Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41933532›Full record

ArticlePoultry science2026

AI-based monitoring of broiler vocal repertoire dynamics reveals robust developmental and diurnal patterns but limited disease sensitivity.

Patricia Soster, Tomasz Grzywalski, Camila Lopes Carvalho, Imad Khan, Pieter Thomas, Frank Tuyttens, Luc Duchateau, Isaura Christiaens, Maarten De Gussem, Paul Devos and 2 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Poultry science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Patricia SosterDepartment of Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Zoological Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke-Melle, Belgium; Poulpharm, Izegem, Belgium. Electronic address: Patricia.sosterdecarvalho@gmail.com.
Tomasz GrzywalskiAcoustics, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Belgium.
Camila Lopes CarvalhoDepartment of Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Zoological Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke-Melle, Belgium.
Imad KhanDepartment of Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Zoological Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke-Melle, Belgium.
Pieter ThomasAcoustics, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Belgium.
Frank TuyttensDepartment of Veterinary and Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke-Melle, Belgium; Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food (ILVO), 9090 Merelbeke-Melle, Belgium.
Luc DuchateauBiometrics Centre, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Belgium.
Isaura ChristiaensPoulpharm, Izegem, Belgium.
Maarten De GussemVetworks, Aalter, Belgium.
Paul DevosAcoustics, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Belgium.
Dick BotteldoorenAcoustics, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University, Belgium.
Gunther AntonissenDepartment of Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Zoological Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke-Melle, Belgium.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Broiler vocalizations may contain relevant information about the welfare and health status; however, there is limited information on how disease affects vocal patterns. This study aimed 1) to investigate whether specific vocalization changes emerge in response to two important poultry diseases: intestinal (Eimeria spp.) and respiratory (infectious bronchitis virus, IBV; combined with avian pathogenic Escherichia coli, APEC), and 2) to characterize changes in broiler chicken vocalizations over age (14-41 days of age), and across time of the day (morning: 6:00 AM-12:00 PM; afternoon: 12:00 PM-6:00 PM; evening: 6:00 PM-12:00 AM; night: 12:00 AM-6:00 AM). Vocalizations were monitored using an automated AI-based broiler vocalization detector previously developed by our group. A total of 176 Ross 308 broilers were included across four experimental rounds, each consisting of three treatments (control and the two disease challenges) with four replicates each of 11 birds per group. Groups were housed in 3 m² pens and continuously recorded from day 14 to day 41 using centrally mounted microphones. Disease challenges were administered on day 14 (Eimeria spp.) and day 21 (IBV followed by APEC on day 24). Audio recordings were analyzed using a convolutional neural network trained to detect five vocalization categories: distress calls (DC), short peeps (SP), pleasure notes (PN), warbles (W), and other vocalizations (OV). Vocalizations were aggregated hourly to be evaluated across treatments, age and time of the day. Statistical analyses were performed using mixed-effects models in SAS (PROC MIXED). No significant effects of treatment were detected for all vocalization types (p > 0.05). However, significant age-related changes in vocal expression were observed (p < 0.05), with DC, SP, and PN decreasing progressively over age, while OV increased. Also, DC, SP, and OV were less frequent during the night from 14 to 28 days of age when compared to the other times of the day (p < 0.05), indicating that vocal expression was primarily driven by age- and diurnal period-related changes rather than experimental disease challenge. These results highlight both the potential of vocalization patterns baselines to better understand broilers vocal behavior and current limitations of acoustic monitoring for detecting health disturbances in broiler chickens.

Indexed as

ChickensCoronavirus InfectionsEscherichia coli InfectionsPoultry DiseasesVocalization, AnimalAnimalsCircadian RhythmEscherichia coliInfectious bronchitis virusIntelligent SystemsPoultryPrecision livestock farmingSound detectionVocalization recognizerWell-being

Identifiers

PMID41933532
PMCPMC13087756

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.