Research on the behavior of farm animals is often aimed at investigation of animal welfare, and conducted in stables. Both EthoVision XT and The Observer XT offer valuable functionality in this kind of research.

• Analyze data of the position of the animal withing its stable automatically, and calculate parameters such as the time spent near its feeding trough.
• Calculate and analyze social interaction data, such as the average distance between two animals.
• Code detailed behavior manually and automatically calculate statistics such as the number of events in which the animal was manipulating the substrate.
• Investigate relationships between behavioral events logged with The Observer XT and physiological data obtained with a separate data acquisition system.
• Select data based upon independent variable, animal, behavior, observation, track number, or particular area of the enclosure and only subject those data to analysis.

Introduction
One of the main reasons to conduct research on the behavior of farm animals is to improve the living conditions in view of animal welfare. Welfare is also a concern to animal producers from a production and management perspective; stressful and fearful animals are likely to grow more slowly and less efficiently than non-stressed and non-fearful animals and may also have reduced reproductive output.

Use The Observer® XT and EthoVision® XT to create the perfect solution for the detailed collection and analysis of farm animal behavioral data. EthoVision XT tracks the cow, goat, horse, or other farm animal while it moves through its enclosure. With The Observer XT, detailed behaviors can be manually scored and analyzed. And as always, our knowledgeable staff will be happy to help you out and answer all your questions.
 

How it works
To record and track the activity of the animal, a video camera is positioned above the stable. The EthoVision XT software tracks the animal and measures the coordinates of the animal while it moves through the area. You can also track multiple animals to measure social interaction parameters. Smart detection settings ensure that your animal will be reliably tracked. After data is recorded, EthoVision XT uses the coordinates to automatically calculate a variety of parameters related to mobility, movement, or social interaction.

From the same video file, more detailed behaviors can be manually scored with The Observer XT. You start with designing a coding scheme (ethogram) on the computer on which The Observer XT is installed. This coding scheme contains each behavior and each animal you want to study, including their corresponding codes. Subsequently, the video of the animal in its stable is used to score the behaviors of interest. Scoring simply takes place by pressing the corresponding key or clicking the behavior in the coding scheme on the computer screen. The Observer XT automatically adds time stamps to the logged behaviors and calculates statistics, such as the total duration a calf was mouthing the feeding through. And with the flexibility of the playback functions, you can easily playback the video to certain episodes in which a lot of behaviors co-occur, and score these while playing the video at half speed.

A lot of behavioral research in farm animals includes the collection of physiological data. For example, the influence of group housing or the provision of enrichment on stress responses in animals such as pigs or cows is often combined with heart rate data. Integrating physiological and behavioral data can lead to a better understanding of your research results. When working with an external data acqui-sition system, such as a heart rate monitor, the data stream can be imported into The Observer XT and synchronized with the video and behavioral data.

Both EthoVision XT and The Observer XT give you the opportunity to select parts of your data that you want to visualize or analyze. For instance, you can choose to only analyze data belonging to the first and second observation or only visualize those track segments in which the animal was located in a specific part of its stable.