Real-time monitoring of broiler flock's welfare status using camera-based technology

Fernández, Alberto Peña; Norton, Tomás; Tullo, Emanuela; Hertem, T. van; Youssef, Ali; Exadaktylos, Vasileios; Vranken, Erik; Guarino, Marcella; Berckmans, Daniël

doi:10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2018.05.008

Cited by 60 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The eYeNamic™ camera system is produced commercially by Fancom BV and collects and processes images in order to monitor chickens’ distribution and activity, which “can be conceived as valuable indicators of animal welfare” [38]. It should be noted that some of the prototype systems in this review used the commercially available eYeNamic™ cameras, but as the systems themselves were prototypes the publications were categorised as such (e.g., [48]). Conversely, publications that involved the use of commercial sensors described investigations of where best to place these sensors, and so could be categorised as commercially available systems (e.g., [41]).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Of the papers with animal health and welfare as the sole primary goal, most of the measurements used to monitor the birds were locomotory behaviour-based (43.81%). Locomotory behaviour included activity, distribution and occupation patterns (e.g., [48,53]), movement (e.g., [54]) and movement-related variables such as speed, step frequency, step length and the lateral body oscillation [55], location within the environment (e.g., [30]), optical flow (e.g., [56]), ranging behaviour (e.g., [57]), and clustering behaviour ([58]). The second largest proportion of publications (20.95%) used vocalisations [59] or bird sounds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Systematic Review of Precision Livestock Farming in the Poultry Sector: Is Technology Focussed on Improving Bird Welfare?

Rowe

Dawkins

Gebhardt-Henrich

2019

Animals

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Simple SummaryPrecision livestock farming (PLF) is the use of technology to help farmers monitor and manage their animals and their farm. This technology can help to improve animal welfare by enabling farmers to act as soon as any problem arises. However, the technology can also be used to increase production efficiency on the farm, which could be prioritised over the animals’ welfare. The aim of this study was to give an overview of PLF technology development in poultry farming, and to investigate whether improving welfare has been the main goal of PLF development. The results suggest that PLF development in poultry farming so far has focussed on improving animal health and welfare, more so than increasing production. However, despite the interest in PLF research for poultry farming across the world (especially in the USA, China and Belgium), most of the technology is still being developed (prototypes); only a few are available for farmers to buy and use. This means that future work should focus on making these technologies commercially available to farmers, so that systems developed to improve welfare can be used to improve the welfare of farmed birds in the real world.AbstractPrecision livestock farming (PLF) systems have the potential to improve animal welfare through providing a continuous picture of welfare states in real time and enabling fast interventions that benefit the current flock. However, it remains unclear whether the goal of PLF development has been to improve welfare or increase production efficiency. The aims of this systematic literature review are to provide an overview of the current state of PLF in poultry farming and investigate whether the focus of PLF research has been to improve bird welfare. The study characteristics extracted from 264 peer-reviewed publications and conference proceedings suggest that poultry PLF has received increasing attention on a global scale, but is yet to become a widespread commercial reality. PLF development has most commonly focussed on broiler farming, followed by laying hens, and mainly involves the use of sensors (environmental and wearable) and cameras. More publications had animal health and welfare than production as either one of or the only goal, suggesting that PLF development so far has focussed on improving animal health and welfare. Future work should prioritise improving the rate of commercialisation of PLF systems, so that their potential to improve bird welfare might be realised.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of Precision Livestock Farming in the Poultry Sector: Is Technology Focussed on Improving Bird Welfare?

Rowe

Dawkins

Gebhardt-Henrich

2019

Animals

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“…Flock behaviour in broiler production Although not at the individual animal level, the behaviour of a broiler flock has recently been correlated to specific welfare problems in the broiler production. Fernández et al (2018) used the commercially available PLF camera system to extract values on the activity and occupation patterns of a broiler flock. They found a positive relation between the deviations in occupation patterns and the footpad lesion scores indicating that birds, which tend to cluster together for long periods, present an increased chance of having higher levels of footpad lesions.…”

Section: Norton Chen and Larsenmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: Precision livestock farming: building ‘digital representations’ to bring the animals closer to the farmer

Norton

Chen

Larsen

et al. 2019

Animal

122

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Economic pressures continue to mount on modern-day livestock farmers, forcing them to increase herds sizes in order to be commercially viable. The natural consequence of this is to drive the farmer and the animal further apart. However, closer attention to the animal not only positively impacts animal welfare and health but can also increase the capacity of the farmer to achieve a more sustainable production. State-of-the-art precision livestock farming (PLF) technology is one such means of bringing the animals closer to the farmer in the facing of expanding systems. Contrary to some current opinions, it can offer an alternative philosophy to 'farming by numbers'. This review addresses the key technology-oriented approaches to monitor animals and demonstrates how image and sound analyses can be used to build 'digital representations' of animals by giving an overview of some of the core concepts of PLF tool development and value discovery during PLF implementation. The key to developing such a representation is by measuring important behaviours and events in the livestock buildings. The application of image and sound can realise more advanced applications and has enormous potential in the industry. In the end, the importance lies in the accuracy of the developed PLF applications in the commercial farming system as this will also make the farmer embrace the technological development and ensure progress within the PLF field in favour of the livestock animals and their well-being. ImplicationsThis work address the main approaches utilised in developing precision livestock farming tools. Precision livestock farming is an approach that enables the farmer with more objective information about the animal to make better choices about the sustainability of their production system. This paper demonstrates some of the key solutions and the approaches taken to develop technologies with sound and image analyses. †

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“…The analysis of movement, distribution, and activity of a flock can provide important information on the welfare status of the animals. Technology to capture broiler distribution was used to predict thermal comfort of young chicks [46]; to evaluate the relationship between individual behaviour and optical flow [47]; and to assess mortality, gait abnormalities, hock burn, and foot pad dermatitis on flock basis [23,[48][49][50][51][52][53]. Moreover, it was utilized to analyse poultry eating and drinking behaviour [24], to detect equipment malfunctioning [54], and to monitor animals in broiler houses [55] and as part of a set of technologies used to provide an easy tool for farmers to assess production, environmental, and behaviour data in a broiler house [28].…”

Section: Image Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Algorithms were identified in 23 papers, representing 40.4% of total publications. They were primarily used to process image data involved with the detection and assessment of broiler lameness and/or leg disorders [23,[36][37][38][39][47][48][49][50][51][52][53]55], to characterize chick behaviour under different temperatures [46] and other environmental conditions [30], to detect equipment malfunctioning [54], and for early detection of sick broilers [69]. In addition, they were used to process sound data and to provide information about feeding and/or drinking behaviours [24,44], to automate the detection of footpad dermatitis along the slaughter line [68], to define the best positions to install CO 2 sensors in a broiler house [75], to control broiler chickens growth curve [81], and to develop an innovative image display tool that allowed farmers to assess broilers' living conditions [28].…”

Section: Algorithmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Are Information Technologies Addressing Broiler Welfare? A Systematic Review Based on the Welfare Quality® Assessment

et al. 2020

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This systematic review aims to explore how information technologies (ITs) are currently used to monitor the welfare of broiler chickens. The question posed for the review was “which ITs are related to welfare and how do they monitor this for broilers?”. The Welfare Quality® (WQ) protocol for broiler assessment was utilized as a framework to analyse suitable articles. A total of 57 studies were reviewed wherein all principles of broiler welfare were addressed. The “good health” principle was the main criteria found to be addressed by ITs and IT-based studies (45.6% and 46.1%, respectively), whereas the least observed principle was “good feeding” (8.8%). This review also classified ITs and IT-based studies by their utilization (location, production system, variable measured, aspect of production, and experimental/practical use). The results show that the current focus of ITs is on problems with conventional production systems and that less attention has been given to free-range systems, slaughterhouses, and supply chain issues. Given the valuable results evidenced by the exploitation of ITs, their use in broiler production should continue to be encouraged with more attention given to farmer adoption strategies.

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Real-time monitoring of broiler flock's welfare status using camera-based technology

Cited by 60 publications

References 15 publications

A Systematic Review of Precision Livestock Farming in the Poultry Sector: Is Technology Focussed on Improving Bird Welfare?

A Systematic Review of Precision Livestock Farming in the Poultry Sector: Is Technology Focussed on Improving Bird Welfare?

Review: Precision livestock farming: building ‘digital representations’ to bring the animals closer to the farmer

How Are Information Technologies Addressing Broiler Welfare? A Systematic Review Based on the Welfare Quality® Assessment

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