The “Internet of Everything” will soon include chickens. The following is excerpted from “Smart mini-backpacks for chickens,” The New Scientist, Nov. 23, 2018: “Tiny electronic backpacks for chickens can automatically analyse their behaviour, which could reveal when something is wrong. The backpacks are attached to the birds’ backs using straps and are filled with accelerometers that record their movements. An algorithm uses data from the sensors to identify when and for how long the chickens perform different behaviours. The team behind the idea call the devices ‘Fitbits for chickens.’ Currently, farmers have to check chickens manually and individually for signs of the mites. The technology could make monitoring the birds far less labour-intensive. Monitoring different behaviours using the backpacks could help reveal whether farm birds are being disturbed by parasites such as the northern fowl mite, says Amy Murillo at the University of California, Riverside, one of the team. The mite feeds on chickens’ blood and mainly affects egg-laying hens, which are kept alive much longer than those bred for meat.” (Friday Church News Notes, November 30, 2018, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Comments are closed.
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