Project #722 funded by the USPOULTRY Foundation was recently completed. The study was conducted by Dr. Prafulla Regmi a member of the University of Georgia, Department of Poultry Science.  The objective was to determine the feasibility of using RFID chips to track individual hens within a three-tier aviary system.  It was possible to correlate the movement of hens identified by colored leg bands with the data obtained from RFID monitoring.

Over the age-period 29 to 40 weeks, it was determined that individual hens demonstrated a high level of movement between the first and third tiers compared to other hens that were essentially sedentary confirming non-uniformity within the flock.

Dr. Regmi considers that RFID tracking can be used to evaluate welfare and data can be applied in the design of aviary systems. 

Due to height of three-tier configurations, hens with a propensity to move among tiers and congregate on the top level would be expected to have a higher prevalence of keel damage.  Subjective observations suggest that two-tier aviary configurations provide benefits to flocks with respect to movement and are easier to manage especially with respect to visualization of hens for removal of injuries and mortality, confirming the availability of food, operation of drinker nipples and roll-out of eggs along the top tier.