Chick counter device and method. The counter comprises a camera, a chick supply line passing the scope of the camera, and a data processing unit communicating with the camera and programmed to process images captured by the camera to identify and count individual chicks by comparing a plurality of subsequently captured images. The data processing unit can, e.g., be programmed to count individual chicks passing a virtual line at the lower end of the camera scope in an image captured by the camera. Subsequently it compares the image with one or more earlier captured images to trace back the path of the individualized chicks. The number of counted chicks is corrected if a chick counted for one in step a appears to be countable for two or more chicks in at least one earlier captured image. The camera can e.g. be a videocamera.
