March 23, 2022

Research studies swine sounds to assess pigs' welfare

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen, ETH Zurich, and the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment are studying the vocal expression of swine emotions to assess their welfare, The Guardian reported.

The researches recorded 7,414 sounds from 411 pigs, then created an algorithm to decode if the swine were experiencing a positive or negative emotion, or something in between. Behaviour and heart rates were also monitored.

The study found that swine vocalise high-frequency calls in negative situations, but gave low-frequency calls such as barks and grunts in both positive and negative emotions.

lodie Briefer, a professor at the University of Copenhagen's biology department who co-led the study, said in positive situations, the calls are far shorter, with minor fluctuations in amplitude.

Brifer said 92% of the calls can be classified to the correct emotion through training an algorithm to recognise the sounds.

The University of Copenhagen said recordings were collected from commercial swine from birth to death.

Positive examples include suckling piglets or when they are reunited with family members. Negative examples include separation, fights, castration, and slaughter.

Researchers also created mock scenarios such as an arena holding toys or food to evoke more nuanced emotions. They also introduced new and unfamiliar objects.

Brifer said they are seeking for someone to develop the algorithm into an app that farmers will be able to use to improve the welfare of their animals.

-      The Guardian