Welfare Health and Productivity in Commercial Pig Herds

Abstract

In recent years, there have been very dynamic changes in both pork production and pig breeding technology around the world. The general trend of increasing the efficiency of pig production, with reduced employment, requires optimisation and a comprehensive approach to herd management. One of the most important elements on the way to achieving this goal is to maintain animal welfare and health. The health of the pigs on the farm is also a key aspect in production economics. The need to maintain a high health status of pig herds by eliminating the frequency of different disease units and reducing the need for antimicrobial substances is part of a broadly understood high potential herd management strategy. Thanks to the use of sensors (cameras, microphones, accelerometers, or radio-frequency identification transponders), the images, sounds, movements, and vital signs of animals are combined through algorithms and analysed for non-invasive monitoring of animals, which allows for early detection of diseases, improves their welfare, and increases the productivity of breeding. Automated, innovative early warning systems based on continuous monitoring of specific physiological (e.g., body temperature) and behavioural parameters can provide an alternative to direct diagnosis and visual assessment by the veterinarian or the herd keeper.

Applications of Smart Technology as a Sustainable Strategy in Modern Swine Farming

“…The modern swine industry focuses on developing infrastructure and applying technology to the design of a feeding program, monitoring, health, welfare, and production performance [19]. Therefore, pig farmers strive to raise the profit of production and ensure food safety with the technological standards of pig farming [10]. In addition, the application of sensors (cameras, microphones, accelerometers, or radio-frequency identification transponders), the images, sounds, movements, and vital signs of animals are now the subject of scientific attention in modern swine farming to ensure the good health, welfare, and optimum production of pigs [10].…”

“…Therefore, pig farmers strive to raise the profit of production and ensure food safety with the technological standards of pig farming [10]. In addition, the application of sensors (cameras, microphones, accelerometers, or radio-frequency identification transponders), the images, sounds, movements, and vital signs of animals are now the subject of scientific attention in modern swine farming to ensure the good health, welfare, and optimum production of pigs [10]. The productive performance of pigs, as an indicator of business profit, depends on various housing conditions [20].…”

“…Nutritional, physiological, immunological, and psychological disruptions of nursery pigs due to poor management systems resulting in reduced feed intake, increased incidence of diarrhea, loss of bodyweight, and higher mortality [21]. In addition, the consequences of stress could reduce appetite, lower immunity of pigs with reduced weight gain, and increase reproductive disorders and diseases incidence in pigs [10]. The most important welfare issue in swine is neonatal mortality, resulting from injurious behavior such as tail biting, which can be controlled by ensuring standard monitoring in pig farms [22].…”

“…Automatic detection of health is an essential practice in modern swine farming and now is a growing interest in research for detecting the health-related problems of swine. Racewicz et al [10] reported that the automatic detection of health and behavior of swine would be the most effective and sustainable technique for optimum management of the large herd. Through the record monitoring system, a lot of data can be stored which would be useful for the next farming operation.…”

“…Later, precision livestock farming started in Europe in the 1980s and 1990s, based on satellite and radio frequency identification tags (RFID). The developmental stages of smart livestock farming consist of three generations: the first generation involves the network, sensor node, control node, and the optical monitor; the second generation focuses on environment control (housing environment), health management, and the big data cloud-IoT > cloud > AI analyzes the situation > decision/control by AI; finally, the thirdgeneration model consists of energy management and the automation of farming [9,10].…”