Motivating broiler chickens to move using specially designed lasers can boost animal welfare and improve meat quality. Recent research from Iowa State University indicates that periodically projecting randomly moving, dot-sized laser lights on the floor of broiler pens stimulates birds’ predatory instincts and encourages them to be more active. This is especially important as broilers approach market weight and becomes more sedentary, which can negatively impact their quality of life.
Elizabeth Bobeck, associate professor of animal science, and Anna Johnson, professor of animal behavior and welfare, partnered with Signify, a livestock lighting company, to create a second-generation novel laser device for this research.
The study aimed to evaluate how these devices influence animal behavior and was conducted with support from the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, USDA, and its National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
