Zsófia Várszegi

The increasing level of poultry meat production, the lack of human workforce, and the rapid development of information technology have led to the application of precision livestock farming (PLF) systems in the poultry sector, as in other livestock sectors. This review aimed to gather information on the function, applicability, advantages, and limitations of a wide range of precision technologies applicable to broiler production to help farms and researchers in choosing the right methods in practice or creating the basis for further development. Studies as the basis of this review were extracted from more than a hundred peer-reviewed articles including mainly publications of recognised journals and conference proceedings. The results showed that most precision tools are currently undergoing testing and focus on some parameters or a group of parameters which are closely related. Information on the prevalence of PLF systems on broiler farms is not available in the literature. The accessible technologies of different purposes should be combined and connected to enable communication with each other and create a complex, reliable, and precise background for farming. This also facilitates management decisions and the treatment of so-called “Big Data”.

The increasing level of poultry meat production, the lack of human workforce, and the rapid development of information technology have led to the application of precision livestock farming (PLF) systems in the poultry sector, as in other livestock sectors. PLF tools provide continuous, real-time, accurate, and non-invasive data acquisition regarding environmental and production parameters, animal health and behaviour. PLF technologies include sensors, cameras, and microphones for data collection, as well as networks, software, and computer systems for data processing and analysis. Most precision tools focus on some parameters or a group of parameters which are closely related and only a few provides a more complex view (i.e. multi-purpose robots). Besides the advantages, limitations of the systems should also be considered before the application. Limitations include technical failures and breakdowns, pathogen transmission, problems with the reliability of results, the reduction of human-animal contacts and animal welfare. Combination of the accessible technologies of different purposes should be applied on each farm to provide a complete, reliable technological background for farming. Tools should be connected to enable communication with each other and create a complex, reliable, precise background for farming. This also facilitates management decisions and the treatment of so-called “Big Data”

The study aimed to evaluate the slaughter value and meat characteristics of ten ostrich females reared and slaughtered at the age of 18 months in Hungary. The ratio of selected body parts, the main organs and the lean meat parts were examined. The nutritive composition, the colour, the technological and organoleptic characteristics of five valuable meat parts (outside strip—M. flexor cruris lateralis, oyster—M. iliofemoralis externus, tip—M. femorotibialis medius, outside leg—M. gastrocnemius pars externa, medal—M. ambiens) and the amino acid, fatty acid and mineral composition of outside strip (M. flexor cruris lateralis) were also evaluated. The ratio of body parts and the main organs as the percentage of live weight, and the lean meat part as the percentage of carcass weight showed 16.74 ± 0.01%, 6.16 ± 0.01% and 57.29 ± 0.59%, respectively. The dry matter content of the examined valuable meat parts ranged between 24.89 ± 0.08 and 26.23 ± 0.13%, the protein ratio took on values between 18.40 ± 0.09 and 20.62 ± 0.16%, the fat content showed values between 2.36 ± 0.07 and 4.50 ± 1.09% and the hydroxyproline content ranged between 0.01 ± 0.001 and 0.08 ± 0.001%. The amino acid content of the outside strip showed a range between 0.15 and 3.33%. The ratio of SFA, MUFA and PUFA was 35.10 ± 0.53, 37.37 ± 1.52 and 27.54 ± 1.01. The n-6/n-3 ratio showed 3.91 ± 0.43 and the SFA/UFA ratio was 0.54 ± 0.02. Among the examined minerals, the content of Ca, K, Mg, Na and P was the highest in the meat. In the case of the colour, regarding L* value, we could reveal no significant difference between the examined meat parts. For a* and b* values, the outside leg had the lowest data of all. We could not reveal a significant difference between the pH values of the meat parts. Regarding technological parameters, meat differed only in thawing loss. The significantly lowest thawing loss could be detected in the outside leg (2.72 ± 0.01%) and in the medal (2.32 ± 0.01%). The results of the organoleptic evaluation showed that the outside strip and the tip had the best flavour and tenderness. In comparison with the younger birds (10–14 months of age) in the literature, the 18-month-old ostriches in our study showed similar or slightly lower slaughter weight, skin weight and head ratio, greater liver weight, lighter meat, lower protein and higher fat content, higher essential amino acid and lower non-essential amino acid content and higher SFA content in some cases. However, data on nutrition and population size were not always available. In comparison with other ratites (emu and rhea), ostrich meat has lower dry matter and protein, but higher fat, SFA, MUFA and PUFA content and lower n-6/n-3 ratio.