Richard Miles

The laying cycle of a chicken flock usually covers a span of about 12 months. Egg production begins when the birds reach about 18-22 weeks of age, depending on the breed and season. Flock production rises sharply and reaches a peak of about 90%, 6-8 weeks later. Production then gradually declines to about 65% after 12 months of lay. A typical production curve for a laying flock, showing changes in ...

OccurrenceIB has been reported as a disease only in chickens. All ages of chickens are susceptible to infection, however, clinical disease severity varies. IB is considered to be worldwide in distribution. The incidence is not constant throughout the year, being reported more often during the cooler months.HistoryThe disease was first described in 1931 in a flock of young chickens in the United St ...

The 50-year historical review of soybean meal (SBM ) published in Feedstuffs in 1970 by Dr. J.W. Hayward highlighted many of the pertinent advancements concerned with animal nutrition, product development and promotional aspects of U.S. SBM. In fact, 1920 marked not only the beginning of the industrial production of soybean oil and SBM in the U.S., but also the year that the American Soybean Assn. ...

Intestinal parasites (worms) are very common in chickens in the backyard type poultry flocks. The presence of a few parasites does not usually cause a problem. However, large numbers can have a devastating effect on growth, egg production, and overall health. The concentration of parasite eggs in the chickens environment is one factor which plays a major role in determining the severity of the inf ...

Avian influenza is a viral disease affecting the respiratory, digestive and/or nervous system of many species of birds. Avian influenza virus infection can occur in most, if not all, species of birds, both domestic and wild. Influenza viruses vary widely in their ability to cause disease (pathogenicity) and their ability to spread among birds. Wild species of birds usually do not develop clinical ...

The first documented report of shell pigment loss in brown-shelled eggs was in 1944 when Steggerda and Hollander, while removing dirt from eggshells produced from a small flock of Rhode Island Red hens, made the surprising discovery that some of the brown pigment also rubbed off. This effect was even more evident when the eggs were rubbed vigorously. Most of the eggs gave up their pigment fairly e ...

"Feed passage," or, more accurately, the passage of undigested feed in the feces of broilers, continues to be reported in broiler integrations on a sporadic basis. The incidence and severity are much lower at present than during 1996 when global reports of feed passage occurred following consecutive years of poor grain harvests. At that time, broilers were passing undigested feed in the feces and ...