ISU Animal Behavior & Well-being Laboratory
The Department of Animal Science Animal Behavior Lab at ISU is a state of the art laboratory. The lab has color/black and white cameras that can connect to Noldus quad processor units for continuous recording. LTDs allow for night vision and night recording. The Behavior Lab is based in Kildee Hall.
The Department of Animal Science laboratory is capable of recording video and live observations. The work is aided by use of analytical programs on the computers.
Observer® V10 is a program that is used by a human observer to watch video and manually key in the behaviors observed. Both programs enable us to enter the data as we record it, and then perform simple statistical analyses immediately.
Observer® V10, Ethovision and the equipment that runs these programs were created by Noldus. Noldus provides equipment, technical service and support for the lab. More information about their products and services can be found at their website:http://www.noldus.com/site/nav10000
The Onset Hobo Pro RH/Temp Data Logger, of which the lab owns six, is able to accurately measure temperatures from -30 to 70 degrees Celsius. Each unit is also able to measure relative humidity (RH) from 0% to 100% accurately. More information on these units can be found at the Onset webpage at: http://www.onsetcomp.com/products
Technology present in the lab in order to record video continuously for behavioral observation includes quad processing units connected directly to laptops. This allows users to see what is being recorded at set up in order to obtain the most accurate recordings possible, and is an upgrade from previous RECO units used. Panasonic WV-CP484 Day/Night Cameras are connected with this equipment.
In some research situations, it is advantageous to be able to measure the exact amount of water that is being consumed by the animals in the study. To meet this need, the Lab uses DLJ Hose Bibb Water Meters (find more information at www.watermeters.com). These accurately measure water usage down to 1/10 of a gallon, allowing valid recording of water usage in a particular animal.
Heart rate has been shown to be an important indicator of animal stress levels. To accurately measure heart rate, the lab uses Polar Heart Rate Monitors. These monitors have bee used successfully for research in humans, horses and pigs. The Lab will be using the monitors to greatly increase our understanding of animal responses to various situations. More information regarding the monitors and their use can be found on the Polar website at http://www.polarusa.com/
To record the activities of animals during hours of dark, it is necessary to complement the use of our cameras with an additional light source. The difficulty of this is that such a light source must provide light to the camera, but not actually be bright enough to disturb the nocturnal activities of the animals being observed. To avoid this issue, the Lab uses Infrared LTD arrays. These units allow for complete observation of the animal without in any way disrupting its natural behaviors.
To record animal behaviors, the lab has the use of Panasonic WV-CP484 Day/Night Camera. These cameras are capable of recording in both color and black and white mode. Each camera is equipped to automatically stabilize the image in the event of wind or other jostling. Along with the Rainbow L308VCS camera lense, which is varifocal and also day/night capable for recording, the cameras are ready for any type of recording. More information at: ftp://ftp.panasonic.com/pub/Panasonic/cctv/SpecSheets/SDIII%20Plus%20Br…
Reference Manager is the data base for the Behavior lab. In the lab sits numerous filing cabinets full of various abstracts, magazine articles and conference narrative proceedings that can be used for lit reviews, citations and writing papers. Reference Manager is the program used to enter the title, authors and subject for each document. When a paper needs to be written Reference Manager allows us to search by topic for various articles in our holdings.