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Animals
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Poultry Housing in 21st Century: Improving Production, Health and Welfare
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Poultry Housing in 21st Century: Improving Production, Health and Welfare

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Poultry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2024 | Viewed by 5407

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Daniella Jorge De Moura

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Agricultural Engineering College, State University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil
Interests: precision livestock farming; animal welfare; smart housing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Poultry housing in the 21st century has undergone significant advancements to enhance both production and welfare standards for poultry, especially involving precision livestock farming. These improvements are driven by a growing demand for poultry products, coupled with increasing concerns about animal welfare, health and sustainable practices.

Precision livestock farming (PLF) is an advanced approach to poultry production that involves the use of technology, data analytics and automation to monitor and manage livestock production with a high degree of precision and efficiency. The goal of precision livestock farming is to optimize animal health, welfare and production while minimizing resource waste and environmental impact. Poultry housing in the 21st century represents a significant step toward more efficient, sustainable, and animal-friendly poultry production.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date exploration of novel technologies in poultry housing that drive improvements in production, health and welfare. Through a collection of research articles, reviews and case studies, this Special Issue aims to shed light on the latest developments in precision livestock farming applied to poultry, highlighting advancements that have the potential to reshape the industry.

Prof. Dr. Daniella Jorge De Moura
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • precision livestock farming
  • environmental control
  • smart housing
  • animal welfare

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

Jump to: Review

14 pages, 519 KiB  
Article
Comparative Analysis of Animal Welfare in Three Broiler Slaughterhouses and Associated Farms with Unsatisfactory Slaughterhouse Results
by Sónia Saraiva, Sara Santos, Juan García-Díez, João Simões and Cristina Saraiva
Animals 2024, 14(17), 2468; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14172468 - 25 Aug 2024
Viewed by 692
Abstract
The objective of this study was to assess the health and welfare of 70 commercial broiler flocks (transport batches) in three distinct slaughterhouses based on various indicators including emaciation, dirty feathers (DFs), footpad dermatitis (FPD), hock burn (HB), breast burn (BB), breast blister, [...] Read more.
The objective of this study was to assess the health and welfare of 70 commercial broiler flocks (transport batches) in three distinct slaughterhouses based on various indicators including emaciation, dirty feathers (DFs), footpad dermatitis (FPD), hock burn (HB), breast burn (BB), breast blister, breast ulcer, ascites, septicemia/abnormal color, cellulitis, extensive traumatisms, dead on arrival (DoA) and condemnation rate. Assessment scales ranging from 0 (absence) to 2 (severe) were used for DFs, FPD, and HB, while a 0 (absence) to 1 (present) scale was applied to BB, breast blisters, and breast ulcers. The prevalence of total condemnation causes (emaciation, ascites, septicemia/abnormal color, cellulitis, and extensive traumatism) and DoA were recorded and presented in percentages. Three flocks presented condemnation rates higher than 4% and 11 flocks presented DoA rates higher than 0.5%. Twenty-one flocks achieved grade 1 (warning) for FPD and 14 achieved grade 2 for FPD (alarm). Extensive trauma was observed in 0.01% of the slaughtered animals, and no flock reached the threshold of 2%. Breast blisters and breast ulcers lesions were not observed in the studied flocks. The significant positive associations observed for the presence of severe footpad dermatitis (FPD2), severe hock burns (HB2), and breast burns (BB1) indicate simultaneous occurrences. Absences of hock burns (HB0) and breast burns (BB0) were also associated. Eleven houses that obtained the worst results for welfare indicators at slaughterhouses were audited. FPD, HB, DoA, and the condemnation rate were the most crucial indicators for identifying farms with inadequate welfare conditions. These indicators should be systematically integrated into the welfare monitoring of broilers in slaughterhouses. Audits conducted on farms detected some noncompliance with regulatory welfare standards and suggested improvements in environmental and structural conditions, as well as the reduction in stocking densities and improvements in the water systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Poultry Housing in 21st Century: Improving Production, Health and Welfare)
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12 pages, 1740 KiB  
Article
Using Thermal Signature to Evaluate Heat Stress Levels in Laying Hens with a Machine-Learning-Based Classifier
by Isaac Lembi Solis, Fernanda Paes de Oliveira-Boreli, Rafael Vieira de Sousa, Luciane Silva Martello and Danilo Florentino Pereira
Animals 2024, 14(13), 1996; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14131996 - 6 Jul 2024
Viewed by 966
Abstract
Infrared thermography has been investigated in recent studies to monitor body surface temperature and correlate it with animal welfare and performance factors. In this context, this study proposes the use of the thermal signature method as a feature extractor from the temperature matrix [...] Read more.
Infrared thermography has been investigated in recent studies to monitor body surface temperature and correlate it with animal welfare and performance factors. In this context, this study proposes the use of the thermal signature method as a feature extractor from the temperature matrix obtained from regions of the body surface of laying hens (face, eye, wattle, comb, leg, and foot) to enable the construction of a computational model for heat stress level classification. In an experiment conducted in climate-controlled chambers, 192 laying hens, 34 weeks old, from two different strains (Dekalb White and Dekalb Brown) were divided into groups and housed under conditions of heat stress (35 °C and 60% humidity) and thermal comfort (26 °C and 60% humidity). Weekly, individual thermal images of the hens were collected using a thermographic camera, along with their respective rectal temperatures. Surface temperatures of the six featherless image areas of the hens’ bodies were cut out. Rectal temperature was used to label each infrared thermography data as “Danger” or “Normal”, and five different classifier models (Random Forest, Random Tree, Multilayer Perceptron, K-Nearest Neighbors, and Logistic Regression) for rectal temperature class were generated using the respective thermal signatures. No differences between the strains were observed in the thermal signature of surface temperature and rectal temperature. It was evidenced that the rectal temperature and the thermal signature express heat stress and comfort conditions. The Random Forest model for the face area of the laying hen achieved the highest performance (89.0%). For the wattle area, a Random Forest model also demonstrated high performance (88.3%), indicating the significance of this area in strains where it is more developed. These findings validate the method of extracting characteristics from infrared thermography. When combined with machine learning, this method has proven promising for generating classifier models of thermal stress levels in laying hen production environments. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Poultry Housing in 21st Century: Improving Production, Health and Welfare)
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13 pages, 1542 KiB  
Article
Predicting Risk of Ammonia Exposure in Broiler Housing: Correlation with Incidence of Health Issues
by Leonardo V. S. Barbosa, Nilsa Duarte da Silva Lima, Juliana de Souza Granja Barros, Daniella Jorge de Moura, Fernando Estellés, Adrian Ramón-Moragues, Salvador Calvet-Sanz and Arantxa Villagrá García
Animals 2024, 14(4), 615; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14040615 - 14 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1543
Abstract
The study aimed to forecast ammonia exposure risk in broiler chicken production, correlating it with health injuries using machine learning. Two chicken breeds, fast-growing (Ross®) and slow-growing (Hubbard®), were compared at different densities. Slow-growing birds had a constant density [...] Read more.
The study aimed to forecast ammonia exposure risk in broiler chicken production, correlating it with health injuries using machine learning. Two chicken breeds, fast-growing (Ross®) and slow-growing (Hubbard®), were compared at different densities. Slow-growing birds had a constant density of 32 kg m−2, while fast-growing birds had low (16 kg m−2) and high (32 kg m−2) densities. Initial feeding was uniform, but nutritional demands led to varied diets later. Environmental data underwent selection, pre-processing, transformation, mining, analysis, and interpretation. Classification algorithms (decision tree, SMO, Naive Bayes, and Multilayer Perceptron) were employed for predicting ammonia risk (10–14 pmm, Moderate risk). Cross-validation was used for model parameterization. The Spearman correlation coefficient assessed the link between predicted ammonia risk and health injuries, such as pododermatitis, vision/affected, and mucosal injuries. These injuries encompassed trachea, bronchi, lungs, eyes, paws, and other issues. The Multilayer Perceptron model emerged as the best predictor, exceeding 98% accuracy in forecasting injuries caused by ammonia. The correlation coefficient demonstrated a strong association between elevated ammonia risks and chicken injuries. Birds exposed to higher ammonia concentrations exhibited a more robust correlation. In conclusion, the study effectively used machine learning to predict ammonia exposure risk and correlated it with health injuries in broiler chickens. The Multilayer Perceptron model demonstrated superior accuracy in forecasting injuries related to ammonia (10–14 pmm, Moderate risk). The findings underscored the significant association between increased ammonia exposure risks and the incidence of health injuries in broiler chicken production, shedding light on the importance of managing ammonia levels for bird welfare. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Poultry Housing in 21st Century: Improving Production, Health and Welfare)
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Review

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16 pages, 2291 KiB  
Review
Beyond the Spectrum: Unleashing the Potential of Infrared Radiation in Poultry Industry Advancements
by Khawar Hayat, Zunzhong Ye, Hongjian Lin and Jinming Pan
Animals 2024, 14(10), 1431; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14101431 - 10 May 2024
Viewed by 1492
Abstract
The poultry industry is dynamically advancing production by focusing on nutrition, management practices, and technology to enhance productivity by improving feed conversion ratios, disease control, lighting management, and exploring antibiotic alternatives. Infrared (IR) radiation is utilized to improve the well-being of humans, animals, [...] Read more.
The poultry industry is dynamically advancing production by focusing on nutrition, management practices, and technology to enhance productivity by improving feed conversion ratios, disease control, lighting management, and exploring antibiotic alternatives. Infrared (IR) radiation is utilized to improve the well-being of humans, animals, and poultry through various operations. IR radiation occurs via electromagnetic waves with wavelengths ranging from 760 to 10,000 nm. The biological applications of IR radiation are gaining significant attention and its utilization is expanding rapidly across multiple sectors. Various IR applications, such as IR heating, IR spectroscopy, IR thermography, IR beak trimming, and IR in computer vision, have proven to be beneficial in enhancing the well-being of humans, animals, and birds within mechanical systems. IR radiation offers a wide array of health benefits, including improved skin health, therapeutic effects, anticancer properties, wound healing capabilities, enhanced digestive and endothelial function, and improved mitochondrial function and gene expression. In the realm of poultry production, IR radiation has demonstrated numerous positive impacts, including enhanced growth performance, gut health, blood profiles, immunological response, food safety measures, economic advantages, the mitigation of hazardous gases, and improved heating systems. Despite the exceptional benefits of IR radiation, its applications in poultry production are still limited. This comprehensive review provides compelling evidence supporting the advantages of IR radiation and advocates for its wider adoption in poultry production practices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Poultry Housing in 21st Century: Improving Production, Health and Welfare)
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