As poultry farming scales up, with some farms housing up to 50,000 birds, traditional welfare assessments struggle to keep pace. This challenge has led to increased financial support for innovative technologies under the Sensors, Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technologies (SMART) initiative, aimed at enhancing welfare assessments through automated monitoring.
Real-time tracking of critical welfare indicators such as behavior, gait, and vocalization is being pioneered through the SMART Broiler program. Established in 2019, this public-private partnership has seen an investment of $2 million to develop cutting-edge technology for monitoring poultry welfare on commercial farms.
Recently, the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and McDonald’s have provided an additional $670,000 to support two SMART projects in the UK.
Advanced Surveillance Techniques
Professor Niamh O’Connell, an animal welfare expert at The Institute of Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, will receive nearly $400,000 to adapt intelligent surveillance techniques used for tracking humans for monitoring individual birds in a flock.
The FlockFocus technology can automatically track activity patterns and monitor the weight of individual birds within large groups on commercial farms. This technology is being enhanced through collaboration with CattleEye, a pioneer in independent livestock monitoring platforms focused on data integration and system management.
Additionally, FlockFocus can assess feeding behavior and map the distribution of birds in crucial areas of the chicken house. The implications of this technology extend beyond poultry, with potential benefits for other sectors as well.
Trials are currently ongoing in partnership with industry leaders such as Moy Park, along with collaborators in Hungary and the U.S., to refine this transformative technology.
Innovative Camera and Computer Systems
The second grant is awarded to Professor Marian Dawkins, Emeritus Professor of Animal Behaviour at the University of Oxford, to extend the testing of a new camera and computer system called Optiflock.
This initiative has received $270,000 in funding and focuses on the development of a system that can monitor the behaviors of broiler chickens continuously, providing real-time data on essential welfare indicators including mortality rates, mobility, leg health, and infection rates.
Optiflock employs cost-effective closed-circuit television cameras linked to compact on-farm computers, making it accessible for wide-scale use.
Professor Dawkins emphasized the potential of smart farming, combining sensors and computational decision-making, to significantly enhance animal welfare: “Properly implemented technology could optimize the living conditions for animals, reduce labor costs, identify and treat diseases early, minimize waste, and ultimately lead to increased farm profitability. This shift could also enable genuine improvements in animal welfare, promoting healthier environments and allowing animals to engage in more natural behaviors.”
A Boon for Poultry Farmers
FFAR scientific program director Dr. Jasmin Bruno noted the dual benefits of this technology for poultry farmers: “By investing in precision agriculture, we can leverage advanced technologies— like sensors, robotics, and predictive analytics—to monitor animal welfare in real time.”
Janet Helms, senior manager for global sustainable sourcing animal health and welfare at McDonald’s, added: “With the commercial rollout of SMART Broiler solutions, both McDonald’s and integrators can anticipate significant improvements in key welfare indicators. The ability to measure and demonstrate welfare enhancements could offer differentiating advantages in a competitive market.”
