Traits from sensors: Activity in broilers

Breed4Food seminar July 4, 2019

Malou van der Sluis, Esther Ellen, Yvette de Haas, Bas Rodenburg

Why monitor individual activity in groups?

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Activity levelsdistance moved

Health disease

Welfare leg problems

Performance body weight

Individual level: Individual information For breeders: relation to performance in groups

Sensor approaches

Ultra-wideband (UWB) tracking

a) Tag: 3.5 x 3.5 cm, ~ 25 g

b) From 2 weeks old

c) Coordinates

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Radio frequency identification (RFID)

a) Tag: 1.3 cm, < 1 g

b) From 1 day old

c) Absence / presence

UWB tracking

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Correlation r = 0.71p < 0.001

Overestimation at low distances Underestimation at

high distances

Distance validation

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Activity trends on group level [1/2]

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Activity trends on group level [2/2]

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Sensor approaches

Ultra-wideband (UWB) tracking

a) Tag: 3.5 x 3.5 cm, ~ 25 g

b) From 2 weeks old

c) Coordinates

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Radio frequency identification (RFID)

a) Tag: 1.3 cm, < 1 g

b) From 1 day old

c) Absence / presence

RFID tracking

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Antennas

2.61 m

1.80

m

RFID system on farm

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RFID recordings

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Antenna number Animal ID code Time stamp

Preliminary results

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Future work

Validation Compare to video Compare to UWB

Longitudinal individual data allows us to study: activity over time in detail early activity as a predictor for activity later location patterns, including feeder/drinker

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Thank you

Project: Tracking and monitoring of individual animals kept in groupsEsther EllenYvette de HaasBas Rodenburg

Funded by Breed4Food

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Email: malou.vandersluis@wur.nl