Automated Tracking Systems for the Assessment of Farmed Poultry

Abstract

The world's growing population is highly dependent on animal agriculture. Animal products provide nutrient-packed meals that help to sustain individuals of all ages in communities across the globe. As the human demand for animal proteins grows, the agricultural industry must continue to advance its efficiency and quality of production. One of the most commonly farmed livestock is poultry and their significance is felt on a global scale. Current poultry farming practices result in the premature death and rejection of billions of chickens on an annual basis before they are processed for meat. This loss of life is concerning regarding animal welfare, agricultural efficiency, and economic impacts. The best way to prevent these losses is through the individualistic and/or group level assessment of animal on a continuous basis. On large-scale farms, such attention to detail was generally considered to be inaccurate and inefficient, but with the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted technology individualized and per-herd assessments of livestock are possible and accurate. Various studies have shown cameras linked with specialized systems of AI can properly analyze flocks for health concerns, thus improving the survival rate and product quality of farmed poultry. Building on the recent advancements, this review explores the aspects of AI in the detection, counting and tracking of the poultry in commercial and research-based applications.

ChickTrack - A Quantitative Tracking Tool for Measuring Chicken Activity

“…There are currently significant animal welfare challenges facing the agricultural industry, especially the poultry industry. Current poultry farming practices result in the chicken's death before slaughter and rejection of billions of male chicks that are immediately killed after hatching in the egg industry, which is just the system's design as they are "useless" regarding egg production, on an annual basis before they are processed for meat [3]. In the poultry meat industry, often chickens are rejected at the slaughterhouses due to the lack of sufficient meat quality and bruises, skin injuries, fractures, or other lesions on the chicken bodies.…”

“…In the poultry meat industry, often chickens are rejected at the slaughterhouses due to the lack of sufficient meat quality and bruises, skin injuries, fractures, or other lesions on the chicken bodies. This loss of life is of a significant concern for animal welfare, agricultural efficiency, and economic impacts [3]. The positive, negative and neutral chicken welfare indicators based on video and image analysis can be derived from early-life stress due to separation of the mother-chick, very high density, bad air circulation, poor hygiene leading to respiratory issues, injuries on their feet due to ammonia building up on the ground, bad housing environment, no positive / rewarding stimuli (playful behavior), behavioral problems such as pecking or cannibalism, chronic stress, peak in stress before slaughter, suffering when the slaughtering method is not as efficient, unnatural lighting conditions and others.…”

“…The link between poultry health and the poultry product quality emanates from the human risk of diseases if the animals have been infected before, [9] and the influence of stress hormones on meat qualities [10]. Few studies have demonstrated cameras integrated with instrumentation systems of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can assess flocks for health concerns, thus improving the survival rate and product quality of farmed poultry [3].…”

“…The best way to prevent the missing animals or the poultry bodily features due to occlusions and related losses in the visual based measurement is through the individualistic and/or group level evaluation of animals on a continuous basis [3]. On large-scale commercial farms, such attention to detail has been considered to be inaccurate and inefficient, but with the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted technology, individualized and per-herd assessments of livestock are possible and accurate [3].…”

“…Although debatable, it is perceived that poultry farming contributes less to climate change in comparison to cattle farming because of less methane emissions, relatively less resources needed, and higher feed conversion ratio [2]. As the global demand for animal products continues to grow, the agricultural industry must continue to advance its quality and efficiency of production [3], while simultaneously ensuring good poultry health and welfare. Good animal welfare requires not only good physical health, but also mental health through minimizing suffering and promoting positive experiences for the animals [4].…”