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Smoothing centre-of-mass tracking to quantify body oscillations and ambulation in broilers
Rosie H Whittle1, Shawna L Weimer1
1Department of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
Animal Welfare (South Mimms, England)
|August 5, 2026
Summary
This study developed a computational method to track broiler movement for welfare assessment. The automated approach shows promise for identifying lameness but requires refinement for accurate step counting.
Area of Science:
- Animal Science
- Computational Biology
- Animal Welfare
Background:
- Lameness is a significant welfare concern in broiler chickens.
- Current lameness assessment methods can be invasive and stressful for birds.
- There is a need for non-invasive, automated tools to monitor broiler mobility.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a computational method for quantifying broiler ambulation using open-field tests.
- To explore correlations between smoothed movement metrics and broiler body weight.
- To assess the accuracy of a novel computational approach for detecting broiler steps.
Main Methods:
- Broilers were video-recorded in a 180-second open-field test at 28 days of age.
- Center-of-mass tracking was performed using EthoVision® XT17 software.
- Zigzag trajectories were smoothed using a moving average, and step detection was based on Euclidean distance variation.
Main Results:
- Smoothing broiler trajectories reduced estimated distance by 57.04% and speed by 56.14%.
- Computed step counts were 23.49% lower than observer counts, indicating underprediction.
- Strong positive associations were found between raw and smoothed movement metrics and between observer and computed step counts.
Conclusions:
- The computational approach shows potential for non-invasive broiler lameness assessment.
- Trajectory smoothing may mitigate the impact of body oscillations on movement metrics.
- Further refinement of the computational step-detection algorithm is necessary to improve accuracy.
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