Researchers Create a "FitBit for Chickens," Use Accelerometer Data to Raise Mite Infestation Alerts
Designed to track chicken activity, the sensor-equipped backpacks can raise a warning if a mite infestation is present.
Researchers at the University of California Riverside and Davis have released details of a wearable sensor with a difference: It's a motion-tracking backpack for chickens, designed to track mite infestations.
"The trend in egg sales is 'cage free,' but that doesn’t necessarily mean the chickens are insect free," lead author Amy Murillo explains of the project. "Fowl mites are very unpleasant for the birds being fed upon and cause an itchy immune response," which is particularly unpleasant given the mites prefer to live in feathers around what Murillo describes as "the butt area of the chicken."
Traditionally, discovering these infestations requires a physical inspection of the chickens — and by the time the problem is discovered, the mites can be widespread. Murillo and her team came up with an alternative approach: Tracking the movement of the chickens, on the basis that the itchy mite infestations should cause an increase in preening and dustbathing.
The backpack units, small enough not to bother the chickens to which they were fitted, are based on Axivity AX3 three-axis accelerometers polling at 100Hz; data gathered from these sensors were combined with video footage of the hosts' movements then fed through an algorithm designed to match the accelerometer data to particular behaviors.
"Most algorithms use either shape or features [of the graphed data], but not both," claims co-author Alireza Abdoli of the classification algorithm developed for the project, a task which proved more challenging than classifying human motion. "Our approach is exciting because it increases the accuracy of the data so much and is key to making good decisions about the chickens' health."
A coincidental mite infestation proved the concept: The accelerometer data showed increases in preening and dustbathing, which returned to normal when the mites were eradicated. "These results could let farmers know it’s time to examine their birds for parasites," says Murillo of what the universities are calling a "FitBit for Chickens." "And the tools we developed can also be used examine the effects of any change in a bird's environment or diet."
The team's work has been published under open-access terms in the journal Nature.