Classifier’s Performance for Detecting the Pecking Pattern of Broilers during Feeding

Broiler feeding is an efficient way of evaluating growth performance, health, and welfare status. This assessment might include the number of meals, meal period, ingestion rate, meal intervals, and the proportion of time spent eating. These parameters can be predicted by studying the birds’ pecking activity. The present study aims to design, examine, and validate classifying algorithms to determine individual bird pecking patterns at the feeder. Broilers were reared from 1 to 42 days, with feed and water provided ad libitum. A feeder equipped with a force sensor was installed and used by the birds starting at 35 days of age, to acquire the pecking force data during feeding until 42 days. The obtained data were organized into two datasets. The first comprises 17 attributes, with the supervised attribute ‘pecking detection’ with two classes, and with ‘non-pecking’ and ‘pecking’ used to analyze the classifiers. In the second dataset, the attribute ‘maximum value’ was discretized in three classes to compose a new supervised attribute of the second dataset comprising the classes’ non-pecking, light pecking, medium, and strong. We developed and validated the classifying models to determine individual broiler pecking patterns at the feeder. The classifiers (KNN, SVM, and ANN) achieved high accuracy, greater than 97%, and similar results in all investigated scenarios, proving capable of performing the task of detecting pecking

Classifier’s Performance for Detecting the Pecking Pattern of Broilers during Feeding

Broiler feeding is an efficient way of evaluating growth performance, health, and welfare status. This assessment might include the number of meals, meal period, ingestion rate, meal intervals, and the proportion of time spent eating. These parameters can be predicted by studying the birds’ pecking activity. The present study aims to design, examine, and validate classifying algorithms to determine individual bird pecking patterns at the feeder. Broilers were reared from 1 to 42 days, with feed and water provided ad libitum. A feeder equipped with a force sensor was installed and used by the birds starting at 35 days of age, to acquire the pecking force data during feeding until 42 days. The obtained data were organized into two datasets. The first comprises 17 attributes, with the supervised attribute ‘pecking detection’ with two classes, and with ‘non-pecking’ and ‘pecking’ used to analyze the classifiers. In the second dataset, the attribute ‘maximum value’ was discretized in three classes to compose a new supervised attribute of the second dataset comprising the classes’ non-pecking, light pecking, medium, and strong. We developed and validated the classifying models to determine individual broiler pecking patterns at the feeder. The classifiers (KNN, SVM, and ANN) achieved high accuracy, greater than 97%, and similar results in all investigated scenarios, proving capable of performing the task of detecting pecking

Application of computational fluid dynamics on a study in swine facilities with mechanical ventilation system

Ventilation systems used in swine facilities deserve to be studied because they directly affect productivity in the pig farming sector. Bearing this in mind the uniformity of air distribution and temperature is essential to animal welfare in this breeding environment. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify whether changes in air entrances and exhaust fan positioning could influence air velocity and temperature distribution. The experimental data were collected in a commercial full-scale sow facility. Validation was carried out by comparing the simulated air temperatures and data measured in the field. These results showed agreement between data with a maximum relative error of approximately 3 %. The real settings showed a gradual increase in the air velocity from the air entrances and dead zones due to the change in airflow direction. There was no difference when the positioning of the exhaust fans was altered or was maintained in the original air entrances. The proposed arrangement with only one air inlet reduced the areas of low air movement as a consequence of the change in flow direction. Furthermore, the variables have the same pattern along the transversal plane. The simulations showed that the position of the air inlets had a higher influence on temperature distribution.753173183CONSELHO NACIONAL DE DESENVOLVIMENTO CIENTÍFICO E TECNOLÓGICO - CNPQSem informaçã

Application of computational fluid dynamics on a study in swine facilities with mechanical ventilation system

ABSTRACT: Ventilation systems used in swine facilities deserve to be studied because they directly affect productivity in the pig farming sector. Bearing this in mind the uniformity of air distribution and temperature is essential to animal welfare in this breeding environment. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify whether changes in air entrances and exhaust fan positioning could influence air velocity and temperature distribution. The experimental data were collected in a commercial full-scale sow facility. Validation was carried out by comparing the simulated air temperatures and data measured in the field. These results showed agreement between data with a maximum relative error of approximately 3 %. The real settings showed a gradual increase in the air velocity from the air entrances and dead zones due to the change in airflow direction. There was no difference when the positioning of the exhaust fans was altered or was maintained in the original air entrances. The proposed arrangement with only one air inlet reduced the areas of low air movement as a consequence of the change in flow direction. Furthermore, the variables have the same pattern along the transversal plane. The simulations showed that the position of the air inlets had a higher influence on temperature distribution

Application of computational fluid dynamics on a study in swine facilities with mechanical ventilation system

<div><p>ABSTRACT: Ventilation systems used in swine facilities deserve to be studied because they directly affect productivity in the pig farming sector. Bearing this in mind the uniformity of air distribution and temperature is essential to animal welfare in this breeding environment. Thus, the purpose of this study was to identify whether changes in air entrances and exhaust fan positioning could influence air velocity and temperature distribution. The experimental data were collected in a commercial full-scale sow facility. Validation was carried out by comparing the simulated air temperatures and data measured in the field. These results showed agreement between data with a maximum relative error of approximately 3 %. The real settings showed a gradual increase in the air velocity from the air entrances and dead zones due to the change in airflow direction. There was no difference when the positioning of the exhaust fans was altered or was maintained in the original air entrances. The proposed arrangement with only one air inlet reduced the areas of low air movement as a consequence of the change in flow direction. Furthermore, the variables have the same pattern along the transversal plane. The simulations showed that the position of the air inlets had a higher influence on temperature distribution.</p></div

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data