Arkansas Animal Science Department Report 2002

The faculty and staff of the Animal Science Program are pleased to present the sixth edition of the Arkansas Animal Science Report. As with virtually all programs in the country, budget constraints presented serious challenges to teaching, research, and extension programming. However, the faculty and staff responded with innovation, good management, and hard work to maintain a productive program designed to benefit the students of the University and the citizens of the state. We are committed to remaining faithful to our Land-Grant mission. A sincere thank you is owed to Dr. Zelpha Johnson and Dr. Wayne Kellogg for editing this publication. We are proud that Meat and Poultry magazine ranked the animal and poultry programs at the University of Arkansas among the top four in the United States for 2003. This is a tribute to the dedicated and talented faculty in the Departments of Animal Science, Poultry Science, and Food Science and to their high level of cooperation

Elm Farm Organic Research Centre Bulletin 83 April 2006

Regular bulleting with technical updates from Organic Advisory Service Issue contains: Testing for Tolerance - a pragmatic view GM Debate Vaccination nation - to jab or not to jab Future shape of OCIS Evolutionary wheat makes the grade? NIAB tracks health of organic cereal seed Stopping erosion of soil quality - the organic way Care needed to halt butterfly collapse Aspects of poultry behaviour: How free range is free range? On choosing an organic wheat A local education challenge New Wakelyns Science Building Organic vegetable market growt

POULTRY SCIENCE – BIOLOGICAL AND ZOOTECHNICAL PRINCIPLES

Sveučilišni udžbenik Peradarstvo - biološki i zootehnički principi temelji se na suvremenim spoznajama iz selekcije, uzgoja, hranidbe i tehnologije proizvodnje pri intenzivnom iskorištava nju pojedinih kategorija kokoši, pura, gusaka i pataka. Posebno su prikazani pokazatelji kvalitete mesa peradi i jaja, kao i modificiranje njihovog prehrambenog sastava u pravcu proizvodnje funkcionalne hrane. Za maksimalno iskorištavanje genetskog potencijala peradi potrebno je poznavati građu i funkciju organskih sustava. Tako je iscrpno obrađen kostur peradi, karakterističan u odnosu na ostale kralježnjake. Obrađeni su: dišni su stav, krvožilni i limfni sustav, probavni sustav, sustav organa za izlučivanje, spolni sustav, endokrini sustav i osjetila. Uz metaboličke procese koji su zajednički svim kralježnjacima iscrpno su opisane i objašnjene specifične metaboličke prilagod be karakteristične za kralježnjake koji lete, poput peradi. U udžbeniku je opisana moderna tehnologija koja je sve više prisutna u peradarskoj proizvodnji. Danas uzgoj peradi predstavlja potpuno automatizirani proces s minimalnim fizičkim naprezanjima zootehničara. Suvremena proizvodnja peradi složeni je proces koji zahtijeva stručnu i znanstvenu educiranost uzgajivača, zootehničke uvjete prilagođene genetskom potencijalu današnjih pasmina i hibrida peradi, kao i zadovoljavanje visokih standarda u pogledu zaštite okoliša.The academic textbook Poultry Breeding – Biological and Zootechnical Principles presents up-to-date trends and knowledge on selection, breeding, nutrition and production technology in intensive exploitation of different types of poultry, i.e. hens, turkeys, geese and ducks. A special emphasis is put on presentation of poultry meat and egg quality indicators, as well as on modification of their nutritive composition for the purpose of production of functional food. In order to make advantage of the poultry genetic potential, it is necessary to understand anatomy and functioning of the animal organ system. With this respect, this handbook presents the poultry skeleton in detail, as it differs from skeleton of other vertebrates. Furthermore, the following organ systems: respiratory, circulatory and lymphatic, digestive, excretory, reproductive and endocrine, as well as sensory system, are elaborated in the handbook. Along with metabolic processes that all vertebrates have in common, additional attention has been given to specific metabolic adjustments of vertebrates that have the ability to fly, like poultry. This handbook also presents modern technology that is applied in poultry production. Modern poultry production is completely automated process that requires minimum physical engagement of zootechnicians. At the same time, it is also a very complex process that demands professional and scientific knowledge of breeders, as zootechnical conditions need to be adjusted to genetic potential of contemporary poultry breeds and hybrids, as well as to attain high standards of environment protection

INTEGRATION OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

Market structure has implication for research policies. The public sector reduced its support for technological change for poultry relative to beef and pork after poultry became integrated. However, market integration causes private sector research to be below the optimal level from society's perspective. In order to get the appropriate response from the private sector, the public sector should not reduce its support for technological change after market integration. Instead, the public sector should increase its support for research such as basic science that complements private sector research.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Animal welfare in poultry production systems: impact of EU standards on world trade

Animal welfare receives more legislative attention in the European Union (EU) than in many other regions of the world. Animal welfare standards for poultry are generally taken to be higher in the EU than in producing countries exporting to the EU, particularly developing countries. The recent action plan for animal welfare introduced by the European Commission aims to further expand the body of regulatory standards. In broiler production worldwide, birds are mainly kept on litter. Recently the EU agreed on a new Directive to set standards for maximum bird density. However, this is not considered likely to have a great impact on global trade. At present, the difference in animal conditions, including bird density, in Brazil and Thailand is limited compared to the EU. In egg production the majority of commercial layers are kept in laying cages. There is wide variation in space allowance per bird from 300 to 400 cm in Brazil, Ukraine and India towards the current minimum of 550 cm(2) per hen in the EU. After 2012, hens in the EU will be kept in enriched cages with a minimum space allowance of 750 cm(2) per hen. It is expected that this will have an impact on world trade in egg products and especially egg powder. Trade in table eggs will continue to be limited to the local region. The EU is considering the use of labelling to provide consumers with more information concerning the standard of production. Another option could be to use financial mechanisms such as taxes or tariffs to prevent imports from other countries with lower standards. The likelihood of a measure being challenged would depend on how difficult it was for exporters outside the EU to meet the requirements

Efficacy of Probiotics for Reducing the Incidence of Lameness in Broilers Grown on Wire Flooring

Growing broilers on wire flooring provides an excellent experimental model for reproducibly triggering significant levels of lameness. In Pilot Study #1 using broilers from Line C grown on wire flooring, adding the Biomin probiotic PoultryStar® to the feed reduced the percentage of lameness by half when compared with broilers that received the control diet alone. In Pilot Study # 2 using broilers from Line B grown on wire flooring, adding the PoultryStar® probiotic reduced the percentage of lameness to 8% when compared with 28% lameness in broilers that received the control diet alone. The objective of this study was to conduct a replicated experiment to determine if probiotics consistently reduced the incidence of lameness in broilers reared on wire flooring. Male broiler chicks from Cobb-Vantress Line B were placed at 1 day of age in pens having flat wire flooring within environmental chambers 1 through 10 inside the Poultry Environmental Research Lab at the University of Arkansas Poultry Research Farm. On day 14, birds were culled to 50 per pen, yielding a density of 1ft²/chick. A corn and soybean meal-based diet formulated to meet minimum National Research Council standards (1994) for all ingredients was provided ad libitum as the control feed. Broilers in chambers 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 were provided the control feed while chambers 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 were provided the same feed mixed with the probiotic throughout the experiment (50 lbs of control feed blended with 12.5 g PoultryStar® probiotic). The birds in all pens were walked and observed for lameness every two days starting on day 15 and continuing until the end of the experiment on day 56. Birds unable or unwilling to walk were diagnosed as clinically lame and humanely euthanized with CO2 gas. They were then necropsied to assess sub-clinical lesion incidences including femoral head separation, femoral head transitional degeneration, femoral head necrosis, tibial head necrosis, and tibial dyschondroplasia. Findings from the study indicate that for broilers grown on wire flooring, diets containing the probiotic PoultryStar® consistently reduced the incidence of lameness when compared with birds fed the control diet alone

Heat Stress and feeding strategies in meat-type chickens

Heat stress can induce hyperthermia in poultry. A reduction in heat load can be achieved by increasing the possibilities for dissipation, decreasing the level of heat production or by changing the thermal production pattern within a day. Strategies to reduce the negative effects of heat stress can be based on a specific feeding strategy, such as restricted feeding. Feed that is offered long enough before a hot period can ameliorate the harmful effects of high temperature. Another strategy may be to use choice feeding from different feed ingredients, rich in protein or in energy. With such self-selection, the chicken may adjust its intake of individual components, allowing the bird to optimise the heat load associated with the metabolism of the ingested nutrients. Additional promising strategies involve offering a choice between feeds with a different feed particle size or structure. A large particle size contributes to the development of the gastro-intestinal tract (GIT), especially the gizzard and the caeca. A large gizzard will maximize the grinding process and potentially ease digestion down the GIT, thereby reducing heat production associated with digestive processing. Also wet feeding may be profitable under heat stress conditions as well. Feeding wet diets may facilitate an increased water intake and larger particle sizes can limit water excretion in droppings, resulting in more water being available for evaporation during panting, hence cooling the bird. In conclusion, these feeding strategies may help to reduce heat production peaks, facilitate evaporative activity and/or decreases the heat load, resulting in beneficial effects on performance and health of the bird kept in more tropical areas worldwide

Assessment of broiler chicken welfare in Southern Brazil

Scientific literature on broiler chicken welfare in Brazilian industrial systems is scarce. This study aimed at assessing broiler chicken welfare on industrial farms in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil, using the Welfare Quality (R) assessment protocol for poultry, to provide directly applicable scientific information. Results are presented as criteria scores ranging from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better welfare; and percentages of prevalence. The scores classified as excellent (above 80) were absence of prolonged thirst, absence of prolonged hunger, litter quality, breast blister and touch test. Enhanced scores (between 55 and 80) were comfort around resting, plumage cleanliness and dust sheet test. Acceptable scores (between 20 and 55) were thermal comfort, stocking density, absence of injuries, footpad dermatitis and hock burn; and unacceptable scores (below 20) were lameness and qualitative behavioral assessment. The median percentage of mortality and culled birds were 5.2% and 0.6%, respectively. This study provides useful information to select priorities of action on assessed farms and may contribute for setting up legal standards and guiding decisions related to animal welfare issues in Brazil

Organic broilers in floorless pens on pasture

This thesis investigates different aspects of rearing broilers organically in floorless pens on pasture. The birds and pens were moved daily to fresh pasture. The interdisciplinary studies comprise the birds' growth performance and carcass quality, health, behaviour, leg condition and the birds’ effect on pasture. In the final study, on-farm diets were tested in a feeding experiment indoors. The data are based on four experiments carried out during 2000 to 2003. In 2000 and 2002, restricted-fed conventional broilers (ROSS 208) were reared in floorless pens on pasture and in control groups outdoors on straw. In 2001, two genotypes, ROSS 208 and the slow-growing ISA 657 were reared on three ground types, pasture, outdoors on straw and indoors on wood shavings with either an ad libitum or restricted feeding level. In 2003, a feeding experiment with slow-growing broilers fed on-farm diets in a choice feeding system was conducted indoors. Most birds were reared to 12 weeks of age, but ad libitum-fed ROSS birds were reared to 6 weeks. The experimental phase was from ca. 3 weeks to slaughter. The experiments indicate that under the given conditions - access to pasture does not offer sufficient protein and metabolizable energy to allow considerable feed savings in the farm enterprise (Paper I) - moving the floorless pens daily provides favourable conditions to prevent infections with Campylobacter and Eimeria in outdoor broilers (Paper II) - access to pasture as such appears to play no major role for the broilers' physical activity (Paper III) or leg condition (Paper IV) - broiler chickens on pasture can sustain white clover in a mixed grass/white clover pasture (Paper V) - with access to high-quality protein during the first three weeks there is a good potential to produce organic broiler meat with feed produced on-farm in northwestern Europe (Paper VI)