Researchers at Iowa State University are trying to improve the welfare and health of chickens through virtual reality (VR).

In recent years, VR technology has permeated every part of our lives. From video games to job training, VR strives to provide users with the most realistic experience possible. To many, this technological advancement may sound dystopian, but researchers across the country are finding ways it can improve our daily lives.

Melha Mellata, an associate professor in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Iowa State University, and Graham Redweik, a recent PhD student in the Interdepartmental Microbiology Graduate Program at Iowa State University, say VR is yet another breakthrough. I’m trying to figure out if it can be used in some other way. birds time.

Researchers at Iowa State University have realized that the increasing demand for cage-free eggs stems from the goal of providing chickens with better welfare, especially in terms of their natural behavior. Most laying hens are kept in conventional cages because the system can cause problems such as injuries and bacterial infections. , I saw VR technology.

“The free-range production environment for laying hens presents many challenges, including additional injury, disease and potential risks from predators,” Mellata said. “However, chickens in free-range environments tend to engage more frequently in positive, ‘normal’ behaviors that appear to enhance overall health and immunity. ”

A study published in a peer-reviewed journal, “Exposure to virtual environments induces changes in the biological and microbiota of laying hens.” frontier of science, We found that showing chickens a VR scene of chickens in a more natural environment reduced indicators of stress in the chickens’ blood and gut microbiota. “It’s interesting to think that just exposing chickens to a free-range environment could stimulate similar immunological benefits,” he said.

Chickens are highly sensitive to visual stimuli. Like their T-rex ancestors, chickens have poor depth perception and perceive objects better when they are in motion than when they are stationary. According to this study, this means that environmental factors such as color, light quality, duration and intensity all influence the feeding behavior of poultry.

For example, when watching a video of chicks feeding, birds mimic these behaviors and approach the food faster.

In this study, we found that VR scenes induced biochemical changes associated with increased resistance to E. coli. This poses a health risk to poultry and humans who eat contaminated eggs.

Researchers viewed video projections of chickens in a free-range environment. The scene showed an outdoor fenced scratching area and an indoor facility with access to an open, unfenced prairie overgrown with grass, shrubs, and flowers. A group of 34 hens from a commercial poultry flock were exposed to video on all four walls of her poultry house for five days. The video was tested during a period of high stress risk, ie, 15 weeks post-hatch, when commercial chickens are routinely transferred to egg laying facilities.

Visual-only recordings showed that diverse groups of free-ranging chickens engaged in activities related to time-of-day aggressive poultry behavior, such as grooming, perching, dusting, and nesting. showed. Videos were not shown to control groups of the same size and age in the same type of housing.

Researchers analyzed blood, tissues, and samples for gut microbiota. Chickens in the treatment group showed some beneficial changes compared to the control group. Differences include reduced indicators of stress and increased resistance to avian pathogenic E. coli that can cause sepsis and death in young birds.

“Although more research is needed, this suggests that virtual reality could be a relatively simple tool to improve poultry health and improve food safety in confined settings. We are doing it,” said Melata. “It could also be a relatively inexpensive way to reduce the need for antibiotics in infections and spawning.”

The team hopes to scale up the study to conduct similar studies over a longer period of time using more chickens and chickens at different stages to see if the results are reproducible. .

“Future studies in collaboration with veterinary partners are also needed to investigate the neurochemical mechanisms that link visual stimuli to gut changes in chickens,” said Mellata.

The full study can be viewed here.

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