Using Accelerometers to Determine the Cessation of Activity of Broilers

Abstract

In recent years, the threat of a pandemic outbreak of avian influenza has become a global issue. The existence of zoonotic strains, causing cases of human infection throughout Eastern Asia, has increased interest in the prevention and containment of avian influenza outbreaks. Research has led to the development of a mass emergency depopulation method utilizing water-based foam for turkeys and chickens. Birds undergoing foam depopulation cannot be easily observed to determine time to death. As a result, a means to monitor birds and to determine time to death was needed to be developed in parallel to the new depopulation method. In this study, the use of an accelerometer for determination of the cessation of reflex reactions during the procedure was validated by comparing muscular cessation on external limbs to cardio-relaxation detected by an electrocardiogram. Electrocardiogram and accelerometer readings were taken from trials in which birds were euthanized by cervical dislocation and compared with other experiments in which water-based foam and CO2-polyethylene tent treatments were used. Statistical analysis indicated that accelerometers are valid sensors for the detection of the cessation of terminal convulsions in broilers.