Evaluation of hybrid models based on image segmentation and inference for pig weight estimation

Abstract

Introduction Accurate weight estimation in pig production is essential for optimizing management, feeding, and commercialization decisions; however, traditional weighing methods are invasive, time-consuming, and prone to operational errors. This study proposes a non-invasive computer vision–based approach to estimate pig weight under real farm conditions in San Martín, Peru. Methods A dataset of 3,800 lateral images paired with their corresponding ground-truth weights was collected. A computational pipeline was implemented, including geometric standardization, instance segmentation using YOLOv8n-seg, and feature extraction through EfficientNet-B0. The resulting embeddings were used as input for supervised regression models (SVR, XGBoost, and CatBoost), evaluated using repeated stratified cross-validation and an independent test set, with MAE, RMSE, and R² as performance metrics. Statistical comparisons were conducted using the Friedman test followed by Wilcoxon post hoc analysis with Holm correction. Results The results demonstrated strong predictive performance, with the SVR model achieving the best results (RMSE = 2.68 kg, MAE = 1.81 kg, R2 = 0.85), showing statistically significant differences compared to the other models. Discussion These findings indicate that combining computer vision techniques with models capable of capturing non-linear relationships effectively models the relationship between animal morphology and body weight, providing a low-cost, non-invasive solution applicable to real-world production systems and supporting the advancement of precision livestock farming.