Autonomous poultry farming in the UK: a review of technologies and challenges

Nour Morsi; Mohamed Khedr; Erfu Yang; Tariq Masood; Anja Maier; Karen Campbell; Ashley Wallace

doi:10.1109/ICAC65379.2025.11196305

Autonomous poultry farming in the UK: a review of technologies and challenges

Nour Morsi
, Mohamed Khedr
, Erfu Yang^*
, Tariq Masood
, Anja Maier
, Karen Campbell
, Ashley Wallace

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution book

1 Citation (Scopus)

10 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

As population growth accelerates, the global demand for eggs and poultry meat is anticipated to surge. However, the poultry industry encounters several challenges, including avian influenza outbreaks, economic inflation, and a diminishing skilled labour pool. These factors exert pressure on farmers to sustain efficiency and sustainability. Accordingly, the poultry industry in the United Kingdom is adopting advanced technologies such as computer vision, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics to optimise operational processes. This paper presents an overview of the United Kingdom poultry industry, highlighting cutting-edge technologies, dominant challenges, and emerging trends. While smart technologies have demonstrated effectiveness in addressing certain challenges within the UK poultry industry, the adoption of more adaptable robotic systems and the implementation of AI-driven health monitoring systems are essential to attain the objective of establishing intelligent packing centres.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2025 30th International Conference on Automation and Computing (ICAC)
Place of Publication	Piscataway, NJ
Publisher	IEEE
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9798331525453
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ICAC65379.2025.11196305
Publication status	Published - 16 Oct 2025
Event	The 30th International Conference on Automation and Computing - University of Loughborough, Loughborough, United Kingdom Duration: 27 Aug 2025 → 29 Aug 2025 Conference number: 30 https://cacsuk.co.uk/icac/

Conference

Conference	The 30th International Conference on Automation and Computing
Abbreviated title	ICAC
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Loughborough
Period	27/08/25 → 29/08/25
Internet address	https://cacsuk.co.uk/icac/

Funding

This research is supported by Glenrath Farms and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project titled 'Development of an Intelligent Collaborative Robot System for Smart Farm Manufacturing (iCoBOTS)', project number KTP 13838

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

Keywords

industry 4.0
robotics
poultry
artificial intelligence
gripper

Access to Document

10.1109/ICAC65379.2025.11196305

Morsi-etal-2025-Autonomous-poultry-farming-in-the-UKAccepted author manuscript, 776 KBLicence: CC BY 4.0

KTP - Glenrath Farms Ltd. Development of an intelligent collaborative robot system for smart farm manufacturing (iCoBOTS).
Yang, E. (Principal Investigator), Maier, A. (Co-investigator) & Masood, T. (Co-investigator)
Glenrath Farms Ltd, Innovate UK
1/02/24 → 31/01/26
Project: Research

Cite this

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title = "Autonomous poultry farming in the UK: a review of technologies and challenges",

abstract = "As population growth accelerates, the global demand for eggs and poultry meat is anticipated to surge. However, the poultry industry encounters several challenges, including avian influenza outbreaks, economic inflation, and a diminishing skilled labour pool. These factors exert pressure on farmers to sustain efficiency and sustainability. Accordingly, the poultry industry in the United Kingdom is adopting advanced technologies such as computer vision, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics to optimise operational processes. This paper presents an overview of the United Kingdom poultry industry, highlighting cutting-edge technologies, dominant challenges, and emerging trends. While smart technologies have demonstrated effectiveness in addressing certain challenges within the UK poultry industry, the adoption of more adaptable robotic systems and the implementation of AI-driven health monitoring systems are essential to attain the objective of establishing intelligent packing centres.",

keywords = "industry 4.0, robotics, poultry, artificial intelligence, gripper",

author = "Nour Morsi and Mohamed Khedr and Erfu Yang and Tariq Masood and Anja Maier and Karen Campbell and Ashley Wallace",

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doi = "10.1109/ICAC65379.2025.11196305",

language = "English",

booktitle = "2025 30th International Conference on Automation and Computing (ICAC)",

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url = "https://cacsuk.co.uk/icac/",

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Morsi, N, Khedr, M , Yang, E , Masood, T , Maier, A, Campbell, K & Wallace, A 2025, Autonomous poultry farming in the UK: a review of technologies and challenges. in 2025 30th International Conference on Automation and Computing (ICAC). IEEE, Piscataway, NJ, The 30th International Conference on Automation and Computing, Loughborough, United Kingdom, 27/08/25. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICAC65379.2025.11196305

TY - GEN

T1 - Autonomous poultry farming in the UK

T2 - The 30th International Conference on Automation and Computing

AU - Morsi, Nour

AU - Khedr, Mohamed

AU - Yang, Erfu

AU - Masood, Tariq

AU - Maier, Anja

AU - Campbell, Karen

AU - Wallace, Ashley

N1 - Conference code: 30

PY - 2025/10/16

Y1 - 2025/10/16

N2 - As population growth accelerates, the global demand for eggs and poultry meat is anticipated to surge. However, the poultry industry encounters several challenges, including avian influenza outbreaks, economic inflation, and a diminishing skilled labour pool. These factors exert pressure on farmers to sustain efficiency and sustainability. Accordingly, the poultry industry in the United Kingdom is adopting advanced technologies such as computer vision, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics to optimise operational processes. This paper presents an overview of the United Kingdom poultry industry, highlighting cutting-edge technologies, dominant challenges, and emerging trends. While smart technologies have demonstrated effectiveness in addressing certain challenges within the UK poultry industry, the adoption of more adaptable robotic systems and the implementation of AI-driven health monitoring systems are essential to attain the objective of establishing intelligent packing centres.

AB - As population growth accelerates, the global demand for eggs and poultry meat is anticipated to surge. However, the poultry industry encounters several challenges, including avian influenza outbreaks, economic inflation, and a diminishing skilled labour pool. These factors exert pressure on farmers to sustain efficiency and sustainability. Accordingly, the poultry industry in the United Kingdom is adopting advanced technologies such as computer vision, artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics to optimise operational processes. This paper presents an overview of the United Kingdom poultry industry, highlighting cutting-edge technologies, dominant challenges, and emerging trends. While smart technologies have demonstrated effectiveness in addressing certain challenges within the UK poultry industry, the adoption of more adaptable robotic systems and the implementation of AI-driven health monitoring systems are essential to attain the objective of establishing intelligent packing centres.

KW - industry 4.0

KW - robotics

KW - poultry

KW - artificial intelligence

KW - gripper

U2 - 10.1109/ICAC65379.2025.11196305

DO - 10.1109/ICAC65379.2025.11196305

M3 - Conference contribution book

BT - 2025 30th International Conference on Automation and Computing (ICAC)

PB - IEEE

CY - Piscataway, NJ

Y2 - 27 August 2025 through 29 August 2025

ER -

Autonomous poultry farming in the UK: a review of technologies and challenges

Abstract

Conference

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Projects

KTP - Glenrath Farms Ltd. Development of an intelligent collaborative robot system for smart farm manufacturing (iCoBOTS).

Cite this