The development house, in Co. Down close to Moy Park’s headquarters in Northern Ireland, is more than 18,500 square feet in size and is split into 36 individual pens.

Across each pen, which holds 500 birds, inputs such as feed can be altered allowing Moy Park to capture and analyse data to deliver statistically significant improvements in its poultry rearing and welfare processes.

Justin Coleman, Moy Park Agriculture Development Manager said: “This poultry development house has been purpose-built to the highest specification including windows providing natural light, enhanced biosecurity and biomass heating.

“Chicken is at the very heart of our business and this initiative supports our commitment to sustainability, environmental excellence and developing the farm of the future.”

“This investment allows us to lead the way in innovation providing a precision controlled environment to better monitor bird welfare, feed conversion and environmental impacts so we can provide optimum conditions for our chickens.”

This is a further sign of Moy Park’s commitment to being a leader in sustainable, welfare focused precision agriculture.

The company is currently running a broiler expansion programme in Northern Ireland and Great Britain as part of its overall strategic plans to grow its fresh locally farmed chicken supply for its UK and Irish customers.

The programme is expected to see over 250 new poultry houses under construction by the end of this year.