A Precision Livestock Farming Technique from Breeding to Slaughter: Infrared Thermography in Pig Farming

Abstract

Infrared thermography is a contactless imaging technique, useful for measuring surface temperature at distance, which has been widely applied in animal production. The possible applications within the pig husbandry include sow heat detection, the reduction in the incidence of neonatal mortality, the recognition of the febrile state caused by pathogens, the study of metabolic efficiency, the evaluation of stress caused by heat, by constraints, or by aggressive interaction, and meat quality prediction. Even if this technique could be easily influenced by environmental factors, the continuous improvement in the procedures and the decrease in the cost of the equipment will allow for new and more applications in swine farming in the future.