Allison Pullin

In poultry farming, worms and protozoa represent the two primary classes of internal parasites that impact bird health, welfare, and productivity. While indoor-reared poultry typically avoid infestation from worms that require intermediate hosts, free-range birds are more susceptible. Interestingly, broilers tend to have less exposure due to their shorter growth cycles, as many nematodes require f ...

Walking on eggshells - assessing anxiety in chickens Extension collaborative for the poultry industry-Attention bias test-Applications-Research findingsAnxiety is the most common mental health disorder in people  (Bandelow & Michaelis, 2015). Chickens may also experience anxiety, but it is difficult to measure and research has been mainly focused on assessing fear. However, we can get in ...

Housing systems for laying hens in the United States (and more broadly across the world) are transitioning away from conventional cages to cage- free systems. Many of these cage-free systems continue to house the hens indoors to control the living environment. However, cage-free also encompasses systems including Organic, Free-Range, and Pasture, which allow the birds varying amounts of access to ...

What is live haul?Turkeys are typically raised for 10 to 20 weeks, depending on bird sex, size, and product criteria for markets. Once the market weight is achieved, turkeys are herded, loaded, and transported to slaughter plants for stunning and processing.These events of herding, loading, and transporting turkeys are commonly referred to as “load out” or “live haul” (henc ...

The egg industry in the United States maintains approximately 300 million hens each year (United Egg Producers, 2025). For every laying hen that is hatched, approximately one male counterpart also hatches. However, as roosters do not produce eggs, they are typically culled, or euthanized, at hatch. However, the culling of these day-old male chicks raises ethical concerns. In an attempt to find an ...

What is the pre-slaughter phase?The preslaughter phase is the last phase of the broiler chicken’s life before slaughter.This phase includes multiple steps: withdrawal of feed and water, catching, loading into transportation crates, and transportation by road, In some cases, chickens may be placed in lairage (waiting area) after arrival at the processing plant. The chickens are then removed f ...