Modelagem do consumo alimentar e padrões comportamentais de coelhos Nova Zelândia Branco submetidos a desafios crônicos por altas temperaturas

Abstract

Rabbit breeding is a strategic and highly developed activity in several countries, such as China and Portugal, due to its easy handling, high prolificacy, and low polluting impact, well suited to family farming systems, as well as producing meat of high biological value. The objective of this work was to develop a Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy system capable of predicting feed intake and behavioral patterns of New Zealand White (NZB) rabbits subjected to chronic high temperature challenges. The experiment was conducted in four air-conditioned wind tunnels, and four air dry-bulb temperatures (t db : 20°C, 24°C, 28°C and 32°C) were tested from the 30th day of life of the animals, for 14 days. Throughout the experimental period, daily feed intake (FI) and water consumption (C H20 ) data were collected, as well as images of animals through video cameras. Thus, data were obtained for the analysis of daily FI and for the analysis of behavioral patterns of rabbits at intervals of two minutes per hour per day per treatment. Subsequently, models based on the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy system were developed to predict FI and C H20 and to predict the behavioral changes of NZB rabbits as a function of t db and days after weaning. The Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy inference system was efficient in predicting FI and behavioral patterns of rabbits when the experimental data were compared to those simulated by fuzzy logic. The rabbits submitted to t db of 32°C had their FI and CH20 affected, as well as a mean reduction of 17.11 g of average body weight gain accumulated in the period when compared to animals submitted to t db of 20°C (comfort). Also, rabbits subjected to t db of 32°C spent most of their time performing behaviors that indicate heat stress. The animals submitted to t db of 24 and 28°C showed great variability in FI and C H20 , as well as in prostrate behavior, indicating that rabbits were in thermal discomfort. In this way, simulations performed with the fuzzy system allow the study of several scenarios to analyze the effect of the thermal environment on the performance of the NZB rabbits, providing useful information to assist the producer in the decision making in the maintenance of the thermal environment in relation to the handling diary of these animals, aiming at increasing productivity.