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Infrared Camera Could Keep Producers in the Black

In leafing through your high school yearbook, it’s clear that the camera loves some of us
more than others. While a thermographic camera - a device that forms an image using infrared
radiation – may be even less flattering, its potential for collecting valuable data on pigs is
drawing praise and interest from the pork industry.
 
“Our research group led by Dr. Alan Schaefer first used thermography on beef cattle, but I
recently started trying it with pigs as it’s easier to deal with the technical aspects in a pen than
a feedlot,” said Dr. Nigel Cook, Livestock Welfare Research Scientist with Alberta Agriculture
and Forestry.
 
The heat is on
 
It had previously been shown that this technology could help detect disease by looking at
how an animal loses heat. Taking the “what if” approach, Dr. Cook went one step further.
 
“I wondered if, with intensively housed livestock, you would still have to take images of
individual animals or if you could capture a group of pigs with a single shot.”
 
If the latter were true, a single camera set up in a barn and trained on a pen wouldn’t have
to identify each animal to be effective, saving much time and effort on the part of producers.
Testing with vaccines showed this was the case, as the maximum temperature recorded
by the camera increased during testing, even if only one or two animals in a pen were sick. 
 
Not content to focus solely on disease detection with this technology, researchers also introduced
the cameras to feeding stations.
 
Information to chew on
 
“When animals enter the automatic feeder, itrecords their weight and the amount of feed
consumed. By attaching infrared cameras to that system, we capture each pig’s internal
temperature and match that reading to their growth and feed consumption.”
Matching those numbers is significant in light of the finding that pigs taken off feed for even a
short period experience a drop in metabolism and a corresponding dip in radiated temperature.
Not surprisingly, those animals with lower 
 
metabolic rates proved to be the most feed efficient as measured by feed consumption
and feed-to-gain ratio. In essence, the thermographic camera helps identify pigs with higher
feed efficiency, and the implications for industry can’t be overstated.
 
A growth industry
 
“From a growth perspective, there are a couple of applications for this technology that can
be realized immediately. Genetic companies select animals for feed efficiency through a
lengthy process of growing the animals and measuring their growth and feed consumption
to determine efficiency. If instead, companies could test for feed efficiency early in life using
infrared thermography, they could make the process faster and less expensive.”
 
For producers, the research findings could enable them to custom feed their animals
based on levels of feed efficiency. With feed costs consuming a big chunk of producer revenue,
saving money by picking the best animals to grow could plump up the bottom line.
 
Then there are the health benefits, which is what prompted this research in the first place.
“If we can place automated systems in barns that flag when something may be wrong, pen
stock persons could immediately examine the affected animal and call in a veterinarian if
needed. Through early diagnosis of a disease problem, a farm can improve their ability to
treat their pigs effectively and lessen the chances of transmitting that disease to other
animals or barns.”
 
Expectations are high for this new technology to identify sick pigs and classify animals based
on feed efficiency, and for good reason. Based on results to date, thermographic cameras
could make pigs and the pork industry the picture of health.
Source : Swine Innovation Porc

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