Avaliação de um novo método de análise de comportamentos de aves de postura submetidas a dois sistemas de criação.

Abstract

Automation of systems for animal behavior evaluation in substitution to manual systems has being considered a good alternative in relation of the use of image analysis as a less subjective precision tool to the animal behaviour interpretation. This work aimed to evaluate the use of image analysis in laying hens behaviour study comparing a conventional battery cage system with other system using litter on the floor. Two groups of 20 birds (10 Hy-line W36 and 10 Hy-line Brown) were used in two breeding systems (battery cages and litter) during two weeks. A system with video cameras was adapted to climate room’s roof to register the laying hen behavior. For individual evaluation, birds were marked with a dorsal painting. During the analysis process, the software had some problems due the difficulty to identify the birds in the cage system and probably imperfections due to positions of the video cameras. Otherwise, the use of an automatic system to behavior qualification can facilitated the researcher efforts to manipulate forms and data with a visual counting of animals’ behavior.