In search of the behavioural correlates of optical flow patterns in the automated assessment of broiler chicken welfare

Dawkins, Marian Stamp; Cain, Russell; Merelie, Kathryn; Roberts, Stephen

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2013.02.001

Cited by 48 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…Dawkins et al (2013) support the hypothesis that an important indicator of a healthy population is represented by more uniformity, or low variance, in the health-related measures. Unhealthy individuals contribute to a wider spread of the population data while healthy populations present a more narrow range of results (Dawkins et al, 2013). Here, we found that in both years of this study, the seasonal variation in gene transcription was significantly lower, and thus more uniform, in bees from the propolis envelope treatment colonies for the majority of the genes analyzed, potentially representing a healthier population.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

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Seasonal benefits of a natural propolis envelope to honey bee immunity and colony health

Borba

Klyczek

Mogen

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Honey bees, as social insects, rely on collective behavioral defenses that produce a colony-level immune phenotype, or social immunity, which in turn impacts the immune response of individuals. One behavioral defense is the collection and deposition of antimicrobial plant resins, or propolis, in the nest. We tested the effect of a naturally constructed propolis envelope within standard beekeeping equipment on the pathogen and parasite load of large field colonies, and on immune system activity, virus and storage protein levels of individual bees over the course of a year. The main effect of the propolis envelope was a decreased and more uniform baseline expression of immune genes in bees during summer and autumn months each year, compared with the immune activity in bees with no propolis envelope in the colony. The most important function of the propolis envelope may be to modulate costly immune system activity. As no differences were found in levels of bacteria, pathogens and parasites between the treatment groups, the propolis envelope may act directly on the immune system, reducing the bees' need to activate the physiologically costly production of humoral immune responses. Colonies with a natural propolis envelope had increased colony strength and vitellogenin levels after surviving the winter in one of the two years of the study, despite the fact that the biological activity of the propolis diminished over the winter. A natural propolis envelope acts as an important antimicrobial layer enshrouding the colony, benefiting individual immunity and ultimately colony health.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Seasonal benefits of a natural propolis envelope to honey bee immunity and colony health

Borba

Klyczek

Mogen

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Dawkins et al (2001), for instance, proposed a method using optical flow (motion patterns) to analyze the behavior of commercial broiler chickens from videos recorded by inexpensive cameras. Dawkins et al (2013) used video cameras to record the behavior of broiler chickens and to assess their welfare using computer-recognized individual stances, such as sitting and walking.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photogrammetry: a Non-Invasive and Objective Method for Detecting Locomotion Problems in Broiler Chickens

Mendes

Paixão

Sikorski

et al. 2016

Rev. Bras. Cienc. Avic.

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Locomotion problems in broiler chickens can cause economic losses of up to 40% of the total revenues due to carcass condemnation and downgrading at processing. Leg disorders, such as femoral lesions, tibial dyschondroplasia, and spondylolisthesis, substantially impact the welfare of chickens as these disorders can prevent birds from reaching the feeders and drinkers, thus reducing feed and water intake. The most important issues related to broiler welfare reported in the last two decades are their growing sensitivity to metabolic and locomotion problems due to the fast growth rates and inactivity. Traditional methods for the determination of gait score include the manual scoring of animal behavior in the broiler house. Recorded video images can also be used for manual scoring of chicken gait score. However, scoring of some animal-based information by human experts and manual methods remain difficult, time consuming and expensive when implemented at farm level. In an effort to objectively detect leg disorders, this study aimed at validating the photogrammetry technique as a non-invasive method for identifying locomotion problems in broilers. Photogrammetry allows determining the geometric properties of broilers from digital photos that are processed and analyzed using a computer software. Results obtained using photogrammetry were tested for their correlation with those obtained by accepted methodologies, including gait score and macroscopic examination of femoral degeneration and tibial dyschondroplasia. The photogrammetry results agreed with the results of the afore mentioned accepted methods.

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“…Furthermore, it is believed that the methodology used by [19] to measure the birds' activity index might be more accurate than that used in the present study [27], so further analysis is desirable in order to improve the model. The optical flow analysis it is another methodology to access flock movement [18][19][20][21][22], which has the potential to be adapt for the circumstances of this study.…”

Section: Variable Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It can be an efficient method to estimate the level of animals' welfare to improve flock management by aiding predictions for further decision making [17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. This study aimed to use computational image analysis techniques in order to access the behaviour of broiler chickens in a commercial house, when interacting with three different types of feeder, considering the flock motion, floor occupied area by the birds' body and eating behaviour.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of flock movement and behaviour of broiler chickens at different feeders using image analysis

Neves

Mehdizadeh

Tscharke

et al. 2015

Information Processing in Agriculture

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Animal behaviourFeeding Image processing Motion Occupied area A B S T R A C TThe behaviour of broiler chickens has been extensively studied as a function of stocking density and environmental conditions, but limited information was reported in the scientific literature about the effect of feeder type on birds' feeding process. The main objective of this study was to assess the effects of three different feeder types in relation to the birds' behaviour in its surroundings. The analysed feeders were: tube-type with partition grid (F1); tube-type without partition grid (F2); and automatic type with partition grid (F3).The considered variables were: occupied area (OA); activity index (AI) (flock movement); total birds presented in the area (TB); and birds effectively eating (EE). OA and AI were calculated by computational image analysis while TB and EE were manually measured. The results indicated that the feeder type could have influenced the birds' behaviour regarding to OA (R 2 = 0.56), TB (R 2 = 0.48), and EE (R 2 = 0.40), but AI (R 2 = 0.01) was not found to be directly influenced by the feeder type. A higher percentage of birds effectively eating were found in F2 (86.4%), which was the one with the largest free area to access the feed. Similar average number of total birds was found in F1, but with a lower percentage of individuals effectively eating (63.3%), which means that birds were nearby this feeder performing other behaviours. Since the assessed feeders were in the same house under the same conditions, it can be suggested that not only the free area to access the feed but potentially the design of feeders could have influenced the birds' feeding preference. The real beneficial effect of the adoption of partition grid on feed trays is still uncertain, and it is also unclear whether the financial value of reduced wastage would compensate the possible reduction in feed intake.

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In search of the behavioural correlates of optical flow patterns in the automated assessment of broiler chicken welfare

Cited by 48 publications

References 27 publications

Seasonal benefits of a natural propolis envelope to honey bee immunity and colony health

Seasonal benefits of a natural propolis envelope to honey bee immunity and colony health

Photogrammetry: a Non-Invasive and Objective Method for Detecting Locomotion Problems in Broiler Chickens

Detection of flock movement and behaviour of broiler chickens at different feeders using image analysis

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