MASCO has developed artificial intelligence audio sensors to provide continuous wellness monitoring of pigs, specifically focusing on respiratory events, or coughing, and pinpointing the location for treatment.
During a case study in Minnesota, the technology was found to have helped decrease mortality rates by half or up to four times, depending on the surveyed barn, validating that the monitoring system helps create faster detection and treatment to decrease pig and economic losses, the company said.
Additionally, the producer reported the MASCO sensors provided consistent, objective alerts that were accurate.
"There was an instance where I asked my employees how their barn was doing, they said it was doing great,” says one of the herd managers from the study.
“That same day I received a message from MACSO saying that there were coughs in that barn. I drove over to the barn to check it out and MACSO was spot on. These pigs happened to be sick enough that I needed to go in and inject medication to keep them alive."
The company says the system gives producers a “24/7 Herdsman” to help make informed decisions about their herd health management.
