International researchers have developed a deep learning tool to identify the distress calls of farmed chickens.

Annual global production of chickens exceeds 25 billion, and they are often housed in groups numbering thousands. Thus, assessing their welfare is very challenging. 

But monitoring chicken noises for distress has emerged as an effective way to ensure there's no fowl play on farms. 

It is hoped that technology can spot these distress calls when they are made, to ensure chickens get the timely help they need. 

Using recordings from an intensive farm, a team from the City University of Hong Kong has developed an algorithm that can correctly identify 97 per cent of distress calls, among other farm noises. 

This research has extraordinary potential for developing technologies to monitor distress calls in large, commercial chicken flocks and assess the welfare of billions of feathered beings around the world.

More details are accessible here.