Post-doctoral fellow position in Precision Livestock Farming and Animal Behaviour
Department of Animal Science, University of Manitoba, Canada
Gestating sows are commonly housed in individual stalls, with farrowing occurring in crates. However, societal and regulatory pressures are driving improvements in animal welfare standards. For instance, the Canadian welfare legislation mandates the implementation of group gestation by 2029, and major production centers are moving towards free farrowing systems. However, higher pre-weaning piglet mortality rates pose a significant challenge in these systems compared to farrowing crates, partly due to poor sow mothering ability traits. Identifying and quantifying such traits is essential for the success of freefarrowing systems.
In this collaborative project, the post-doctoral fellow will work with a MSc student to develop computer vision models to automatically classify sow behaviours, enabling the tracking and calculation of behaviourbased phenotypic traits. The project will involve detailed descriptions of favourable sow perinatal behaviours obtained through extensive video annotation. This data will be used to identify sows with the best mothering abilities in a free farrowing environment, ultimately aiming to increase sow reproductive performance.
Application deadline: until the position is filled
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