Together with DunavNET and Živko Sekulić farm we successfully concluded a 15 months lasting CHAT – Chicken Health Assessment Tools project.

To meet the growing production demands with the increased focus on animal wellbeing, chickens and others, it is crucial animal producers improve their existing practices, optimize production and improve and ensure the wellbeing of their animals. Early detection of any destresses is crucial in the process and reacting at the slightest behavioural change is one of the best approaches to the problem.

In order to help meet the strict breeding criteria, decrease the environmental impact of the meat production, as well as improving the conditions in which animals are breed, DunavNET, Pessl Insturments and Živko Sekulić farm joined forces to explore the possibilities of how to do so.

Chickens under full control

Pessl Instruments, DunavNET and Živko Sekulić farm had complementary skills and resources and therefore made the complete set required for the successful execution of the CHAT project. DunavNET provided IoT solution design, machine learning competence and domain expertise in audio processing and poultry breeding. Pessl Instruments provided hardware solutions while Živko Sekulić farm provided the testing environment, support with experience and helped promote the outcomes of the project.

Pessl Instruments’ role in the project

Based on extensive experience in adapting hardware functionality, we provided IoT devices, namely iMETOS® ECO D3 data loggers for environmental monitoring, iMETOS CropVIEW® for remote image monitoring, the access to data through our API and the representation of data on FieldClimate platform.

Wrong temperature and relative humidity can result in respiratory, digestive and behavioural disorders and occur in houses in which the climatic conditions are not up to standard. With iMETOS ECO D3 in the poultry houses, a constant track of the right temperature and humidity was tracked and helped prevent the occurrence of the mentioned problems.

While iMETOS ECO D3 measured the right climatic conditions, iMETOS CropVIEW took photos that were then sent and collected in FieldClimate platform. These photos helped the farmer keep constant control of his animals. He accessed the data at any time and from anywhere and checked if for example there were any troubles with the feeding system or if there were are any sick or injured chickens.

Next step

All involved partners are more than satisfied with the results and strongly believe animal breeders will recognize the importance of such monitoring as well. The configuration is now available for any animal breeder and both DunavNET and Pessl Instruments are opened for any questions on how to implement the same strategy in your breeding facilities.

To Read a Success Story visit the DIATOMIC project website.