Drinking behavior in nursery pigs: Determining the accuracy between an automatic water meter versus human observers

dc.contributor.author Meiszberg, Allison
dc.contributor.author Johnson, Anna
dc.contributor.author Johnson, Anna
dc.contributor.author Sadler, Larry
dc.contributor.author Carroll, J. A.
dc.contributor.author Dailey, Jeff
dc.contributor.author Krebs, Nadege
dc.contributor.department Animal Science
dc.date 2018-02-16T10:33:05.000
dc.date.accessioned 2020-06-29T23:41:55Z
dc.date.available 2020-06-29T23:41:55Z
dc.date.issued 2008-12-01
dc.description.abstract <p>Assimilating accurate behavioral events over a long period can be labor-intensive and relatively expensive. If an automatic device could accurately record the duration and frequency for a given behavioral event, it would be a valuable alternative to the traditional use of human observers for behavioral studies. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the accuracy in the time spent at the waterer and the number of visits to the waterer by individually housed nursery pigs between human observers scoring video files using Observer software (OBS) and an automatic water meter Hobo (WM, control) affixed onto the waterline. Eleven PIC USA genotype gilts (22 ± 2 d of age; 6.5 ± 1.4 kg of BW) were housed individually in pens with ad libitum access to a corn-based starter ration and one nipple waterer. Behavior was collected on d 0 (day of weaning), 7, and 14 of the trial using 1 color camera positioned over 4 attached pens and a RECO-204 DVR at 1 frame per second. For the OBS method, 2 experienced observers recorded drinking behavior from the video files, which was defined as when the gilt placed her mouth over the nipple waterer. Data were analyzed using nonparametric methods and the general linear model and regression procedures in SAS. The experimental unit was the individual pen housing 1 gilt. The GLM model included the method of observation (WM vs. OBS) and time (24 h) as variables, and the gilt nested within method was used as the error term. Gilts consumed more water (<em>P</em> = 0.04) on d 14 than on d 0. The time of day affected (<em>P</em> < 0.001) the number of visits and the time spent at the waterer regardless of the method. However, the OBS method underestimated (<em>P</em> < 0.001) the number of visits to the waterer (3.48 ± 0.33 visits/h for OBS vs. 4.94 ± 0.33 for WM) and overestimated (<em>P</em> < 0.001) the time spent at the waterer (22.6 ± 1.46 s/h for OBS vs. 13.9 ± 1.43 for WM) compared with WM. The relationship between the 2 methods for prediction of time spent at the waterer and number of visits made by the gilts was weak (R<sup>2</sup> = 0.56 and 0.69, respectively). Collectively, these data indicate that the use of the traditional OBS method for quantifying drinking behavior in pigs can be misleading. Quantifying drinking behavior and perhaps other behavioral events via the OBS method must be more accurately validated.</p>
dc.description.comments <p>This article is from <em>Journal of Animal </em><em>Science</em> 87 (2008): 4173, doi:<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2527/jas.2008-1737" target="_blank">10.2527/jas.2008-1737</a>.</p>
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/ans_pubs/97/
dc.identifier.articleid 1092
dc.identifier.contextkey 7155788
dc.identifier.s3bucket isulib-bepress-aws-west
dc.identifier.submissionpath ans_pubs/97
dc.identifier.uri https://dr.lib.iastate.edu/handle/20.500.12876/10021
dc.language.iso en
dc.source.bitstream archive/lib.dr.iastate.edu/ans_pubs/97/2008_Butters_DrinkingBehavior.pdf|||Sat Jan 15 02:36:29 UTC 2022
dc.source.uri 10.2527/jas.2008-1737
dc.subject.disciplines Agriculture
dc.subject.disciplines Animal Sciences
dc.subject.disciplines Meat Science
dc.subject.keywords automatic
dc.subject.keywords behavior
dc.subject.keywords drinking
dc.subject.keywords Hobo
dc.subject.keywords pig
dc.subject.keywords validation
dc.title Drinking behavior in nursery pigs: Determining the accuracy between an automatic water meter versus human observers
dc.type article
dc.type.genre article
dspace.entity.type Publication
relation.isAuthorOfPublication 9459ddeb-303d-4035-933f-925ec181c7a6
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 85ecce08-311a-441b-9c4d-ee2a3569506f
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