What's my chicken eating?

📐 Best angle: side view, beak level

• Set the phone level with the rim of the cup, 12–18 inches away, aimed straight across. You want to see the beak open, close on a grain, and lift.
• A 45° angle from above is the next best. You see into the cup and still catch the beak.
• Straight down (top-down) still counts bites and shows what disappeared, but the head covers the beak at the moment he bites, so the AI has to guess more.

🐢 Film in slow motion

• Use your phone's Slo-mo mode (iPhone: Camera → swipe to SLO-MO; Android: Camera → More → Slow motion). It catches the instant he grabs a grain, and the AI gets clearer frames.
• 120 or 240 frames per second works great. Keep slow-motion clips under about 1 minute so they load quickly.

✅ Setup checklist

• Hold the cup still: clip it to the wire or set it on something solid.
• Hold the phone still: use a stand, a fence post or a clamp. Shaky video hides bites.
• Light: sun behind the phone, so the beak and feed aren't in shadow. Avoid harsh glare on the cup.
• Start before he eats: get 2–3 seconds of the full cup first, so there's a clean "before" picture.
• Keep his head and comb in frame the whole time. The bite finder tracks his red comb and face.
• Spread the feed out so grains aren't piled up. Single layers are easier to tell apart.
• One bird at a time in the frame.