Poultry robot could increase activity, reduce floor eggs

Robotic technology can encourage broiler breeders, layer hens and turkeys to move around the house, reducing the incidence of floor eggs and stimulating fertility, improving bird health and welfare and reducing the amount of labor required.

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(Tibot)

Robotic technology can encourage broiler breeders, layer hens and turkeys to move around the house, reducing the incidence of floor eggs and stimulating fertility, improving bird health and welfare and reducing the amount of labor required.

“There is no doubt that we will need robots in the poultry industry,” said Yanne Courcoux, CEO, Tibot. “The first reason is that there is a shortage of labor and that shortage of labor because a huge problem with the COVID-19 crisis.”

Solving poultry labor challenges

Currently, nest training processes require farmers to enter poultry houses between eight to ten times per day, a laborious process. Robots can autonomously navigate the house to stimulate bird movement.

The poultry and meat processing industry – along with many other jobs that require repetitive manual labor – had already been moving toward automation. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated that trend.

“Humans have to focus on added value tasks that a robot cannot do, which is to observe how the birds behave, if they look healthy and what is happening in the flock,” added Courcoux. “The repetitive tasks that are time-consuming can be taken away by robots.”

The robot can save up to 50% of a farmer’s time, reduce the number of trips by two-thirds and improve working conditions. 

In addition, it is designed to be plug and play for ease of use, with random and total autonomy throughout all buildings. Its small size gives it the ability to negotiate bumps and holes created by uneven litter with 360° obstacle detection and the adjustable ground clearance allows it to fit underneath flat feed chains.

Poultry welfare benefits

With its mission of encouraging movement, the robot can reduce stress among the birds, resulting in up to a 50% reduction in feather-picking, and reduce the incidence of floor eggs in broiler breeders and layer hens.

In addition, the technology features a variety of sounds and visual stimuli to create an environment full of variety that encourages the birds’ natural activity.

“We know that the birds get use to the robot,” Courcoux explained. “The stimuli is really the key to have the birds moving in front of the robot for as long as you like.”

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