Hens Housed Research Articles

Effects of a Vitamins D and C Supplement on Performance, Hatchability and Blood Profiles of Broiler Breeders

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays a crucial role in controlling Calcium and Phosphor homeostasis, bone mineralization, and modulation of immune responses. Vitamin C is a cofactor of enzymatic reactions with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties to prevent and repair damage to cells in the body from exposure to free radicals and the immune system. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation of 25(OH)D3 with vitamin C at different doses on broiler breeders’ blood profile, egg quality, and hatchability. The adaptation process before collecting the data was 2 weeks. A total of 6200 females and 620 male broiler breeders in the laying period aged 32-46 weeks were divided into 4 treatment groups with 5 replicates (each peach contained 310 female and 31 male breeders). The treatments included control as T0 (0 g/ton Nutricell HyC®), T1 (100 g/ton Nutricell HyC®), T2 (200 g/ton Nutricell HyC®), T3 (400 g/ton Nutricell HyC®) supplemented in feed. The observed variables were performance in breeding farms and hatcheries. The treatments with experimental doses indicated significant differences in the performance of broiler breeders, including feed intake, body weight, egg weight, egg mass, hen day production, hen house production, feed conversion ratio, and parameters of blood profile. The results showed a significant difference between the treatments and the control group in terms of hatch performance, clear eggs, exploding eggs, hatchability eggs, fertile eggs, salable chicks, and hatching of fertile eggs. However, no significant effects on fertility, culling of chicks, and embryonic mortality in the treatment groups were indicated. In conclusion, Nutricell HyC® with a dose of 400 g/ton in feed has indicated the best result in breeding farm and hatchery performance of broiler breeders in the laying period. Keywords: Blood profile, Broiler breeder, Calcidiol (25(OH)D3), Nutricell HyC®, Performance, Vitamin C

Spatial distribution of airborne bacterial communities in caged poultry houses

ABSTRACT Microbial aerosols in intensive broiler houses whose species and concentrations are closely related to human health are ubiquitous. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the aim of this study was to investigate the spatial distribution and diversity of bacterial aerosols in the air of broiler houses. Significant spatial variations in airborne bacterial concentrations were observed inside the poultry farmhouse. The results indicated that bacteria in the air samples could be grouped into a total of 1,674 OTUs. Alpha diversity analysis showed that the diversity of the microbial community at the entry of the broiler house was higher than that at the middle or the rear (p < 0.01). The Sankey diagram illustrated species dynamic changes in Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria among the different locations. From the aspect of LEfSe (LDA Effect Size) analysis, we discovered that the abundance of Planctomycetes was significantly higher in the entry than in the rear and middle. This study shows the spatial distribution of the entire bacterial community in intensive broiler houses, which offers a new perspective for studying airborne total bacteria in those environments. Implications: The bacteria contained in air aerosols from poultry houses are closely connected to animal health and production. This study aimed to investigate the spatial distribution and diversity of bacterial aerosols in the air of broiler houses. The results observed that bacterial aerosol concentrations in the examined broilers house varied greatly at different positions, and a significantly higher exposure to bacterial aerosol was observed at the middle than at the other positions (p < 0.05). The alpha diversity analysis showed that the diversity of the microbial community at the entry of the broiler house was higher than that at the middle or the rear (P<0.01). Sankey diagram illustrated species dynamic changes of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria among the different locations. The microbial communities in genus level in the samples of entry and rear were closer, while the species diversity of middle and rear samples in chicken house was highly similar (P>0.05). Altogether, results revealed that the effects of spatial factors on the diversity and abundance of bacteria in the air of closed-cage broiler houses, which poses a potential threat to the health of animals and workers in those environments.

PERSEPSI MASYARAKAT TERHADAP DAMPAK LINGKUNGAN PETERNAKAN AYAM PEDAGING (STUDI KASUS DI DUSUN JATILENGGER DESA JATILENGGER KECAMATAN PONGGOK KABUPATEN BLITAR)

Poultry farming, especially broilers, has good prospects and is growing rapidly. As the development of the livestock business will cause various impacts of waste which is a source of pollution. Therefore, it is necessary to examine thoroughly from an environmental and social perspective that involves the community. The purpose of this study was to determine the community's response to the presence of broiler farms. In the odor sub-variable the score obtained is 652 including in the disturbed category, in the waste sub-variable a score of 492 is included in the undisturbed category, the third sub-variable gets a score of 744 including the disturbed category and in the last sub-variable dust and feathers it gets a value of 444 This is included in the undisturbed category. people feel disturbed by the existence of broiler farms because of lack of cleanliness, causing public unrest. respondents are disturbed by the presence of a broiler farm which is approximately 50 meters from the house to the chicken coop.

Comparison of Antimicrobial Resistance among Commensal Escherichia coli Isolated from Retail Table Eggs Produced by Laying Hens from the Cage and Non-Cage Housing Systems in Western Australia.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has become a global public health concern in recent decades. Although several investigations evaluated AMR in commensal and pathogenic bacteria from different foods of animal origin in Australia, there is a lack of studies that compared AMR in commensal E. coli isolated from retail table eggs obtained from different laying hen housing systems. This study aimed to determine AMR and differences in AMR patterns among E. coli isolates recovered from retail table eggs sourced from caged and non-caged housing systems in Western Australia. Commensal E. coli isolates were tested for susceptibility to 14 antimicrobials using a broth microdilution method. Clustering analyses and logistic regression models were applied to identify patterns and differences in AMR. Overall, there were moderate to high frequencies of resistance to the antimicrobials of lower importance used in Australian human medicine (tetracycline, ampicillin, trimethoprim, and sulfamethoxazole) in the isolates sourced from the eggs of two production systems. All E. coli isolates were susceptible to all critically important antimicrobials except the very low level of resistance to ciprofloxacin. E. coli isolates from eggs of non-caged systems had higher odds of resistance to tetracycline (OR = 5.76, p < 0.001) and ampicillin (OR = 3.42, p ≤ 0.01) compared to the isolates from eggs of caged systems. Moreover, the number of antimicrobials to which an E. coli isolate was resistant was significantly higher in table eggs from non-caged systems than isolates from caged systems' eggs. Considering the conservative approach in using antimicrobials in the Australian layer flocks, our findings highlight the potential role of the environment or human-related factors in the dissemination and emergence of AMR in commensal E. coli, particularly in retail table eggs of non-cage system origin. Further comprehensive epidemiological studies are required to better understand the role of different egg production systems in the emergence and dissemination of AMR in commensal E. coli.

Tracking floor eggs with machine vision in cage-free hen houses

Some of the major restaurants and grocery chains in the United States have pledged to buy cage-free (CF) eggs only by 2025 or 2030. While CF house allows hens to perform more natural behaviors (e.g., dust bathing, perching, and foraging on the litter floor), a particular challenge is floor eggs (i.e., mislaid eggs on litter floor). Floor eggs have high chances of contamination. The manual collection of eggs is laborious and time-consuming. Therefore, precision poultry farming technology is necessary to detect floor eggs. In this study, 3 new deep learning models, that is, YOLOv5s-egg, YOLOv5x-egg, and YOLOv7-egg networks, were developed, trained, and compared in tracking floor eggs in 4 research cage-free laying hen facilities. Models were verified to detect eggs by using images collected in 2 different commercial houses. Results indicate that the YOLOv5s-egg model detected floor eggs with a precision of 87.9%, recall of 86.8%, and mean average precision (mAP) of 90.9%; the YOLOv5x-egg model detected the floor eggs with a precision of 90%, recall of 87.9%, and mAP of 92.1%; and the YOLOv7-egg model detected the eggs with a precision of 89.5%, recall of 85.4%, and mAP of 88%. All models performed with over 85% detection precision; however, model performance is affected by the stocking density, varying light intensity, and images occluded by equipment like drinking lines, perches, and feeders. The YOLOv5x-egg model detected floor eggs with higher accuracy, precision, mAP, and recall than YOLOv5s-egg and YOLOv7-egg. This study provides a reference for cage-free producers that floor eggs can be monitored automatically. Future studies are guaranteed to test the system in commercial houses.

Characterization of the eukaryotic microbial communities in the chicken ileum in cage-free and conventional commercial housing systems

The current shift from conventional cage (CC) hen housing facilities towards cage-free (CF) hen housing in the egg industry has left many questions regarding how level of fecal exposure and exposure to other hens may influence the hen intestinal microbiota. In a previous publication we reported differences in the bacterial ileal communities and ileal morphology between hens in CC and CF production environments at a single commercial site. Here, we present the first 18S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing-based characterization of the eukaryotic ileal microbiota of adult layer hens, and their associations with intestinal health parameters and the bacterial microbiota. DNA was extracted from the ileal digesta of hens (n=32 CC, n=48 CF) using the Qiagen Powerlyzer Powersoil kit, followed by amplification of the V9 region of the 18S rRNA gene. Paired end sequencing was performed with the Illumina MiSeq platform, and the resulting reads were processed according to the Mothur MiSeq protocol in Mothur v1.43.0. De novo operational taxonomic unit (OTU) clustering was performed in mothur with a 99% similarity threshold, and OTUs were taxonomically classified with the SILVA SSU v138 reference database. OTUs classified as vertebrate, plant, or arthropod were removed, resulting in 3,136,400 high quality reads and 1,370 OTUs. Associations between OTUs and intestinal parameters were calculated using PROC GLIMMIX. PERMANOVA over Bray-Curtis distances revealed differences between CC and CF eukaryotic ileal microbiota at the whole community level, but no OTUs were differentially abundant after correcting for false discovery (P > 0.05; q > 0.1). Kazachstania and Saccharomyces, closely related genera of yeast, represented 77.1% and 9.7% of sequences respectively. Two Kazachstania OTUs and 1 Saccharomycetaceae OTU were positively correlated with intestinal permeability (r2 ≥ 0.35). Eimeria accounted for 7.6% of sequences across all samples. Intriguingly, 15 OTUs classified as Eimeria were inversely associated with intestinal permeability (r2 ≤ -0.35), suggesting Eimeria may play a more complex role in the microbiota of healthy birds than has been observed in disease challenges.

Pengaruh Digital Marketing Terhadap Brand Awareness:

Nowadays the era of information technology makes many things easy to do in the digital world, including in marketing products and searching for products. Digital marketing can be used as the main option in supporting business activities for business people. Social media is used by consumers to find information about a product that is needed or desired. Accuracy in utilizing digital marketing through social networks (social media) is able to build consumer confidence in the products being marketed. This marketing strategy is also used to build brand awareness among consumers. This study examines the effect of digital marketing on the formation of consumer brand awareness using quantitative and qualitative tests. Quantitative data was collected using a sampling technique where respondents knew and had transacted at the Chicken Coop Restaurant. The data analysis technique in this study used SPSS Version 25 software. Based on the results of a simple linear test analysis, it was found that Digital Marketing had a positive and significant effect on Brand Awareness. Qualitative test by conducting interviews with six respondents, it was concluded that digital marketing has an influence on brand awareness.

Peran Alokasi Dana Desa (ADD) Dalam Mengentaskan Kemiskinan Guna Memajukan Perekonomian Masyarakat Desa Kwala Besilam Kecamatan Padang Tualang Kabupaten Langkat

This study focuses on discussing the Role of Village Fund Allocation (ADD) in Alleviating Poverty in order to Advance the Economy of the Community of Kwala Besilam Village, Padang Tualang District, Langkat Regency and the factors that influence it and then reviewed according to Islamic economics. The research method used in this study is a descriptive qualitative research method with an empirical approach. The informants in this study were related village government officials. The results of the study explain that the use of Village Fund Allocations in the village of Kwala Besilam has been properly used in accordance with the applicable law. The infrastructure includes community walkways, agricultural paths, siring and hamlet connecting bridges, while the empowerment is in the form of empowering mat crafts, hood crafts, rago crafts, and chicken coop crafts managed by the women of Kwala Besilam Village, Padang Tualang District, Langkat Regency. Factors supporting the management of Village Fund Allocation (ADD) in advancing the community's economy in Kwala Besilam, Padang Tualang District, Langkat Regency are policy support from the local government, quality human resources, community participation strongly supports this activity by carrying it out in mutual cooperation to advance village development more advanced. Meanwhile, the inhibiting factors in managing the Village Fund Allocation (ADD) in advancing the community's economy in Kwala Besilam, Padang Tualang District, Langkat Regency are the Low Synchronization Between Planning at the Village and District Levels, the amount of Village Fund Allocations (ADD), and the lack of intensity of outreach. According to Islam, the role of the Village Fund Allocation (ADD) used for infrastructure and economic empowerment is appropriate, because both infrastructure development and economic empowerment are for the benefit of the community, namely to increase the economy and quality of life for the community in Kwala Besilam Village, Padang Tualang District, Langkat Regency.

Population structure and hybridisation in a population of Hawaiian feral chickens

Chickens are believed to have inhabited the Hawaiian island of Kauai since the first human migrations around 1200AD, but numbers have peaked since the tropical storms Iniki and Iwa in the 1980s and 1990s that destroyed almost all the chicken coops on the island and released large numbers of domestic chickens into the wild. Previous studies have shown these now feral chickens are an admixed population between Red Junglefowl (RJF) and domestic chickens. Here, using genetic haplotypic data, we estimate the time of the admixture event between the feral population on the island and the RJF to 1981 (1976–1995), coinciding with the timings of storm Iwa and Iniki. Analysis of genetic structure reveals a greater similarity between individuals inhabiting the northern and western part of the island to RJF than individuals from the eastern part of the island. These results point to the possibility of introgression events between feral chickens and the wild chickens in areas surrounding the Koke’e State Park and the Alaka’i plateau, posited as two of the major RJF reservoirs in the island. Furthermore, we have inferred haplotype blocks from pooled data to determine the most plausible source of the feral population. We identify a clear contribution from RJF and layer chickens of the White Leghorn (WL) breed. This work provides independent confirmation of the traditional hypothesis surrounding the origin of the feral populations and draws attention to the possibility of introgression of domestic alleles into the wild reservoir.

Monitoring and Controlling Temperature Egg Incubator Prototype Based LoRa Communication

Poultry industries encounter problem in produce day old chicken (DOC). Poultry industries usually produce DOC using egg incubator. Egg incubator must have high accuracy in reading environment temperature inside the machine. The temperature environment inside the egg incubator machine needs to keep in range 36°C - 40°C. On the other hand, hatcheries and chicken coop usually not in one place. Poultry industries require applied technology to solve this problem. This problem can be solved by using internet of things. But internet of things can be so expensive. This research is aim to implement monitoring and controlling temperature inside egg incubator prototype while using low-cost communication technology. Research result showed that the control system could maintain egg incubator prototype temperature in optimal range with an accuracy of 99,63%, 99,83%, 99,97%,99,64%, and 99,37% when reading a temperature of 36°C, 37°C, 38°C, 39°C, and 40°C respectively. This research implements Long Range (LoRa) technology for monitoring system. Different with internet of things technology, point to point LoRa communication does not needs payment to communicate but still provide wide area communication. According to research result, point to point LoRa communication provide good performance in sending temperature data in range area 50m, 100m, 150m, 200m, 250m, and 300m with good average Receive Signal Strength (RSSI). This research can conclude proposed egg incubator can keep temprature in optimal range. Proposed incubator also can communicate properly to send data temperature for monitoring temperature.

Bactericidal significance of aqueous extracts of Jatropha tanjorensis on Salmonella isolates from domestic chicken coops; Ayurveda and Universal health coverage

Multidrug resistance is more significant among other public health challenges in Nigeria. Many plants have been investigated to have antimicrobial effects on panels of microorganisms including multidrug-resistant pathogens. This study explored the antimicrobial potency of Jatropha tanjorensis on Salmonella isolates from domestic chicken coops. Wet and dried fecal samples of Chicken were obtained from chicken coops. Fecal samples and medicinal plants of interest were analyzed using standard microbiological techniques and procedures. The aqueous concentration of extracts from this research included 0.2 g-10 ml, 0.5 g-10 ml, 1 g-10 ml, 1.5 -10 ml, and 2 g-10 ml. Results of this study indicated that extracts of dried leaves showed more antimicrobial effects than fresh leaf extracts as significant zones of inhibition of 10 mm, 14 mm, 19 mm and 28 mm were observed for dried leaf extract concentrates of 0.5 g-10 ml, 1.0 g-10 ml, 1.5 -10 ml, and 2 g-10 ml respectively. Corresponding zones of inhibition of 9 mm, 11 mm and 20 mm were seen for fresh leaf extract concentrates of 1.0 g-10 ml 1.5 g-10 ml and 2.0 g-10 ml. Owing to their antimicrobial effectiveness, availability, and inexpensive qualities, traditional medicines should be integrated with allopathic medicines if Nigeria must achieve universal health coverage in Nigeria. Plant extracts possess extensive antimicrobial activities against many microorganisms. Hence, more plants' clinical toxicity and safety need to be investigated.

Soil Organic Matter and Nutrient Levels in Outdoor Runs in Organic Laying Farms.

To evaluate the nutrient load due to the grazing of laying hens in outdoor runs, monitoring of soil characteristics was conducted in three Italian organic farms. For each farm, soil samples were taken from three increasing distances from the hen house and two depths, and different chemical parameters were evaluated. The comparison among the results from the different distances shows that N-NO3 and Olsen P are the most affected parameters by hen feces: both present high values with a statistically significant difference in the area close to the poultry house and for the most superficial layer. Even TKN and TOC show significant differences between the concentrations of the first layer (more concentrated) and those of the second layer (less concentrated). In general, the surface soil layer closest to the chicken house is the portion of the outdoor run most affected by chicken droppings and represents the most critical point in terms of potential environmental impact. Therefore, it is necessary to intensify the management of the outdoor run with tools that can facilitate the grazing of animals and with vegetation that can absorb nutrients by limiting leaching and runoff.

Microservice architecture for a remote management platform for pastured poultry farming using Amazon Web Services and wireless mesh sensor networks

Introduction: A variety of innovative solutions known as Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) technologies have been developed for the management of animal production industries, including Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) for poultry farming.&#x0D; Problem: Current WSN-based systems for poultry farming lack the design of robust but flexible software architectures that ensure the integrity and proper delivery of data.&#x0D; Objective: Designing a microservice-based software architecture (MSA) for a multiplatform remote environmental management system based on Wireless Mesh Sensor Networks (WMSN) to be deployed in pastured poultry farming spaces.&#x0D; Methodology: A review about MSAs designed for animal farming was conducted, to synthesize key factors considered for the design process of the system data flow, microservice definition and the environmental monitoring system technology selection.&#x0D; Results: A cloud MSA with a multi layered scheme using the Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform was developed, validating the persistence of environmental data transmitted from WMSN prototype nodes to be deployed in mobile chicken coops.&#x0D; Conclusion: Defining an End-to-End data flow facilitates the organization of tasks by domains, allowing efficient event communication between components and network reliability both at the hardware and software levels.&#x0D; Originality: This study presents a novel design for a remote environmental monitoring system based on WMSN for mobile coops used in pastured poultry and a multi layered MSA cloud management platform for this specific type of food production industry.&#x0D; Limitations: Software architecture technology selection was based only on services offered, to the date of the study, in the free tier of the Amazon Web Service platform.

Pengaruh Pakan Kompilasi yang Mengandung Kelor dan Bakteri Asam Laktat (BAL) Terhadap Gambaran Trombosit Ayam Broiler

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and Moringa in the compilation of feed for broiler chickens. This research was conducted from June to November 2021, in the Nekamese chicken coop, Kupang district. The study used a completely randomized design using 4 treatment designs. Chickens are fed approximately 3 kg a day 2 times in the morning and evening, with drinking water given at libitum. The test results showed that for each treatment group, the feed containing Moringa and lactic acid bacteria isolates from palm sap on broiler chickens did not show a significant effect. However, if viewed descriptively, it shows the difference from the average difference in treatment. The average platelet value in the treatment group was higher than the control group. Further research is needed with a larger sample size related to Moringa as broiler chicken feed.

Sero-prevalence of Newcastle disease and associated risk factors in chickens at backyard chicken production Kindo Koisha, Wolaita zone, Southern Ethiopia.

Newcastle disease (ND) is a serious infectious disease of poultry caused by virulent strains of Avian Paramyxovirus-1 and has a substantial impact on villages where people's livelihood depends upon poultry farming in several developing countries including Ethiopia. In the district of the study area, no previous studies have been conducted. Thus, the aim of the present study was to estimate individual and household flock level seroprevalence and risk factors for ND in unvaccinated backyard chickens in Kindo Koisha district, Wolaita zone, Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study design was conducted. For the study, household flocks were sampled as a cluster, and backyard chickens within the cluster with an age of more than 3 months were sampled. A total of 598 blood samples were collected from 86 household flocks during the study period. Serum samples were tested for ND antibodies using an Indirect-Enzyme Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay. The overall seroprevalence of ND virus at individual and flock level was 17.06% (95% CI: 14.25-20.29%) and 73.26% (95% CI: 62.79-81.64%), respectively. The ND seropositivity and associated risk factors were assessed at the individual bird and flock level by using ordinary and mixed effect logistic regression, respectively. Ordinary logistic regression revealed that crossbreed chickens had significantly higher odds of ND seropositivity than local breeds, with an odds ratio of 2.15 (95% CI: 1.54-3.00; p < 0.001). The odds of ND seropositivity was significantly higher in backyard chickens which belongs flock size >9 in comparison to <9 with an odds ratio of 3.7 (95% CI: 1.12-12.30; p < 0.031). The potential flock level risk factors related to ND seropositivity in this study were flock size, chicken house cleaning frequency, water source for chickens, dead chicken disposal practice, and distance to the next neighbor household, mixing with wild birds and owning pets. In conclusion, the current study generates significant information on the seroprevalence and the potential risk factors associated with ND at individual and flock level in Kindo Koisha district, Wolaita zone. Consequently, ND vaccination campaigns should be launched, and effective extension programs should also be provided to raise awareness about the disease.

Assessment of Production Performances of Exotic Chickens Under Village Production System in Kembata-Tembaro Zone, Southern Ethiopia

The current study was carried out between July 2019 and October 2021 in the districts of Doyogena, Hadero- Tunto (HT), and Angecha of kembata-Tembaro (KT) Zone, Southern Ethiopia, with the aim of assessing management practices and production performance of various exotic chickens under village production system. Based on the possibility for distributing exotic chicken, the districts were deliberately selected. A random selection of nine kebeles was made. Data from a household survey were gathered utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire and file monitoring. To evaluate the data quantitatively, descriptive statistics were employed. For the purpose of strengthening data from the household survey, information from focus groups and individual observations was qualitatively evaluated. The study found out that, the chicken house was constricted 60.4% of the respondents share with people, 20.4% separate with animals and 19.2% constricted separate chicken house. The main feed supplements used for chicken were maize and wheat grains (55.6%), industrial by products (15.2%) and kitchen waste (29.2%). The respondents were provided water as free access (32.2%), in the morning and evening (30%) and provided only in the morning (37.8%). About (78.9%) of the respondents did not used vaccine to their chicken against different diseases. The average mean (60.4%) and (70.2%) of the respondents had good market access to buy chicken production inputs and to sell eggs and chicken, respectively. The breed (BB) was superior for number of egg/year (221.47±12.8) than (SSB) breed (202.91±16.15) and (PK)breed (184.29±5.65); whereas (PK)breed was superior for average age at first egg lying (155±0.94) than (SSB) breed (176.92±0.49) and (BB)breed (168.21±2.78). Diseases and feed shortage were major constraints in the study areas. The overall results of the present study reveal that the majority of the respondents were not used separate chicken housing system and the main feed resources used for their chicken was obtained from grains. Disease and feed problems were the first and the second constraint of exotic chicken production in the study areas. The overall finding indicate that the performance of exotic chicken under farmers’ management condition (BB) breed had better egg production performance than (SSB) and (PK) breeds; whereas (PK)breed was reach better sexual maturity at first egg laying than (SSB) and (BB)breeds in the study areas. However, the performance of the three breeds in the study areas was lower than other findings on similar exotic chicken. The attention given to exotic chicken, particularly in supplementary feeding, health care and housing practices was very low in the study areas. Hence, better housing system, improving the health of chicken, practicing supplementary feeding could increase the productivity.

Detection and Tracking of Broiler Flock Movements in The Chicken Coop using YOLO

Observation of the movement of broilers in the chicken coop is done to monitor the welfare and health condition of broilers. Currently, observing broiler flock activity in the chicken coop is generally still done conventionally, with manual observations made by farmers. But on a large scale, this observation method takes a lot of time and manpower, and is subjective. Therefore, an automatic observation system is needed that continuously monitors broiler activity, so as to increase the efficiency of farmer resources and reduce operational costs for observing broiler activity. This study developed an automatic detection and tracking system for broiler chicken movements using You Only Look Once, Version 4 (YOLOv4) as the base model, Yolo Weights as the Transfer Learning Pretrained Model, and Deep Sort as the Tracker Model. For comparison of base models, use Single Shot Multibox Detector (SSD), You Only Look Once, Version 3 (YOLOv3), You Only Look Once, Version 4 - tiny (YOLOv4-tiny). For comparison, the Network Model uses MobileNet and MobileNet v2. For comparison of Transfer Learning Pretrained Model using Caffe Model Weights and Tensorflow Weights. For comparison of Tracker Models using Centroid Tracker, Centroid Kalman Filter Tracker, Simple Online and Realtime Tracking (SORT) and Intersection over Union (IOU). The results showed that Model You Only Look Once, Version 4 (YOLOv4) with Transfer Learning Pretrained Model = Yolo Weights, and Tracker Model = Deep SORT was able to detect and track the most chicken herds in cages compared to others, with the number of broilers detected as many as 17.

Відновлення працездатності радіоелектронних пристроїв шляхом реінжинірингу

Domestic radio-electronics, which is still incorporated in many electronic devices, has practically exhausted its technical resource. The longer modernization is postponed and the radio-electronic equipment based on outdated elements remains in use, the more its efficiency declines and operating costs increase. This paper analyzes the problems of maintaining the operational efficiency of radio-electronics that has exhausted its technical resource and the production of its elemental base has been discontinued. The authors substantiate the approach to extending the life cycle of technical products by updating the target functions of modules and cells through reengineering. The reengineering was performed for the functional control system 4PK, which is part of the radar 5N86 (“Hen House”), which has been in operation since 1975. To check the possibility of preserving the existing operating principles, simulations of cells and modules on the new elemental base and existing modules were carried out using Tina-Ti software simulation tools (Texas Instruments), Electronics Workbench, Micro Cap. The results of the reengineering of the 2TM modules indicated the problem of choosing a new element base — they use negative logic, which complicates the using a series of modern elemental base, the vast majority of elements of which are designed on positive logic and positive supply voltage. In order not to disturb the power supply architecture of the active radar, a way was found to coordinate different levels. Testing the model showed a positive result, and a number of cells showed the possibility to build a universal cell using reconfigurable electronic microcircuits in its composition.

Detection of abnormal chicken droppings based on improved Faster R-CNN

The characteristics of chicken droppings are closely related to the health of chickens. Veterinarians often judge the health of a chicken by looking at whether the chicken poop is normal. At present, the inspection of abnormal chicken droppings in chicken coops relies on manual observation, which is inefficient, accurate varies from person to person, labor-intensive, and has the risk of cross-infection. To achieve efficient, accurate, and intelligent identification of abnormal chicken droppings, an abnormal chicken droppings detection method based on improved Faster Region-based Convolutional Neural Network (Faster R-CNN) was proposed in this study. In the feature extraction network stage, deformable convolution was used and combined with Path Augmentation-Feature Pyramid Network (PA-FPN) to improve the extraction ability of features at different scales. In the Region Proposal Network (RPN) stage, the K-means++ algorithm was used to cluster the dataset and obtain the Anchor-ratio which is more suitable for the chicken poop object, and the FocalLoss classification loss function was used to improve the classification ability of difficult samples. In the regional convolutional network stage, the region of interest calibration algorithm was used instead to obtain more accurate localization information. The experimental results show that the improved Faster R-CNN structure can reach an accuracy of 98.8% for abnormal chicken poop detection, and the average accuracy mean value was improved by 27.8%. The results can provide a key core technology support for establishing an efficient abnormal chicken droppings online detection system. Keywords: abnormal chicken droppings, Faster R-CNN, detection, non-destructive monitoring, PA-FPN DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20231601.7732 Citation: Zhu J H, Cui Z H, Wang H Y, Zhou M, Sun X Q. Detection of abnormal chicken droppings based on improved Faster R-CNN. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2023; 16(1): 243–249.

Safety assessment of the functional feed additive phenylcapsaicin in a commercial broiler diet

Introduction: Intestinal colonisation of Salmonella is a major concern in the poultry industry, and a low dose of the high-purity synthetic capsaicin analogue phenylcapsaicin (PheCap) has the potential to be a phytobiotic alternative to antibiotics in reducing floor Salmonella in commercial broiler chicken houses. In this study we present the first safety assessment of PheCap at doses relevant for the poultry industry. Methods: In a completely randomized block design, Ross 308 male broilers were offered feed containing 0, 10, 15, or 150 mg PheCap/kg. Growth rates, mortality, haematology, clinical chemistry, foot pad lesions, litter quality and gross pathological examination of organs and tissues were evaluated for signs of toxicity over a two-phase, 35-day growth period. Results: No differences in feed intake and broiler growth were found, with broilers in the control group having the highest mortality. There was a statistically significant increase in the European Production Efficiency Factor (EPEF) for the 10 (p = 0.02) and 15 mg PheCap/kg feed (p = 0.003) treatment doses. No dose dependent adverse effects were found for any of the treatment doses. The No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) of PheCap is probably higher than that of the highest weekly averaged daily intake of 36.3 mg/kg BW/day observed in the present study. Conclusions: The inclusion of PheCap in broiler feed at doses relevant for the commercial poultry industry is assumed not have any negative effects on broiler health.