Monitoring pig growth using a prototype imaging system

Knowledge of the daily growth rate of pigs would enable the stockman to mon itor their performance and health, and to predict and control their market weight and date. This paper describes and evaluates the performance of an a utomatic image collection and analysis system designed to record the weight -related areas of pigs under production conditions. The system successfully logged the growth rates of three groups of pigs of three genetic strains t o within 5%, and identified significant differences in the measured area to weight relationships for the three strains, such that linear regression co efficients could be fitted, with the same slope but different intercepts fo r seperate breeds. (C) 1999 Silsoe Research Institute.