The reliable audio-based on-farm detection of health issues, such as PDS, in real-time has a great potential to substantially improve the welfare of sows and piglets during farrowing and the nursing period, phases which are both highly critical and prone to problems related to animal welfare (e.g., piglet survival and growth, sow health).

This project aims at validatng whether detection of nursing grunts using acoustic recordings can be used to distinguish between successful and unsuccessful nursing events. An early detection of sows that refuse to engage in nursing would enable farmers to intervene at an early stage and increases the chance for a fast recovery of the sow and thus piglet survival thereby improving the welfare of the sows and their litter.