Walter Bottje

IntroductionModern broiler chickens are most certainly a most visible manifestation of genetic advancements. At hatch, a Cobb500 broiler weighs 42 grams. This newborn chick grows 31 % (55 g/bird) in just twenty-four hours. By day 35 of age, this chicken reaches a body weightof 2,521 grams, representing 5,902 % relative to hatching mass (Cobb-Vantres 500, 2022). Genetic selection, food, health, and ...

INTRODUCTIONPioneer colonization of intestinal microbiota has a major effect on driving the maturation and composition course of microbial communities over time (Juricova et al., 2013; Rodrigues et al., 2019; Wilson et al., 2019). Later, the cross-talk between microbiota composition and immune cells has been highly associated with the establishment of immune competence (Crhanova et al., 2011; Chun ...

INTRODUCTIONThe domestic chicken has been an essential animal model and constitutes a remarkable source of high-quality protein for humans (Stern, 2005). Within the last 60 years, genetics of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) have been able to create a bird that reaches commercial body weight in 5 weeks (Burt, 2007). Unfortunately, with this astonishing genetic development, other dis ...

IntroductionThe projected doubling of the human population by 2060 will require a 100% increase in food production coming from plants and animals with most of this increase coming from new technology and greater efficiency [1]. In animal production agriculture, feed is the highest input cost (50 to 70% of total) in raising an animal to market weight and feed costs can spike as observed during the ...