Objectives of the service
BirdWatch helps poultry producers identify disease, environmental and welfare risks before they escalate. Integrating in-shed sensor data with satellite weather and land cover feeds alongside farm-installed audio sensors, the system uses AI to forecast high-risk environmental or infectious conditions. These predictions are visualised in dashboards and alerts for farmers and integrators, enabling faster, targeted responses to prevent outbreaks or improve welfare. This demonstrator enables early biosecurity interventions and helps improve poultry resilience and productivity across the UK and beyond.
Users and their needs
The target users are integrators, poultry farmers, veterinarians, and corporate biosecurity teams. These users operate in the UK and EU.
Their key needs include:
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Early warnings for environmental or disease risks (migratory diseases like HPAI) before outbreaks occur
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Tools to benchmark performance and compliance across farm networks
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Minimal effort and technical training to operate dashboards
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Alerts and recommendations compatible with existing SOPs
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The ability to identify risk hotspots at regional or national scale
Service/ system concept
BirdWatch helps individual farmers and large poultry integrators who contract these farms monitor and protect their flocks by combining on-farm sensors with satellite data and AI. The system collects shed conditions like temperature and humidity using in-shed IoT sensors. This data is combined with space-based information such as weather, land use, and vegetation to detect early signs of disease risk or heat stress.
BirdWatch runs on a hybrid system: part of the analysis happens directly at the farm (edge AI) for fast responses, and part is processed in the cloud to combine multiple farms’ data and generate regional insights. Users access alerts and recommendations through an easy-to-use online dashboard. The system helps farmers act before problems escalate – adjusting shed conditions, changing routines, or alerting vets early.
This proactive tool supports better bird welfare, reduces losses, and gives integrators a regional view of risk across all farms.
Space Added Value
BirdWatch uses Earth Observation data (e.g. satellite-derived weather, vegetation cover, soil moisture, and climate anomalies) and satellite communications (for remote sensor integration). Compared to traditional farm-only systems, space data extends prediction range and accuracy across entire supply chains.
Current Status
As of Month 9 (January 2025), the BirdWatch project has completed requirements engineering, architecture design, and early AI model prototyping. We’ve spoken to strategic partners who produce billions of chickens and face significant challenges across disease, environmental and animal welfare management.
Prime Contractor(s)
