Artificial Intelligence Applications in Poultry Health and Welfare Monitoring: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Model Performance

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, computer vision, sensor-based systems, and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are increasingly used for automated monitoring of poultry health and welfare, but reported model performance varies across tasks, data sources, validation strategies, and production settings. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the reported performance of AI-based models for poultry health and welfare monitoring. PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for peer-reviewed studies involving poultry, reporting health- or welfare-related monitoring outcomes, and providing extractable model-performance data. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers, and pooled accuracy was estimated using a Restricted Maximum Likelihood random-effects model in STATA version 17. Twenty-one studies published between 2012 and 2025 were included, of which ten were eligible for meta-analysis. Included systems used convolutional neural networks, random forests, support vector machines, and other machine-learning approaches for behavior recognition, disease detection, lesion assessment, mortality detection, environmental monitoring, and welfare assessment. The pooled accuracy estimate was 90.39% (95% confidence interval: 84.89–95.89; P < 0.001), with substantial heterogeneity among studies. Reported performance varied by application domain, data source, model type, assessment dimension, sample size, and integration with IoT-based systems. AI-based technologies show promise for automated poultry health and welfare monitoring; however, heterogeneous methods and limited external validation restrict the generalizability of pooled estimates. Future studies should prioritize standardized reporting, open datasets, external validation, and testing under commercial farm conditions.