Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
Rural Energy Research Institute, Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, Heilongjiang 150086, China.
Animal. 2019 Sep;13(9):2060-2069. doi: 10.1017/S1751731118003440. Epub 2019 Jan 11.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) technology offers a real-time solution to monitor behavioral responses of individual animals to various stimuli, which provides crucial implications on farm management and animal well-being. The objectives of this study were to (1) develop and describe an ultra-high frequency radio frequency identification (UHF-RFID) system for continuously monitoring feeding and drinking behaviors of individual broilers in group settings; and (2) validate the performance of the UHF-RFID system against video analysis in determining the instantaneous bird number (IBN) and time spent (TS) at feeder and drinker. The UHF-RFID system consisted of cable-tie tags, antennas, a reader and a data acquisition (DAQ) system. The antennas generated electromagnetic fields where tags were detected and registered by the DAQ system. Electromagnetic fields of the antennas were modified to cover areas of concern (i.e. tube feeders and nipple drinkers) through a series of system evaluations and customizations including tag sensitivity test, power adjustment, radio wave shielding, and assessment of interference by add-ons (e.g. plastic wraps for protecting antennas and an empty carton box for zoning out broilers) and feed/feeder. System validation was performed in two experimental rooms, each with 60 tagged broilers. The results showed that the max reading distances of tags with an identical manufacturer's specification were markedly different, indicating large variations in sensitivity among the tags. Desired electromagnetic fields could be achieved by adjusting the power supplied to antennas and by partially shielding antennas with customized stainless steel sheets. The protection materials and fully loaded feeder had little effect on electromagnetic fields of the antennas. The accuracies of the UHF-RFID system for determining IBN and TS were, respectively, 92.5±4.2% and 99.0±1.2% by the feeder antennas and 94.7±4.2% and 93.7±6.9% by the drinker antennas. It is concluded that the UHF-RIFD system can accurately detect and record feeding and drinking behaviors of individual broilers in group settings and thus is a useful tool for investigating impacts of resource allocations and management practices on these behaviors.
射频识别（RFID）技术为实时监测个体动物对各种刺激的行为反应提供了一种解决方案，这对农场管理和动物福利具有重要意义。本研究的目的是：（1）开发和描述一种超高频射频识别（UHF-RFID）系统，用于连续监测群体环境中单个肉鸡的采食和饮水行为；（2）验证 UHF-RFID 系统在确定即时鸟数（IBN）和在采食器和饮水器上花费的时间（TS）方面的性能，其可通过视频分析确定。UHF-RFID 系统由电缆扎带标签、天线、读取器和数据采集（DAQ）系统组成。天线产生电磁场，标签由 DAQ 系统检测和注册。通过一系列系统评估和定制，包括标签灵敏度测试、功率调整、无线电波屏蔽以及对附加设备（例如用于保护天线的塑料包装和用于隔离肉鸡的空纸箱）和饲料/料槽干扰的评估，对天线的电磁场进行了修改，以覆盖关注区域（即管状料槽和乳头式饮水器）。在两个实验室内进行了系统验证，每个实验室内有 60 个标记的肉鸡。结果表明，具有相同制造商规格的标签的最大读取距离明显不同，表明标签之间的灵敏度存在很大差异。通过调整天线的供电功率和使用定制的不锈钢片部分屏蔽天线，可以实现所需的电磁场。保护材料和满载料槽对天线的电磁场影响很小。通过饲料器天线，UHF-RFID 系统确定 IBN 和 TS 的准确率分别为 92.5±4.2%和 99.0±1.2%；通过饮水器天线，准确率分别为 94.7±4.2%和 93.7±6.9%。研究结论为：UHF-RIFD 系统可以准确检测和记录群体环境中单个肉鸡的采食和饮水行为，因此是研究资源分配和管理实践对这些行为影响的有用工具。
