Why did the chicken cross the road? To record a few extra steps pxel66/Getty
Tiny electronic backpacks for chickens聽can automatically analyse their behaviour, which could reveal聽when聽something is wrong.
The backpacks are attached to the birds鈥 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 鈥淔itbits for chickens鈥.
Monitoring different behaviours using the backpacks could help reveal whether farm birds are being disturbed by parasites such as…
