The use of antibiotics in the poultry industry
Antimicrobial resistance in human and animal isolates in the E.U. remains a significant problem despite the bans of antibiotic growth promoters and the reductions...
Turkey Breeding – Making the most of genetic potential
Genetic potential
Successful and profitable turkey production occurs across a wide range of production systems and farming environments. Breed choice, farming facilities, equipment, management, nutrition...
Dietary xylanase improves growth performance and cost savings in broiler chickens fed a corn-soybean...
The increased demand to reduce production costs, as well as concerns about the environment, have resulted in pressure on poultry producers to increase dietary...
Farmers’ perceived importance of biosecurity practices and actual performance on farm
It is prudent in today’s age that farmers uphold high-level compliance of biosecurity practices on Australian commercial chicken farms. This is especially so with...
Ventilation and heating issues during cold weather
Many problems during cool and cold weather can be traced to inappropriate ventilation rates. Poor broiler health, respiratory problems, and breast blisters are common...
Brooding
Getting chicks off to a good start is very important to overall flock performance. At no time does a bird grow faster than during...
Exterior and interior strategies for rodent control
As the weather cools, rodents seek refuge indoors where there is easy access to food and water. Rodents are vectors for spreading disease, which...
Improved fly control on poultry facilities with microbial products
Parasitoid wasps and the entomopathogenic fungi Beauveria bassiana were both examined to see if augmentative releases of the pathogenic organisms can help lower house...
Alternative systems: pros and cons
Alternative production systems of cage-free or range egg production are increasing in number due to outside influences. The outside constituents forcing this growth are...
Seminars highlighting innovations in broiler farming
Two interesting specialist seminars for broiler farming were held on the 16th and 17th of November in Visbek and Hamm, Germany. The companies BEST3,...
Understanding egg quality
Egg quality is multi-faceted, with physical, functional, and microbial aspects contributing to egg quality. Research has shown that many factors impact egg quality including...
Perches: environmental enrichment or mechanical challenge?
The study compared the impact of wire ramps and perches on meat chicken mobility and the incidence of detached femoral caps (DFC), which can...
Considerations for a better quality of chicks
During the incubation period, embryonic growth and development are affected by different factors, as breeder age, the incubation temperature and the availability of egg...
How to improve indoor air quality in poultry housing
USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announce the completion of a funded research project at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, in which researchers provided...
The impact of anthelmintic resistance in parasites of poultry
USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announced the completion of a funded research project at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, in which researchers...
Consequences of outdoor ranging on external and inter-nal health parameters of hens from different...
Free-range layer pullets are typically reared indoors within Australia, but adult layers go outdoors which might cause poorer adaptation due to the mismatch between...
Researchers evaluate the effects of heat stress in poults
USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announced the completion of a funded research project at North Carolina State University in which researchers evaluated the effects...
Light intensity and led lights
Light intensity can be measured in three ways: luminous intensity, luminous flux and luminous power. Led Lights are here analyzed.
Luminous flux is the total...
Minnesota Turkey launches 3rd “day in the life of a turkey farmer” video
Minnesota turkey grower Loren Brey of Brey Farms, New Ulm, Minn., was recently featured in “A Day in the Life of a Turkey Farmer”...
Economics of broiler production systems in the Netherlands
In 2017, farmers of conventional, slower growing and biological broiler strains had similar incomes. The so-called ‘middle segment’ systems, the Dutch Retail Broiler (DRB)...
Controlling water temperature during brooding
Though there is a wide range of opinions on the optimal drinking water temperature for young chicks, the fact is farm managers actually have...
Egg bacteriological study
Eggs from 10 commercial brands were selected in different types of housing: cage and on the floor (free of cage) obtained from 4 supermarket...
Resources and tools to write a good biosecurity plan
Poultry
industries in the United States (U.S.) have been in a unique situation after
the 2014-2015 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak. Analysis and
epidemiology of the...
Windrowing properly done
Windrowing litter between flocks has been used commercially since the 1980’s and continues to evolve to meet numerous production challenges. The goal is to...
Management techniques for a hot climate
Hot conditions significantly affect the performance of layers, particularly in temperatures higher than 30°C. Getting good technical results requires some adjustments in the management...
ERPA, the European rural poultry association to defend rural poultry producers
Rural poultry production is important in volume and has a large social role; it was therefore essential to have a specific organization to represent...
Poultry house climate
Poultry climate is a key factor in faming. High temperatures and a high humidity: in Germany, short periods in the summer months where temperatures...
How does your turkey grow?
Predicting how a turkey flock might grow under different nutritional and environmental conditions is a question of interest to everyone involved in turkey production...
Managing heat and minimum ventilation systems in the broiler house
When outside temperatures drop and gas prices rise, maintaining the desired inside broiler house air temperature and ventilating to meet air quality needs can...
Cobb suggesting management tips to maximize male fertility
The role of males in poultry breeding is extremely important. Each male is responsible for fertilizing 10 or more females. Each hen produces at...
Protein nutrition of breeders to improve production, hatchability and offspring performance – First Part
The last decades, poultry meat is becoming the most important protein sources in human diet and production is worldwide growing. Global poultry meat production...
Balancing beetles with the bottom line
Darkling beetles, commonly referred to as litter beetles, are a widely encountered pest for those in the broiler production industry. Litter beetles are holometabolous...
Management of chicken manure
The laying hen produces an average of 150 to 200 g of fresh manure, which is considered a source of pollution due to the...
LED lights in turkey farms
With the rise of the energy efficient light emitting diode – LED – bulbs in today’s market, there is an opportunity to refine...
Impact of layer alternative systems on management and production costs
The use of alternative systems in layer farming has increased in the commercial egg industry due to pressure arising from consumers concerns about hen...
Effective ventilation key to Cobb500™ development
Effective ventilation plays a key role in the health and performance of broiler flocks. Nigel Strain, Cobb senior regional technical manager for Europe, the...
How preheating temperature can affect litter drying
One of the purposes of preheating a broiler house is to ensure the litter is properly dried prior to chick placement. Research has shown...
Sentinel Birds: An old strategy that can enhance current diagnostic tools
The use of sentinel birds such as specific-pathogen-free (SPF) leghorns has been used extensively to learn about local presence of pathogens in farms, either...
Research shows practical method to reduce litter moisture
USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announce the completion of a funded research project at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, in which researchers...
Healthy water, healthy birds
Since birds consume as much water as feed providing a clean, safe and sanitized water supply is crucial for assuring modern poultry flocks perform...
Visual identification of potential feather pecking
Feather pecking behaviour is common in floor-housed laying hens a behavior, which is positively associated with developing feather pecking habits.
It has been suggested that...
Poultry litter pasteurisation
Heaping of used poultry litter reliably induces significant elevations in temperature due to the actions of variety of aerobic bacteria and fungi. Temperatures typically...
Biosecurity: cleaning and disinfection
The first step of any disease prevention program starts with a comprehensive plan for cleaning and disinfecting.
Cleaning poultry breeder houses
The first step of any...
Big data for poultry – first part
The term big data may at first appear incongruous to animal agriculture. However, by capturing, analysing, reporting and sharing of through-production chain data with...
Biosecurity – practical tips to minimize the human risk of contamination
All poultry operations are under a constant threat from the ever-present enemy of disease and infection. It is imperative in all operations that we...
Some common issues of the first week in brooding turkey poults
Turkey poults are very sensitive to environmental conditions and any uncomfortable situation very quickly leads to a problem and even sometimes a disaster. Any...
Best practice in egg production
How robust management and proactive measures can drive best practice for egg production on poultry farms.
In partnership with Cobb, this article examines best practice...
Managing bird behaviour in organic production systems
This topic is presented on by John Brunnquell, the founder and current president of Egg Innovations, which is the largest exclusive producer of free...
Hot weather management and nutrition
Thermoregulation is the ability of birds to maintain their body temperature across a range of environmental temperatures and in hot weather. Turkeys use a...
Broilers perform better with intermittent lighting programs
Roles of certain parts of the digestive tract of chickens seems to have been lost with the evolution of time and commercial practices. Gizzards...
The effect of on-range insect feeding on range usage of free range laying hens
In Australia, on-range feeding of free-range laying hens can be frequently observed and is especially common in mobile sheds. While the biosecurity risk of...
Flip-overs: causes and solutions in brooding
The poult start is an extension of the hatching process. The whole process, including poult placement, is only as strong as its weakest link.
William...
Management of slow growing broilers for profit
Chicken is consumed in larger quantities than either beef or pork largely due to its relatively low fat and high protein content when compared...
Developing and implementing Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs)
As part of the modernization programs at USDA, FSIS is amending the egg products inspection regulations and is now requiring plants that produce egg...
Managing turkeys coming into lay
The first few weeks between transfer of turkeys to the laying farm and the peak of production can have a big influence on flock...
Maternal stress, the potential impact on broiler breeders and subsequent chick development
Managing stress in broiler breeders has been a continual topic of discussion since the early 1980’s, but our understanding of stress and its influence...
Improving hens health and productivity
Scientists at Roslin and two other institutions receive funding from FFAR to improve health and productivity of egg-laying hens.
The Foundation for Food and Agriculture...
The importance of monitoring chicks water usage
Getting chicks off to a good start is very important to overall flock performance. At no time does a bird grow faster than during...
Variable speed tunnel fans
Since October 2017, a study has been underway to examine the use of variable-speed tunnel fans to reduce fan operating cost. The study is...
What we do and don’t know related to cage free egg production research
During the early 2000s the pressure was on the U.S. egg industry to increase cage space and to transition from conventional cage systems to...
Diagnostic strategies for the control of avian Mycoplasmas
Mycoplasmas are bacteria without the cell wall which cause infections in poultry especially at respiratory and articular level.
They are the smallest single-celled organisms found...
Optimal outdoor stocking density in free-range hens
Consumer concern for laying hen welfare is leading to an increase in alternative housing systems that provide valued resources designed to cater to hens’...
Using sensor technology against feather pecking in laying hens
In collaboration between Animal Breeding and Genomics (WUR), Breed4Food and the COST Action GroupHouseNet, a review paper was written on how sensor technologies can...
Water quality critical to broiler performance
Water is the most important nutrient for poultry. Although the necessity of providing a plentiful supply and sufficient access is well understood, the importance...
How to house happy birds by Vencomatic Group
Happy birds produce best. Aviary systems were invented to provide laying hens with maximum freedom, while using floor space efficiently. Aviaries consist of multiple...
The benefits of nipple drinker catch trays
USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announced the completion of a funded research project at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, in which researchers...
How much cold pressed canola meal can we use in layer diets?
Canola meal has been available for the layer feed industry in Australia for over 30 years. However, very little has been used due to...
Wet litter. Factors associated with the shed micro-environment and litter properties
Wet litter in meat chicken sheds occurs as the result of multiple, interrelated causes. This paper discusses some of the sources of water in...
Welfare and cost benefits through automated grading and vaccination
Evaluation of working time requirements of different grading and vaccination processes.
One of the most important measures for the quality of poultry breeding stock is...
Management of ectoparasites in cage-free housing systems
As cage-free systems become more frequent in poultry production, we are forced to evaluate how pest control measures should adapt to ensure efficacy.
The...
Is no antibiotics ever (NAE) poultry production sustainable?
For many years, commercial poultry feeds in the United States contained sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotics, commonly known as antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs), to maximize...
A practical approach to broiler breeder management in the absence of beak treatment –...
In the absence of beak treatment management strategies, which ensure appropriate bird development and growth and the provision of adequate environment and stimuli, which...
Biosecurity practices and investments implemented by today’s poultry producers
One brick higher
The 2015 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus devastated the United States poultry industry. A novel Eurasian-North American H5N2 was...
Minimizing interventions for turkey beak treatment in Germany
Germany wants to play a leading role in Europe in poultry and turkey welfare issues. Fundamental changes have been made to husbandry systems during...
New technologies in housing, equipment and computer controls
The poultry housing and equipment industry continues to develop, introducing new technologies in line with trends in modern communications and ventilation systems. As expected...
Housing systems in laying hen husbandry – second part
A status report
This analysis is an abridged version of a report which the Author prepared for the International Egg Commission (IEC) in London, UK.
In...
Poultry lighting
With LED technologies, farmers can today vary the color, intensity and photoperiod of the poultry lighting in houses and barns to improve production.
While incandescent,...
Higher stocking densities decrease performance without altering turkey meat quality
Quality of turkey meat is important but consumers are also concerned for the well-being of animals raised for meat production. However, some in the...
Methods for recovery and quantitation of viral nucleic acids from broiler litter
There is a well-recognised problem with both the supply of broiler litter material in some regions, and with the disposal of spent litter. This...
Current trends in litter management
As much of the broiler industry transitions to antibiotic free production based on consumer demand, broiler house management is changing more substantially than it...
