NOVATEUR RESEARCH SOLUTIONS LLC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase I: 8.3

Description

In recent years, consumer's concerns over hen well-being in conventional small wire cages (called battery cages) has resulted in some of the poultry farms to switch to cage-free housing where hens have freedom to walk around spread their wings, and lay their eggs in real nest boxes. This push towards cage-free egg production was further magnified in 2015 when many of the large fast food, restaurant chains, and food suppliers announced their intentions to completely switch from conventionally farmed eggs to cage-fee eggs in US and Canada over the next decade. As a result, many of the egg suppliers have started to make the switch whereas other small and large producers are also expected to follow suit in the face of growing demand. However, the current level of egg production in USA (roughly 100 billion eggs annually) significantly depends on the management efficiency and animal welfare costs that are associated with conventional battery cage systems. The decreased control in cage free systems means that farmers must take into account additional factors that can affect the production, welfare, and mortality of the flock. For example, feather pecking and increased risks of ectoparasites have been shown to be major risks to the well-being of hens in cage free systems. Due to these additional risk factors, monitoring and management of hens in cage-free systems becomes more difficult and labor intensive. The increase in labor, difficulty in monitoring the hens, and the risk factors, along with the reduced flock size (and production) associated with the cage-free systems can significantly affect the animal welfare and farmer's cost. Therefore, there is a need for technologies that can help the farmers to i) improve the well-being of animals, ii) improve the management and production efficiency, and iii) reduce the production cost of cage-free eggs. To handle these challenges, Novateur Research Solutions propose smart sensing technologies for objective, non-invasive evaluation and monitoring of laying hen flock in cage-free environment that enable i) continuous (24/7) real-time monitoring of the flock using smart sensing systems; ii) automated quantification and continuous tracking of flock behavior; iii) automated identification of behavioral changes; iv) automated identification and early prediction of risks to hen well-being; and v) identification of factors and conditions for optimum production and welfare of the flock.