Precision poultry farming technologies could provide several benefits to producers, including the control and monitoring of feed intake and data on nesting and laying behavior in broiler breeders.
“Smart agriculture is the future of agriculture. It’s about sensing what’s going on with the bird and its environment, analyzing that data, making that decision and turning that decision into an action,” Martin Zuidhof, academic leader of the Poultry Innovation Partnership (PIP) and professor at the University of Alberta, said.
In addition, smart agriculture and precision farming systems will play a key role in creating a sustainable future for the poultry industry. It also serves as a great tool for geneticists, researchers and decision-makers, he said.
The goal of sensors that use big data, like RFID, on the poultry farm is to detect variations from optimal conditions and make adjustments in real time with the aim of optimizing production, from profitability to animal welfare to sustainability.
The data collected has other benefits as well. For consumers, trust equals transparency, and data offers poultry producers another way to show consumers how their operations are run.
During “Big Data from a Precision Poultry Feeding System: Insights & Exploration,” Zuidhof shared two examples of precision poultry farming technologies:
Precision feeding stations
At the University of Alberta, Zuidhof and his team developed a precision feeding station that collects big data to monitor poultry bodyweight and control and measure feed intake.
After a bird’s RFID is read, it can enter the feeding station, which contains four different feeder choices. Producers can decide if a bird has access to only one type of feed or multiple options, which is useful during preference research.
This information can also be used to determine poultry behavior, such as the time of day or frequency of when individual birds eat and serve as an early warning system for disease outbreaks when no changes to bodyweight occur.
RFID-equipped nest boxes
For broiler breeders, the research team created a RFID-equipped next box. This can be used to monitor entry into and exit from next boxes, nesting behavior, egg laying patterns, egg weight and the time of lay in individual free-run birds.
“The RFID antenna triggers a tag on the bird, the tag sends back a signal and we know which bird has entered the nest box,” said Zuidhof.
When the hen lays an egg, the egg weight, time of lay and the hen’s RFID number is automatically recorded, providing comprehensive data on each bird.
