An innovative approach to predict the growth in intensive poultry farming

Abstract

General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms Abstract 10Chicken weight provides information about growth and feed conversion of the flock in order to identify 11 deviations from the expected homogeneous growth trend of the birds. This paper proposes a novel method 12 to automatically measure the growth rate of broiler chickens by sound analysis. 13Through the application of process engineering, Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) can combine audio and 14 video information into on-line automated tools that can be used to control, monitor and model the 15 behaviour, health and production of animals and their biological response. 16The aim of this study was to record and analyse broiler vocalisations under normal farm conditions, to 17 identify the relation between animal sounds and growth trend. Recordings were made at regular intervals, 18 during the entire life of birds, in order to evaluate the variation of frequency and bandwidth of the sounds 19 emitted by the animals. 20Two experimental trials were carried out in an indoor reared broiler farm; the audio recording procedures 21 lasted for 38 days. The recordings were made, in an automated, non-invasive and non-intrusive way and 22 without disturbing the animals in to the broiler house. Once a week, 50 birds were selected at random and 23 their weight recorded in order to follow the growth trend in the birds. 24Sound recordings were manually analysed and labelled using the Adobe Audition CS6 software. 25 2 Analysing the sounds recorded, it was possible to find a significant correlation (P<0.001) between the 26 frequencies of the vocalisations recorded and the weight of the broilers. 27The results explained how the frequency of the sounds emitted by the animals was inversely proportional 28 to the age and to the weight of the broilers; the more they grow, the lower the frequency of the sounds 29 emitted by the animals. 30This preliminary study shows how this method based on the identification of specific frequencies of the 31 sounds, in an indoor reared broiler farm, linked to the age and to the weight of the birds, could be used as 32 an early warning method/system to evaluate the health and welfare status of the animals at farm level, 33 developing also an automated growth monitoring tool. 34

Association between environmental predisposing risk factors and leg disorders in broiler chickens1,2

“…The aim of this study was to find the association between environmental predisposing factors continuously measured and leg disorders, manually scored during the welfare assessment procedure, to develop an automated prediction system to detect those lesions since automated systems have been widely used to monitor the behavior, position and activity (Aydin et al, 2010;Peña Fernández et al, 2015), growth (Fontana et al, 2015), and welfare Fontana et al, 2016) of broiler chickens.…”

“…Broilers are the fastest-growing and cheapest sources of animal protein among farmed species; their performance is heavily conditioned by environmental parameters such as indoor air temperature, relative humidity, litter quality and ventilation speed (Fontana et al, 2015). Genetic selection for fast growth is known to be influential on leg disorders (Bassler et al, 2013), but several studies linked them to poor environmental conditions (Knowles et al, 2008;Purswell et al, 2012;Kyvsgaard et al, 2013).…”

Review: Automated techniques for monitoring the behaviour and welfare of broilers and laying hens: towards the goal of precision livestock farming

“…Broiler vocalisations are highly correlated with BW, and sound analysis could be a reliable method of measuring the growth rate of broiler chickens. In an intensive broiler farm, a study showed that with the growth of broiler chickens, the peak frequency of the sounds emitted by broilers decreased clearly during the entire life of the birds (Fontana et al, 2015 and. Furthermore, a model to predict the weight of broilers was built and validated by the peak frequency analysis of the broilers' vocalisations (Fontana et al, 2017).…”

Technology and Poultry Welfare

“…Based on these analyses, together with the recording of the feed uptake (recorded with the traditional feed weighing system), they developed a model to predict feed intake in broilers, which was highly correlated with pecking sounds. A later study, used peak frequency vocalizations emitted by broiler flocks (analysed using Adobe ® Audition™ CS6) to predict growth, as they found that these vocalizations were inversely proportional to bird age and weight [37]. Based on these finding, the authors suggested that the automatic analysis of peak frequency vocalizations would allow the development of prediction tools and, therefore, would permit health and welfare assessment at the farm level, with potential to be used as an early warning system.…”