Livestock Engineering Machinery and Technique in Poultry Husbandry

The latest technical developments in poultry husbandry aim among others at improving animal welfare. Developments in early sex determination to avoid the culling of day-old male layer chicks have focused on endocrinological and spectroscopic methods. The current state of research is briefly outlined. Innovative developments of animal-friendly barn illumination are necessary in order to be able to better take into account the requirements of the vision of poultry with regard to the quality of light. It may be possible to at least reduce unwanted behaviours such as feather pecking and cannibalism in poultry by appropriate knowledge.