 July 2006  701P0606.(doi:10.13031/2013.21937)
Authors:   D J Moura, W T Silva I A Naas, Y A Tolón, K A O Lima
Keywords:   Swine, vocalization, animal welfare, software

Pork export in Brazil represents 625 thousand tons/year (ABIPECS, 2005) and it is an important item in the countys agribusiness. Lately Brazilian swine production has been strongly impacted by the new consumer market demand regarding welfare norms and standards. The analysis of animal vocalization allows the interpretation of welfare pattern in a non-invasive way, and it may be used for both identify the animal and to assess welfare issue as well as health status and social adaptation. This paper exposes partial results of a project with the objective to develop an expert system to register and analyze distinct sounds emitted by swine in different growing stages correlating it with levels of stress, for assessment and controlling decision making process. The software was developed sing Delphi5. Through the component UwaveIn the PC hardware registered the signal converting them into bytes. Using Fourier Tranform it was possible to describe the sound spectrum and transform it into frequency and intensity. Validation of the software was done in a commercial swine farm using animal from growing phase. Results showed that it was possible to make decision as far as environmental control is concerned, based on the sound level recorded.

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