Interreg

In all areas of poultry farming, there are possibilities of feather pecking and cannibalism these occurrences can also happen when keeping animals under ecological conditions or with free ranged poultry farming. There are several reasons for these occurrences, the relevant factors are due to light (light spectrum, light intensity and frequency). For poultry, the lighting has to correspond to the daylight of their natural environment, for turkeys (steppes, sparse forestation and mountains) and with egg-laying hens (jungles) both species have different requirements. In the context of the earlier project, “Multispectral Composition Optimisation and Control of the Multi-Spectral LED luminaries” LED luminaries have been developed that can be adjusted to match the light requirements to the sight of turkeys and laying hens in a stable environment, these requirements are considerably different to human sight.

In this project “Intelligent Lighting Systems” these LED luminaires will be optimised and tested in a controlled setting. Feather pecking and cannibalism can become a significant problem in a very short time so it is necessary to respond quickly and automatically. To resolve the problem of pecking and cannibalism the lighting needs to be adjusted in accordance with the needs of the animal. The goal of the project is to develop an active responsive light system that uses artificial intelligence to react to changing circumstances. A requirement for this study under a controlled environment is to optimize the LED luminaries systems through data collection and evaluation of animal behaviour, animal performance and animal health.

The purpose is to find an optimum light spectrum for turkeys and egg-laying hens so that the behaviour of the animals can be influenced by the lighting systems, through artificial intelligence, in such a way that the problem of feather pecking and cannibalism can be avoided worldwide and in all forms of housing systems.