Journal article icon

Journal article

Early warning of footpad dermatitis and hockburn in broiler chicken flocks using optical flow, body weight and water consumption

Abstract:
Footpad dermatitis and hockburn are serious welfare and economic issues for the production of broiler (meat) chickens. We here describe the use of an inexpensive camera system that monitors the movements of broiler flocks throughout their lives and suggests that is possible to predict, even in young birds, the cross-sectional prevalence at slaughter of footpad dermatitis and hockburn before external signs are visible. The skew and kurtosis calculated from our camera-based optical flow system had considerably more power to predict these outcomes in the 50 flocks reported here than water consumption, body weight or mortality and therefore have the potential to inform improved flock management through giving farmers early warning of welfare issues. Further trials are underway to establish the generality of the results
Publication status:
Published
Peer review status:
Peer reviewed

Actions


Access Document


Files:
Publisher copy:
10.1136/vr.104066

Authors


More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Zoology
Role:
Author
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Engineering Science
Role:
Author
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Zoology
Role:
Author
More by this author
Institution:
University of Oxford
Division:
MPLS
Department:
Engineering Science
Role:
Author


Publisher:
BMJ Publishing Group
Journal:
Veterinary Record More from this journal
Volume:
180
Issue:
20
Pages:
1-6
Publication date:
2017-02-27
Acceptance date:
2017-02-03
DOI:
EISSN:
2042-7670
ISSN:
0042-4900


Keywords:
Pubs id:
pubs:676053
UUID:
uuid:050d5b67-6b41-4ef1-be4a-ab5464a43519
Local pid:
pubs:676053
Source identifiers:
676053
Deposit date:
2017-02-07

Terms of use



Views and Downloads






If you are the owner of this record, you can report an update to it here: Report update to this record

TO TOP