The ear skin temperature as an indicator of the thermal comfort of pigs

Andersen, Heidi Mai-Lis; Jørgensen, Erik; Dybkjær, Lise; Jørgensen, B.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2007.11.003

Cited by 62 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The best fits were obtained for tympanic temperature using infrared thermometer (TiF) and ear region through iButton (TbE), corroborating with results of ANDERSEN et al (2008). This is probably because of a minor susceptibility of the tympanic region to environmental effects and also because iButton isolates the ear region from external effects.…”

Section: Multiple Regression Analysissupporting

confidence: 67%

Determination of piglets’ rectal temperature and respiratory rate through skin surface temperature under climatic chamber conditions

Mostaço¹,

Miranda²,

Condotta³

et al. 2015

Eng. Agríc.

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ABSTRACT:In animal farming, an automatic and precise control of environmental conditions needs information from variables derived from the animals themselves, i.e. they act as biosensors. Rectal temperature (RT) and respiratory rate (RR) are good indicators of thermoregulation in pigs. Since there is a growing concern on animal welfare, the search for alternatives to measure RT has become even more necessary. This research aimed to identify the most adequate body surface areas, on nursery-phase pigs, to take temperature measurements that best represent the correlation of RT and RR. The main experiment was carried out in a climate chamber with five 30-day-old littermate female Landrace x Large White piglets. Temperature conditions inside chamber were varied from 14 °C up to 35.5 °C. The measurements were taken each 30 minutes, over six different skin regions, using a temperature data logger Thermochron iButton ® -DS1921G (Tb) and an infrared thermometer (Ti). As shown by the results, the tympanic region is the best one for RT and RR monitoring using an infrared thermometer (TiF). In contrast, when using temperature sensors, the ear (TbE) is preferred to be used for RT predictions and the loin region (TbC) for RR. KEYWORDS RESUMO:O controle automático e preciso do ambiente para animais de produção carece de informações e variáveis originadas dos próprios animais, tendo-os como biossensores. A temperatura retal (TR) e a frequência respiratória (FR) são bons indicadores da termorregulação de suínos. Porém, com a crescente preocupação em relação ao bem-estar animal, torna-se necessária a busca por alternativas à mensuração da TR. Com a presente pesquisa, objetivou-se identificar a região mais adequada para a aferição da temperatura da superfície corporal dos suínos, em fase de creche, e que apresentasse a melhor correlação com a TR e a FR. O experimento principal foi conduzido em câmara climática, com cinco leitões da raça Landrace x Large White, com 30 dias de idade, provenientes de uma mesma ninhada e do mesmo sexo (fêmea). As temperaturas ambientes utilizadas variaram de 14 °C a 35,5 °C. Realizaram-se medidas de temperatura repetidas em intervalos de 30 minutos, em seis diferentes regiões corporais, utilizando-se de dois métodos: via data logger de temperatura Thermochron iButton ® -DS1921G (Tb) e via termômetro de infravermelho (Ti). Por meio dos resultados, foi possível observar que a região timpânica mostrou--se como a melhor opção para acompanhamento tanto da TR quanto da FR via termômetro de infravermelho (TiF), enquanto que ao utilizar sensores de temperatura da superfície corporal, a melhor opção foi a orelha (TbE) para predição de TR, e a região do lombo (TbC) para predição de FR.

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Section: Multiple Regression Analysissupporting

confidence: 67%

Determination of piglets’ rectal temperature and respiratory rate through skin surface temperature under climatic chamber conditions

Mostaço¹,

Miranda²,

Condotta³

et al. 2015

Eng. Agríc.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Pigs have a circadian activity rhythm with one or two peaks during daytime (e.g. Villagra et al, 2007;Andersen et al, 2008). In accordance, the lowest number of visits to the drinker was found at night for both treatments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Growing pigs’ drinking behaviour: number of visits, duration, water intake and diurnal variation

Andersen

Dybkjær

Herskin

2014

Animal

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Individual drinking patterns are a potential tool for disease monitoring in pigs. However, to date, individual pig drinking behaviour has not been described, and effects of external factors have not been examined. The aim of this study was to perform detailed quantification of drinking behaviour of growing pigs and to examine effects of period of day and effects of competition for access to the drinking nipple on the drinking behaviour, amount of water used and water wastage. In all, 52 cross-bred castrated male pigs (live weight 20.5 ± 1.7 kg; mean ± s.d.) maintained as either 3 (N3) or 10 (N10) pigs per pen and water nipple (four groups/ treatment) were used. All pigs were fitted with a transponder ear tag. A radio frequency identification reader recorded and time stamped visits at the nipple. In each pen, water flow was logged every second. The drinking behaviour was recorded for 4 consecutive days and analysed using a linear mixed model. Overall, the pigs spent 594 s at the nipple during 24 h distributed among 44 visits. During this period, 5 l of water were used, of which >30% was wasted. Social competition did not affect the drinking behaviour over 24 h, except for the proportion of interrupted visits where pigs, kept with recommended nipple availability (N10), showed an increased proportion of interrupted drinking bouts compared with pigs kept at very low level of competition (N3) (0.18 ± 0.01 v. 0.11 ± 0.01; P < 0.01). However, splitting data into 8-h periods (P1, P2, P3) starting from 0600 h revealed differences between treatments, showing that in N3, water use per visit was lower in P1 than P2 and P3 (110 ± 10 v. 126 ± 7 and 132 ± 7 ml; P < 0.05), whereas in N10, the water used per visit was higher during P3 than during the other periods (P1: 107 ± 14 ml, P2: 112 ± 10 ml v. P3: 151 ± 10 ml; P < 0.001). A similar pattern was found for visit duration. In N3, fewer nipple visits were observed in P2 than P1 (15.6 ± 1.2 v. 22.0 ± 1.2; P < 0.001), whereas no difference was found between P1 and P2 in N10. The results demonstrate that growing pigs at the two levels of competition maintained a comparable level of 24 h water intake by changing behavioural variables involved in drinking. This dynamic characteristic of drinking behaviour means that if individual drinking patterns are to be used as disease monitoring tools, it is important to consider effects of external factors and include data on period level to allow rapid detection of behavioural changes.

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“…In front of the pen, as there was no standing water, this phenomenon was not observed, and therefore, higher floor temperatures were recorded in summer. Skin temperature can be an indicator of physiological heat stress in pigs (ANDERSEN et al, 2008;RENAUDEAU et al, 2010), since peripheral circulation is a form of heat dissipation. However, the dorsal surface temperature of the animal was not affected by the presence of shallow waters (Table 2), although the critical heat period occurred during the summer.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral, thermoregulatory, and operational aspects of shallow pool pens used in gilts production

Biazzi¹,

Paiano

Nunes

et al. 2014

Sem. Ci. Agr.

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This work was conducted to assess behavioral, thermoregulatory and operational aspects of gilt breeding (Body weight, 25-110 kg) whilst the animals were housed in 2-cm deep shallow pool pens (SPP), without the addition of water, compared to the use of fully compact floor pens (TSF) during the winter and summer seasons. Commercial female strains for high lean tissue accretion were used, housed in grower/finisher pens for 108 days (11 animals/pen, 1.2 m 2 /animal). Instantaneous observations of behavior were carried out every 12 min between 7:00 and 19:00 hours throughout the six days of the raising period. At the end of the raising period, the operational aspects of cleaning the facilities were analyzed. A 2 × 2 factorial scheme design was used, with two types of floors and two seasons, with three replicates. The average temperatures in winter and summer were 19.9 ± 2.2°C and 24.5 ± 2.3°C, respectively. The use of SPP reduced aggressive behavior and increased exploratory behavior, increased the time for the daily cleaning, and reduced the time for the final cleaning of the pens. Key words: Animal welfare, environmental enrichment, facilities, pigs ResumoFoi conduzido um trabalho para avaliar os comportamentos, a termorregulação e os aspectos operacionais da criação de leitoas (25 aos 110 kg de peso vivo) alojadas em lâminas d'água rasa (LDR), com 2 cm de profundidade, sem adição de água em comparação com o piso totalmente compacto (PTC), nas estações de inverno e verão. Foram utilizadas fêmeas de linhagem comercial para alta deposição de tecido magro, alojadas em baias de crescimento/terminação por 108 dias (11 animais por baia, 1,2 m 2 /animal). Foram realizadas observações instantâneas do comportamento, a cada 12 minutos, das 7h00min às 19h00min por seis dias ao longo do período de criação. No final do período de criação foram analisados os aspectos operacionais da limpeza das instalações. Foi utilizado delineamento em um esquema fatorial 2x2, com dois tipos de pisos e duas estações, com três repetições. As temperaturas médias do ar no inverno e verão foram de 19,9±2,2ºC e 24,5±2,3ºC, respectivamente. A utilização de LDR reduziu os comportamentos agressivos e aumentou os comportamentos exploratórios, aumentou o tempo de limpeza diário e reduziu o tempo de limpeza final das baias. Palavras-chave: Bem-estar animal, enriquecimento ambiental, instalações, suínos 1 Zootecnista, Poli-Nutri Nutrição Animal, Treze Tilia, SC, Brasil.

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The ear skin temperature as an indicator of the thermal comfort of pigs

Cited by 62 publications

References 13 publications

Determination of piglets’ rectal temperature and respiratory rate through skin surface temperature under climatic chamber conditions

Determination of piglets’ rectal temperature and respiratory rate through skin surface temperature under climatic chamber conditions

Growing pigs’ drinking behaviour: number of visits, duration, water intake and diurnal variation

Behavioral, thermoregulatory, and operational aspects of shallow pool pens used in gilts production

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