Megan C. Morris, Dr. Angela Green, Dr. Ryan Dilger, Department of Animal Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Validation of an Automatic Liquid Feeding System in Piglets Acknowledgments A special thank you to: The Animal Welfare and Environmental Systems Laboratory The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Animal Science Conclusions Testing did not yield satisfactory results for application of the system in a nutrition study. Additional system troubleshooting resulted in the decision to make system adjustments to the physical and electronic components to improve component reliability. Following the adjustments, further calibration is needed. Introduction Objective : To calibrate and validate volume delivery of an automatic liquid feeding system for neonatal piglets. Rationale : Mimics traditional feeding from the sow Eases management practices Allows for the addition of various nutritional components Eliminates competition for nutrients amongst littermates Distributes several different diets at one time Removes human handling effects of manual feeding Abstract The use of piglets in biomedical research is becoming increasingly more common due to the similarities between swine and humans in both anatomy and physiology. In order to aid in testing the varying nutritional effects on piglet cognitive development, an automatic liquid feeding system was designed to distribute up to six different to up to 24 neonatal piglets simultaneously. Prior to this study, the system calibration procedure was completed and recorded to ensure the system dependably delivered accurate liquid volumes. Methodology Schematics: A series of pumps, tanks and valves were assembled for feed delivery A computer-based system interface was designed using LabView 4 display pages for operator inputs Feeding and Cleaning, Control, Display, Flow Calibration System designed to run both feeding and cleaning cycles Fig 2. Screenshot of the interface of the automatic system, including the 6 30-gallon feed tanks, tubing, solenoid, needle, and dump valves, and piglet cages. (Anliker, 2012) Methods: Quantify feed distribution from four feed lines using two test feeding cycles and make system adjustments to improve results. Test 1 Established base flow rates Input details for test conditions 4kg piglet Fed 23 times per day Feeding rate of 300mL/kg Collected all liquid dispensed to each cage during one feeding cycle Weighed individual containers to quantify volume dispensed Test 2 Made adjustments as needed and retested Adjustments made to drop needle valves for any line with >30% difference between actual feed delivered and computer setting Adjustments made to computer code for valve open times Repeated steps from test 1 to assess changes in delivery Results Test 1: Establishing Base Rates Future Research Complete adjustments to the system Complete calibration of the system Verify growth rates of piglets using the automatic liquid feeding system Test cognitive development of piglets on various diets using the automatic liquid feeding system through behavioral analysis in a choice test maze Fig 1. A photo taken of the system’s set-up within the biomedical laboratory at the University of Illinois References Anliker, L. (2012). Piglet feeding system operating manual. Fig 5. A contrast of the percent differences between expected flow rates and actual flow rates and the error reduction between the two tests Test 2: Fig. 4 A comparison of the expected flow rate and the actual flow rate for Test 2 using the system Fig. 3 A comparison of expected flow rates and actual flow rates during Test 1 running the system CageTest 1 Perctnet differenceTest 2 Percent DifferenceError reduction