Page 11 - National Poultry Newspaper

Faux meat labelling inquiry
New broiler surveillance tech a welfare gamechanger
AARHUS University is taking part in the international SMART Broiler project to de- velop a camera and image-based welfare surveillance system.
creating an early warn- ing system, which can warn the farmer early in case of for example wet litter.
tions to be used in large scale for commercial flocks,” she said.
Besides Denmark, the project includes part- ners from the Nether- lands, Belgium and the US.
Furthermore, the pro- ject will focus on the level of fearfulness in the flock and the ani- mals’ patterns of move- ment, level of activity and natural behaviour.
“With the new cam- era-based technologies, we get the opportunity to continuously survey a large number of welfare indicators in a large part of the flock – through the entire production period – without physi- cally intervening in the chickens’ daily activi- ties in the barn.”
The project is funded by the American re- search organisation Foundation for Food and Agricultural Re- search and McDonalds, and the purpose is to ensure continuously good animal welfare in broiler chickens.
The project is based on experts’ welfare as- sessments combined with technological sur- veillance of the animals as well as state-of-the- art video analyses and machine learning tech- niques.
Behaviour – a welfare key indicator
New automatic system for welfare assessment Aarhus University and Dr Brinch Riber are re- sponsible for the part of the project, which is to ensure that the collected image and video mate- rial will be linked with the existing indicators of health and welfare in
The project is based on precision livestock farming techniques us- ing information and computer technology for continuous automatic surveillance and man- agement of livestock herds within a large number of focus areas. Challenges in the broiler production
Senior researcher Anja Brinch Riber who is part of the SMART Broiler project and ex- pert in welfare assess- ments in poultry flocks said, “When conducting welfare assessments in poultry flocks, behav- iour is a key indicator.”
broiler chickens.
“The new welfare as-
The intensive produc- tion of fast-growing chickens in very large flocks may result in welfare problems.
“Traditionally, wel- fare assessments are conducted by trained personnel in the poultry barns.
sessment system thus consists of a combina- tion of camera tech- nologies and advanced data analyses – machine learning – for assess- ing the broiler chicks’ behaviour and welfare.
Leg problems, in the form of walking impair- ment, often occur be- cause of the animals’ fast growth, high final body weight and low level of activity.
“However, manual as- sessment can only add occasional evaluations of the animals’ welfare.”
“We will then validate these data against actual observation data from validated methods for welfare assessment,” Dr Brinch Riber said.
Furthermore, wel- fare problems such as hock burns and footpad dermatitis occur due to constant pressure against moist and am- moniacal litter.
Add to this that wel- fare assessments are time-consuming,expen- sive and based on rela- tively few animals.
The system is based on new machine learning technologies and will add a new dimension for welfare surveillance of broiler chickens, which has not previously been used.
The SMART Broiler project primarily fo- cusses on leg health and gait scores as well as on
“Viewed in the light of this fact, we need solu-
“In this way, the new PLF technologies can help the farmers in their daily attendance rou- tines of large broiler chicken flocks by au- tomatic surveillance of the animals’ behaviour and will allow them to intervene well in time with preventive ini- tiatives if problems are under way,” Dr Brinch Riber said.
According to Dr Brinch Riber it’s not feasible to assess gait scores continuously through an entire pro- duction period by means of assessment methods conducted by humans.
This allows estimat- ing the chickens’ level of activity.
The Netherlands, Belgium and the US are partner- ing in a SMART Broiler project to develop a cam- era and image-based welfare surveillance system.
“It has the potential to become a very impor- tant tool in relation to improving the animals’ health and welfare as well as improving the efficiency in the pro- duction of broiler chick- ens.”
AUSTRALIA'S Nation- al Farmers Federation has welcomed the up- coming Senate inquiry into faux meat label- ling, saying that current labelling practices risk misleading consumers.
tentially misleading to NFF welcomed the in-
The National Farm- ers Federation has com- mended the establish- ment this week of a Commonwealth Senate Inquiry of alternative protein products.
“We congratulate Sena- tor Susan McDonald on initiating this important and logical process.”
“It is essential that when making their buy- ing decisions, consumers are assured that the la- belling of products be- fore them is accurate.
“The NFF and our members look forward to engaging with the in- quiry and to ultimately clearing up what has be- come a distressing and offensive situation for Australia's hard working meat producers.”
NFF chief executive of- ficer Tony Mahar said,
“The actions of some manufacturers in contin- uing to incorrectly label for example, faux meat products as ‘chicken not chicken’ is not only po-
“Non-meat products must not be permitted to masquerade as meat, we must ensure there is truth in labelling."
consumers it is an in- sult to farmers and the extended meat supply chain.
quiry's focus on the eco- nomic effects of non-an- imal protein marketing on Australia's red meat industry and the legality of using livestock image- ry on non-meat products.
Mr Mahar said that the
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National Poultry Newspaper, July 2021 – Page 11