Raising Chickens with Data... Automated Livestock Environment Management Boosts Productivity by 5%

Rural Development Administration Develops 'Second Generation Broiler Smart Farm'

Supporting Farm Management Decisions with Livestock House Environment and Rearing Data

A data-driven precision management technology for broiler (meat chicken) farming has been developed. The core of this innovation lies in managing farm environments using a mobile environmental control device that supports livestock house environment measurement and floor management, alongside active ventilation control technology. Application of this technology has been shown to increase broiler productivity by nearly 5%.

On August 26, the Rural Development Administration announced that it had developed and demonstrated the 'Second Generation Broiler Smart Farm' onsite, enabling comprehensive use of data collected from livestock houses—such as feed intake, temperature, and humidity—for feed and environmental management.

Dongjo Yudong, Director of the Livestock Life Environment Division at the Rural Development Administration, is explaining the '2nd Generation Broiler Smart Farm' at the Government Complex Sejong on the 26th. Rural Development Administration

The previous first-generation broiler smart farms were operated with stand-alone equipment for automating feed supply, water supply, and ventilation, which posed limitations for integrated data management. In addition, many farm owners still largely relied on their experience and intuition to assess the condition of the livestock house.

To address these limitations, the National Institute of Animal Science at the Rural Development Administration, working with Chonnam National University and Emotion, developed the second generation broiler smart farm through a multi-ministerial smart farm package innovation technology project. This system supports environment and feed management decisions based on real-time field data.

The second generation broiler smart farm comprises three main components: ▲A mobile environmental control device for monitoring livestock house conditions and assisting with floor management, ▲an active ventilation control technology that predicts ventilation requirements and adjusts accordingly, and ▲an integrated management system that provides a unified interface for overseeing both environmental and production data.

The mobile environmental control device moves throughout the poultry house, measuring gas concentrations—such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, and carbon dioxide—alongside temperature and humidity at multiple points. The data collected are visualized using an environmental distribution map that displays variations in temperature, humidity, and gas concentrations by location within the facility using color coding.

The device also features a floor management function, which automatically disperses litter around areas prone to moisture, such as drinking lines, thereby reducing labor required for floor moisture management and lowering ammonia emissions. Field demonstration results showed that, compared to control barns, ammonia emissions were reduced by approximately 20% when the device was deployed.

Mobile environmental control device applied to the 2nd generation broiler smart farm. Rural Development Administration

The active ventilation control technology is a proactive system for managing ventilation based on predicted changes in the internal thermal environment of the livestock house. The conventional sensor-based ventilation method activates ventilation fans when temperature sensors reach the preset threshold. In contrast, the active ventilation control technology calculates the required ventilation quantity in advance, taking into account external weather conditions, barn structure, insulation capacity, and the animals' heat output, and then adjusts the operation of the ventilation fans to maintain the optimal target temperature for rearing.

When the Rural Development Administration applied this technology, they found that internal barn temperatures during the hottest daytime hours dropped by up to 2 degrees Celsius compared to the traditional sensor-based method. Operation time of tunnel fans was reduced by 48.3%, and electricity consumption decreased by 35.2%.

An analysis of productivity changes at demonstration farms before and after implementation of the second-generation smart farm showed a 4.8% increase in the production index. The feed conversion ratio—the amount of feed required to increase a chicken’s weight by 1 kg—improved by 3.4%. The percentage of chickens that reached shipping weight in healthy condition also rose from 96.8% to 98.8%. According to the research team's economic calculations, these improvements translate to an annual economic benefit of approximately 14.5 million won per barn housing 30,000 broilers.

Based on technological development and field demonstration results, the National Institute of Animal Science plans to expand domestic adoption of the second generation smart farm and lay the groundwork for overseas application. Domestically, an additional pilot farm will be established in Jeongeup this year, with a broader rollout planned through a new technology dissemination project next year. Internationally, demonstration research is underway in Malaysia, where windowless poultry houses and smart farms are being promoted for food security and high chicken consumption. The plan is to adapt the smart farm system to local climates and rearing environments, and to gradually expand export opportunities to Southeast Asia as results are validated.

Youdongjo, Head of the Department of Livestock Life Environment at the National Institute of Animal Science, said, "The significance of this achievement is that we can now supplement farm operators' experience-driven decisions with field data, supporting more precise management of broiler farm environments. Moving forward, we will enhance field applicability and lay a foundation for broader adoption of data-driven livestock technology to realize tangible benefits for farmers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.