LocoBoar – Development of a Technical Method for the Automatic Assessment of the Locomotion Behavior of Breeding Boars
 

Definition of assessment parameters for the locomotion behavior of boars and derivation of technical surrogate parameters for the use of audio and vibration data

To meet the ever-increasing demands in swine breeding and to ensure the high quality of breeding boars in terms of the health of their musculoskeletal system, careful selection procedures are necessary. In particular, the visual assessment of the legs and gait of breeding boars remains, for the most part, a subjective process dependent on the evaluator’s experience. Despite thorough selection procedures, breeding boars are still culled at artificial insemination stations due to abnormal movement patterns. A particular challenge lies in the difficulty of reliably detecting subclinical lameness during selection. In collaboration with the Pig Improvement Company (Hendersonville, USA) and German software and hardware developers, an automated system is therefore to be developed that uses acoustic sensors to record the boars’ footfalls and can analyze and evaluate their locomotor behavior through the application of artificial intelligence.

By detecting gait abnormalities, it may be possible to make an early assessment of the reproductive suitability of the tested boars, prevent their early culling, and optimize the selection process.