Monitoring chicken flock behaviour provides early warning of infection by human pathogen Campylobacter

Abstract

Campylobacter is the commonest bacterial cause of gastrointestinal infection in humans, and chicken meat is the major source of infection throughout the world. Strict and expensive on-farm biosecurity measures have been largely unsuccessful in controlling infection and are hampered by the time needed to analyse faecal samples, with the result that Campylobacter status is often known only after a flock has been processed. Our data demonstrate an alternative approach that monitors the behaviour of live chickens with cameras and analyses the ‘optical flow’ patterns made by flock movements. Campylobacter-free chicken flocks have higher mean and lower kurtosis of optical flow than those testing positive for Campylobacter by microbiological methods. We show that by monitoring behaviour in this way, flocks likely to become positive can be identified within the first 7–10 days of life, much earlier than conventional on-farm microbiological methods. This early warning has the potential to lead to a more targeted approach to Campylobacter control and also provides new insights into possible sources of infection that could transform the control of this globally important food-borne pathogen.

Early warning of footpad dermatitis and hockburn in broiler chicken flocks using optical flow, bodyweight and water consumption

“…For example, optical flow patterns observed in chicken flocks as young as three days old have already been shown to predict hockburn prevalence at slaughter (Roberts and others 2012). Similarly, optical flow patterns in chicken flocks of less than seven days old have been shown to predict Campylobacter prevalence at slaughter (Colles and others 2016). Needing only simple cameras, optical flow analysis measures the rate of change over time of brightness within different parts of a moving visual image (Beauchemin and Barron 1995, Fleet and Weiss 2005) and thus provides information about tens or hundreds of individuals at once.…”

Animal welfare and efficient farming: is conflict inevitable?

“…Their health and welfare can be continuously monitored so that health and welfare problems are detected early and not allowed to become serious, a boost to both welfare and efficient management. For example, monitoring chicken flocks with cameras to reveal patterns of optical flow in the flock movements gives early indications of welfare issues such as hockburn, poor gaits and even infection before these are clinically apparent Colles et al 2016), giving the farmer the ability to intervene at an early stage and target treatment. gives them what they want.…”

Technology and Poultry Welfare

“…Likewise, SVM classifiers’ modelling techniques have been refined to identify risk factors causing hock burn in broiler flocks [102]. At the health level, initial studies in optical flow and wireless sensors indicate that such technology can also be applied to detect infectious diseases that have a major economic and social cost such as Campylobacter [70] and avian influenza [58] before the appearance of the first signs of the disease. Considering welfare issues that are more specific to laying hens, a focus on feather pecking was undertaken using optical flow [71], image radio telemetry imaging [83], and sound sensing [35] technologies.…”

“…Recent work indicates that OF technology can even be useful to detect Campylobacter infected flocks [68], which has a strong welfare impact as strong inflammatory conditions can lead to diarrhoea, poor litter quality, and deteriorated walking ability in affected birds. In their study, based in 31 commercial flocks, Colles et al [70] showed that flocks likely to become positive for Campylobacter were identified in the first seven to 10 days of life and were characterized by having a lower mean flow rate and consistently higher kurtosis in comparison to non-infected flocks.…”