Labor Activities and Occupational Health in Brazilian Swine Production – A Case Study

Swine production is an important business in Brazil with 2.5 million sows, and in this economic sector there is large concentration of workers performing both manual and mechanical tasks exposed to numerous labor risks and accidents. Very few ergonomic studies have been done in Brazilian commercial animal production activities. This research aimed to evaluate the symptoms found by swine production workers, relating them with the worker’s age and time involved in specific task. A questionnaire was prepared seeking the evaluation of the working environment as well as the worker’s life quality, by analyzing any complaint and/or symptom related or found during the research. Twenty five individuals who worked eight hours daily in commercial swine housing were selected randomly to answer the questionnaire. Ages varied from 16 to 60 years old and related to gender, 68% were male and 32% were female. The research was carried out in a commercial swine production facility in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Data were registered and organized, and Fishers tests and Odds Ratio were used for statistical analysis in order to evaluate associations between worker’s age, duration of employment, and selected symptoms. The results showed that work within swine production in Brazil did not represent a risk for worker health. A positive correlation was found between physical fatigue and young workers, apparently because their muscular development is not adapted to the activity. A negative correlation between physical fatigue and the duration of employment performing a certain function was also found

Banco de dados georeferenciado e sistema de apoio a decisão para a cultura do milho.

Com um banco de dados espaço-temporal, é possível integrar dados referentes a parâmetros físicos, químicos e biológicos do solo, referentes a uma dada cultura, possibilitando ao usuário (produtor) fazer consultas importantes ou simulações. Um sistema de apoio a decisão poderá fornecer para o usuário uma previsão da produtividade esperada para área, considerando o máximo de variáveis relevantes que atuam sobre a planta. Este trabalho tem como objetivo descrever e mostrar a importância de um banco de dados espaço-temporal para a disponibilização de dados sobre a cultura de Milho e o sistema de apoio à decisão Pró-Milho, conforme preceitos da Agricultura de Precisão

Use of vitamin D to reduce lameness in broilers reared in harsh environments

In tropical poultry-producing countries, poultry houses usually have little environmental control. This study investigated the effect of dietary vitamin D on the incidence of leg abnormalities of a fast-growing broiler strain reared under harsh conditions. In this study, 300 one-day-old male broilers were distributed in two treatments with three replicates of 50 birds each. One group was fed a placebo and the other group was fed 25-hydroxycholecalciferol (25-OH-D3) in a soluble form. The environmental variables were weekly recorded during until birds were 49 days old. Birds were weekly gait scored, and their walking speed and vertical force while walking were assessed. Post-mortem examination was performed and skeletal lesions were assessed. Control birds presented more leg problems than those that ingested 25-OH-D3. These results suggest that dietary vitamin D is effective in decreasing the severity of lameness by reducing tibial dyschondroplasia and other leg abnormalities.16517

Efficiency of distinct data mining algorithms for classifying stress level in piglets from their vocalization.

ABSTRACT: Among the challenges of pig farming in today's competitive market, there is factor of the product traceability that ensures, among many points, animal welfare. Vocalization is a valuable tool to identify situations of stress in pigs, and it can be used in welfare records for traceability. The objective of this work was to identify stress in piglets using vocalization, calling this stress on three levels: no stress, moderate stress, and acute stress. An experiment was conducted on a commercial farm in the municipality of Holambra, São Paulo State , where vocalizations of twenty piglets were recorded during the castration procedure, and separated into two groups: without anesthesia and local anesthesia with lidocaine base. For the recording of acoustic signals, a unidirectional microphone was connected to a digital recorder, in which signals were digitized at a frequency of 44,100 Hz. For evaluation of sound signals, Praat software was used, and different data mining algorithms were applied using Weka software. The selection of attributes improved model accuracy, and the best attribute selection was used by applying Wrapper method, while the best classification algorithms were the k-NN and Naive Bayes. According to the results, it was possible to classify the level of stress in pigs through their vocalization

Respiratory risks in broiler production workers

There are many situations that involve health risks to the Brazilian rural worker, and animal production is just one of them. Inhalation of organic dust, which has many microorganisms, leads in general to respiratory allergic reactions in some individuals, asthma-like syndrome, and mucous membrane inflammation syndrome, that is a complex of nasal, eye, and throat complaints. Furthermore, workers might have farmer's hypersensitivity pneumonia, that is a respiratory health risk along the years. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential pulmonary health risks in poultry production workers in the region of Curitiba, PR, Brazil. Interviews using a pre-elaborated questionnaire with 40 questions were made with 37 broiler production workers, which were submitted to a pulmonary function test. Results of restrictive function with lower FEV1 (the maximum respiratory potential, the forced expiratory volume in the first second of exhalation) and FVC (forced vital capacity) represented 24.32% of the total of workers, and severe obstruction represented 2.70%. Other symptoms were found in 67.57% of the workers as well. The results showed that those who work more than 4 years and within more than one poultry house, exceeding 5 hours per day of work, presented higher pulmonary health risks. It is concluded that the activities within broiler houses may induce allergic respiratory reaction in workers. The use of IPE (individual protection equipment) besides special attention to the air quality inside the housing may be advised in a preventive way.2329Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Sequential behavior of broiler chickens in enriched environments under varying thermal conditions using the generalized sequential pattern algorithm: a proof of concept.

This study investigated the behavior sequences of broiler chickens housed in enriched environments subjected to thermal comfort and heat stress using the Generalized Sequential Pattern (GSP) data mining algorithm

The sequential behavior pattern analysis of broiler chickens exposed to heat stress.

Abstract. Broiler productivity is dependent on a range of variables; among them, the rearing environment is a significant factor for proper well-being and productivity. Behavior indicates the bird´s initial response to an adverse environment and is capable of providing an indicator of well-being in real-time. The present study aims to identify and characterize the sequential pattern of broilers´ behavior when exposed to thermoneutral conditions (TNZ) and thermal stress (HS) by constant heat. The research was carried out in a climatic chamber with 18 broilers under thermoneutral conditions and heat stress for three consecutive days (at three different ages). The behavior database was first analyzed using one-way ANOVA, Tukey test by age, and Boxplot graphs, and then the sequence of the behaviors was evaluated using the generalized sequential pattern (GSP) algorithm. We were able to predict behavioral patterns at the different temperatures assessed from the behavioral sequences. Birds in HS were prostrate, identified by the shorter behavioral sequence, such as the {Lying down, Eating} pattern, unlike TNZ ({Lying down, Walking, Drinking, Walking, Lying down}), which indicates a tendency to increase behaviors (feeding and locomotor activities) that guarantee the better welfare of the birds. The sequence of behaviors 'Lying down' followed by 'Lying laterally' occurred only in HS, which represents a stressful thermal environment for the bird. Using the pattern mining sequences approach, we were able to identify temporal relationships between thermal stress and broiler behavior, confirming the need for further studies on the use of temporal behavior sequences in environmental controller