Date of Award
2022
Publisher
North Dakota State University
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Awarded
Master of Science (MS)
Program
Animal Sciences
Department
Animal Sciences
College
Agriculture, Food Systems and Natural Resources
Faculty Advisor
Byrd, Christopher
Description
Group gestation housing is becoming standard practice in commercial swine production. Although group housing promotes behavioral variability within the breeding herd, it can cause several management challenges for producers due to the establishment of the social hierarchy. Poor performance and welfare in group housed breeding stock can be attributed to the repercussions of aggression performed between dyads. The ability to quickly identify sows in the social hierarchy could be beneficial to producers for enforcing preventative actions. Precision livestock farming tools have proven to aid animal caretakers in monitoring animal health and welfare in livestock industries.The objective of this thesis was to investigate the use of infrared thermography, feeding activity obtained from an automated radiofrequency identification feeding system, and heat rate variability indices for detecting the social hierarchy within groups of gestating sows. Additionally, the relationship between observed social hierarchy, body condition scores, backfat, and reproductive performance was also explored.
Recommended Citation
Sommer, Dominique, "Are Infrared Thermography, Automated Feeding Systems, And Heart Rate Variability Measures Capable of Characterizing Group-Housed Sow Social Hierarchies?" (2022). Animal Sciences. 86.
https://digitalcommons.ndsu.edu/animal-sci/86
Rights
NDSU policy 190.6.2
Rights Link
https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf
Handle Identifier
https://hdl.handle.net/10365/33374