Effects over time of different types of sounds on gestating sows’ behavior

The objective of the study was to determine the impact of different types of sounds and their effects over time on the behavior of gestating sows. These behavioural data have been collected manually from video analysis of gestating sows. The experiment was carried out on 32 gestating sows crossbred Large White x Landrace, including 8 primiparous. The sows came from two groups (16 and 17) of the experimental station of the Experimental Unit Physiology and Phenotyping of Pigs (UE3P, Saint-Gilles, France, https://doi.org/10.15454/1.5573932732039927E12). The study took place in September and October 2020, over 2 consecutive weeks, a “Base” week during which no sounds were emitted to serve as a control followed by a “Test” week during which sounds were emitted from Monday to Thursday on two periods for each day (from 13h30 to 18h30 h, and from 23h to 04h). A sound among 40 was randomly emitted every 10 minutes. The sounds were always emitted below 85 decibels (dBA) to follow the recommendations in a pig farm. Data sets: - “Raw_Behavior” contains raw behavioral data recorded continuously for all the sows, and one line represents one behavior of a sow. - “By_second” contains the behavioral data only during the seconds when a sound is emitted. Therefore one line = one second. Variables: - “Week” (Basal, Test1, Test2): Base week (Monday PM and Monday-Tuesday Night), Test1 week for the first repetition of sound emission (Monday PM and Monday-Tuesday Night), and Test2 week for the second repetition (Wednesday PM and Wednesday-Thursday Night) - “Period” (PM or Night) : “PM” period from 1330 h to 1830 h and “Night” period from 2300 h to 0400 h - “IDsow”: letter of identification of the sow - “Group” of sows (16 or 17) - “Category” of the behavior (Area, Posture, Behavior, Social) - “Sub_Category” of the behavior (4): o Areas: from A1 to A5 : A5 being the waiting corridor in from of the feeders, and the other areas are resting areas (A1 and A3 are far from the feeder; A2 and A4 are near by the feeder); o Postures: Lay, Sit or Stand; o Occupation: Sleep, Eat, Drink, Observe, Investigate, Social; - “Time_Start” (HH:MM:SS): beginning of the behavior observed - “Time_Stop” (HH:MM:SS): end of the behavior observed - “Time”: specific to this file presenting one second per line it keep tracks of the lines order - “Sound_Type”: alarm, metal, human, animal - “Change”: number of changes of area / posture / behavior from one line to another