A special chicken coop which is powered by an artificial intelligence system dubbed ‘Albert Eggstein’, can now detect how chickens are feeling as well as translate their clucking.
The high-tech system can be used to monitor domestic chickens 24-hours-a-day through the additional use of two cameras, meaning owners will no longer have to worry about their feathered pets.
By using sound detection software, decibels can be measured as well as the patterns of clucks and chirps in order to understand how the chicken is feeling – hungry, happy, broody, or in danger.
The creators behind the business, AJ Forsythe and Jordan Barnes from Austin in Texas, claim they spent more than 10,000 hours perfecting the design.
Currently, the smart coop can hold up to six chickens, and has an enclosed shelter and a detachable fence area called ‘the run’.
The system can be operated via a smartphone, which is handy, and there are high-tech innovations within the coop including an ambient light sensor, which automatically opens the shelter’s doors in the morning when the sun rises and closes them again when the sun sets in the evening.
However, there are still a lot of improvements to make and aspects to develop, according to the brains behind the business.
The pair are thinking of rolling out features that would help monitor the health of the birds.
Cambridge-based ChickenGuard found there are around 1.3m chicken owners across the UK.
More than one billion eggs are set each year in the UK, according to figures from the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, with a massive 126.1m eggs laid this September 2023.
The unit is available online, but is very heavy, weighing 37kg and costing £2097 ($2595), as a basic unit.
The Albert Eggstein features are included as part of an extra subscription, and the company only currently ships to buyers within the United States.
