ENVIRONMENTAL-TEMPERATURE CONTROL BY THE PIGS COMFORT BEHAVIOR THROUGH IMAGE-ANALYSIS

During four experiments with six female piglets, the thermoregulatory behavior of the piglets was quantified by visual observation and by au tomated image analysis. The collection number of images representing p igs sleeping side by side and touching each other, as well as the occu pation ratio of piglets being calculated on pixel values within predef ined windows, may serve as set-point values for environmental temperat ure controllers. But this observational procedure has to be linked to the engineering of a gradient of an effective environmental temperatur e within a pen.