Bloody or mucusy droppings, often in birds of 3 to 6 weeks on deep litter, can mean coccidiosis, and it can spread through a pen in days. Nche screens the droppings and, if they look that way, tells you to call your vet today.
For small farms and homesteads that sell eggs or birds
Something wrong with your birds? Know in seconds.
Photograph fresh droppings, or record 10 seconds of the barn. Nche screens it and tells you what to do next: looks healthy, worth a vet visit, or isolate and call your vet today. Catch it early, before a few sick birds cost you a season of eggs.
Not you? A few birds · I’m a vet
Your first 3 checks are free, with no account and no card. Then 7 days free, then $4.99 a month or $49 a year. Cancel online any time.
- Screening, never a diagnosis
- Accuracy published, limits included
- Built by a poultry farmer
N
NcheLayer farm · 400 birds
Looks healthy
Nothing worrying in this one.
Keep watching as usual. Check again if a hen stops eating, sits hunched or her droppings change.
Worth a vet visit
Signs often seen with coccidiosis.
Common in chicks and young birds, and it moves fast. Call your vet today and ask about a fecal test. Keep the bedding dry.
Isolate and call today
Call your vet now.
This pattern can mean a disease officials need to know about. Keep the flock in, don’t move birds, and wash hands and boots. Your vet decides what it is.
Cool them down
Heard: panting and open-mouth breathing.
Often heat stress. Give shade, cool water and moving air now. If the breathing is still noisy once they’re cool, call your vet.
Send report to my vet
Example results · not a real flock
£10.4bn
a year: what coccidiosis costs poultry farming around the world.
Blake et al., Veterinary Research, 2020
1,201
lab-confirmed photos Nche was tested on, none of them seen in training.
How the AI scores
2 min
is all a check takes: a photo or 10 seconds of sound, and your answer.
Your phone’s browser. Nothing to install.When you’d reach for it
For the moments you can’t afford to guess.
Fewer eggs is often the first sign that something is wrong, before any bird looks sick. A check of the droppings and the sound of the pen tells you whether it’s worth a vet visit now.
Send the report instead: the photo, your answers and the result, in a link your vet opens in a tap. They can advise you by phone from what you saw, and decide whether to come.
Sudden deaths can mean Newcastle disease or bird flu, and Nche can’t rule either out. Skip the app and call your vet today: what to look for, and who to call.
How it works
A photo. An answer. A report for your vet.
- Take a photo of a fresh droppingLess than an hour old, close up, in good light. Or record 10 seconds of the flock.
- Answer three quick questionsAge of the birds, how they’re kept, and anything you’ve noticed.
- Get your answer in secondsOne of three levels, with what to do next. Plain words, no jargon.
- Send the report, if you need toA link or a PDF your vet opens in a tap: the photo, your answers, the result. They start from what you saw, not from a description over the phone.
NCHEScreening report · example
FlockLayers · 400 birds · 30 weeks
KeptDeep litter, wood shavings
NoticedFewer eggs, a few birds hunched
Worth a vet visitSigns often seen with coccidiosis
Screening support, not a diagnosis. A vet decides.
R7KQ-2MX9-DFCheck it’s real at nche.appWhat it checks
Clear about what it does, and what it doesn’t.
Looks for signs linked to
- Coccidiosis, the parasite behind many chick losses
- Salmonellosis: often carried without symptoms, so a flag means washing hands and keeping the house clean, not a sick bird
- Newcastle disease: a flag always means “isolate the flock and call your vet or USDA today”, because only a lab can confirm it
- Breathing problems and distress, from sound In training
Doesn’t check for
- Bird flu. It doesn’t show reliably in droppings or sound.
- Worms and mites. Ask your vet for a fecal test: about $28 at a state lab.
- Injuries, egg binding, Marek’s. Those need hands-on care.
- Medicines or doses. In the US, most poultry antibiotics need a vet’s prescription. Nche never tells you what to give.
How good is it?
Honest numbers. Including what we don’t know yet.
4 in 5sick flocks told to get checked
1 in 5healthy flocks wrongly flagged
1,201lab-confirmed photos it was tested on, never seen in training
Those photos come from farms in Tanzania, where a lab confirmed what each bird had. Nche hasn’t yet been measured on farms like yours. We’re collecting vet-confirmed samples from farms, and we’ll publish the results on our AI page, good or bad.
Built by a poultry farmer
I built Nche after coccidiosis taught me how late a sick bird looks sick.
I run a commercial poultry farm in Nigeria and write software for a living. Different birds, a different country, the same worry you have: by the time a bird looks ill, the disease has often had days. The droppings change first, and most of us can’t read them well enough to act.
Nche is the earlier look I wanted: a quick answer, honest about its limits, that gets a vet involved sooner. It never replaces them.
Chinedu Okere · founder · The full story
Price
One plan. Everything in it.
Unlimited checks by photo and sound, your flock’s history, and reports for your vet. The first 100 members keep their price for life.
Yearly2 months free
$4.08 a month
billed $49 a year · full refund within 30 days
Start with 3 free checks- Today3 free checks. No account, no card.
- Your 4th checkSign in with Google or your email, and start 7 days free. You add a card; nothing is charged.
- Day 5We email you a reminder, with the date of the first payment and how to cancel.
- Day 8Your plan starts, unless you cancelled. Cancel online in the app, any time, in two taps.
More than 1,000 birds, or several houses? See Nche for farms, and the Nche box pilot. Your card goes to our payment provider, Bachs, never to Nche. Your photos and checks are private: a report is seen only by people you send it to.
When not to wait for an app
Signs of bird flu or Newcastle disease? Call today.
Nche doesn’t detect bird flu. USDA asks keepers to report sick or dying birds to their State veterinarian, or to USDA, if they see:
- Sudden deaths, or more deaths than usual
- No energy or appetite, or fewer eggs
- Swelling of the head, eyelids, comb or wattles
- A purple comb, wattles or legs
- Gasping, a runny nose or sneezing
- Stumbling or a twisted neck
- Green, watery diarrhea
USDA, toll-free
1-866-536-7593
Or call your State veterinarian. Keep the flock in, don’t move birds, and wash hands and boots.
USDA, Defend the FlockQuestions farmers ask
The straight answers.
Is this a diagnosis?
No. Nche screens: it tells you whether a dropping or a sound looks healthy or is worth showing a vet, and how soon. Only a vet can diagnose and treat your birds, and in the US most poultry antibiotics need a vet’s prescription.
Does it check for bird flu?
No. Bird flu doesn’t show reliably in droppings or sound, and no app can rule it out. If birds die suddenly, look swollen or purple, or several get sick at once, call your vet today, or USDA on 1-866-536-7593.
Will Nche report my flock to anyone?
No. Your checks are private: a report is seen only by people you send it to. If the signs point to a disease officials need to know about, Nche tells you to call your vet or USDA, and we’d encourage you to. Early reports protect your flock and your neighbours’.
How accurate is it on my farm?
We don’t know yet, and we won’t pretend to. On 1,201 lab-confirmed photos from farms in Tanzania, it told about 4 in 5 sick flocks to get checked and wrongly flagged about 1 in 5 healthy ones. We’re measuring it on vet-confirmed samples from farms like yours, and we’ll publish what we find. How it scores
How does the free start work?
Your first 3 checks need no account and no card. To keep checking, you sign in and start 7 days free, adding a card. We email you a reminder on day 5. If you cancel before day 8, you pay nothing.
How do I cancel?
In the app, in two taps, any time. You keep your plan until the end of the month or year you’ve paid for, and you aren’t charged again. A yearly plan can be refunded in full if you ask within 30 days.
Broilers, layers, ducks?
Broilers and layers, yes: any chicken. Ducks, quail and turkeys, not yet. Nche is trained on chickens, so its results are only meaningful for chickens.
What happens to my photos and recordings?
They’re stored securely and used for your flock’s history and reports. They also help Nche’s AI get better, without your name or exact location, unless you turn that off in the app’s Settings. Privacy notice
What about the Nche box?
The Nche box watches poultry houses of hundreds of birds, all night. It’s in prototype testing on farms in Nigeria. For now, start with your phone. If you’d like to try a box on your farm, ask about the pilot.
Next time something looks off, check.
3 checks free, no card. Then 7 days free, then $49 a year or $4.99 a month.