Merck Animal Health acquires poultry tech company

Merck Animal Health recently announced it has completed its acquisition of Poultry Sense Ltd., which provides health and environmental monitoring solutions for the poultry industry. In March 2019, Merck Animal Health invested in Poultry Sense Ltd., to support their development. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Poultry Sense Ltd., a privately held company located in Exeter, U.K., provides enhanced technology for poultry farmers to continuously track and analyze overall health performance for the life of the flock.

It provides users the capability to measure, compare and record key health and environmental indicators captured by battery-powered, wireless sensors in the poultry barn, as well as to identify patterns and trends to predict health and well-being and, ultimately, prevent disease and improve performance.

This technology is used to assess an animal’s health and well-being, which contributes to enhanced productivity and efficacy measures on the farm and, ultimately, to better food safety and security.

The sensors allow farmers to monitor and assess vital parameters by measuring weight, water usage, humidity, light, temperature and carbon dioxide. Farmers can, therefore, gain insight into the housing environment, as well as bird health and performance.

This proprietary technology can detect health conditions earlier in poultry that can lead to illness, thus reducing the potential for disease outbreak. This notification is done via software reports in an easy-to-read dashboard in real-time on any mobile device, desktop, tablet or secure website, which also connects to the cloud.

“We are pleased to take this step forward with the acquisition of Poultry Sense Ltd., as we continue to broaden our portfolio with complementary products and technologies to advance animal well-being and outcomes for our customers,” says Rick DeLuca, president, Merck Animal Health.

“We now will be able to provide enhanced health and environmental monitoring technology to the poultry industry, which adds to our technological expertise within our livestock monitoring business with beef and dairy cattle as well as aquaculture, strengthening our leadership in shaping the future of animal health.”

The Poultry Sense Ltd. product portfolio joins Merck Animal Health Intelligence, a newly formed specialized operating unit that takes its name from the company’s strategic vision for animal health intelligence and data expertise.

The unit is a complementary business that specializes in identification, traceability, monitoring solutions and services to help improve animal management and health outcomes.

“The addition of specialized, digital technology within our portfolio of medicines, vaccines and services, provides holistic solutions to help advance animal health and complements our existing identification and monitoring technology that delivers real-time, actionable data and insights to help, improve or enhance animal management and health outcomes,” DeLuca says.