Poultry welfare
Proper animal welfare involves providing the proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling and, when necessary, humane euthanasia. These factors allow for the most optimal and humane growing environment. The concept of animal welfare includes three elements: the bird’s normal biological functioning, its emotional state and its ability to express its natural behaviors. Improving animal welfare can be accomplished through offerings like poultry feed enrichment, which can reduce stress, thereby increasing performance, productivity and profitability. Animal welfare is currently a major requirement for intensive poultry production. Beak trimming, stocking density, free access to feed, heat stress, and air pollutants became important issues, which are regulated in several countries. Animal welfare is observed by watching how birds naturally behave and even by looking at mortality stemming from aggressive behaviors.
INTRODUCTION According to data from the Brazilian Animal Protein Association (ABPA, 2018), in 2017 the Brazil occupied the 2nd place in the world poultry meat production, behind only the United States of America. However, Brazil remains in first place in world exports, destining more than 30% of chicken meat production to exportation. Following the legal recommendations of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supply, through the supervision of the Federal Inspection...
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INTRODUCTION Birds may be exposed to a variety of potential stressors during preslaughter. The adverse effects of these factors and their combinations may range from mild discomfort to death (Petracci et al., 2006). One such factor is feed withdrawal prior to transport to the slaughterhouse (Petracci et al., 2010). Feed is withdrawn from poultry prior to slaughter to reduce the potential of carcass contamination with crop and intestinal contents (Bilgili, 2002). However, when...
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This newsletter provides an overview of potential flock predators, how to identify the predator, and approaches to avoid predation in your free-range poultry flock. Predation is a common risk for poultry that are allowed to roam freely outdoors. Predator types may differ depending on the region. Therefore, this newsletter may not cover all...
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Introduction Several factors can influence animal production, which can be beneficial or harmful to each species. In addition to the ambience, nutrition and sanity, the genetic characteristics of the breeds/lineages also cause changes in the adaptation and performance of the animals (Azevedo, Fosse Filho, Pereira, Andrade, & Júnior, 2016). In the current market there are three genetic groups of poultry according to their ability to produce: heavy poultry, light laying...
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INTRODUCTION Brazilian poultry industry is highly relevant for the country economy. In 2016 a total of 13 million tons of broiler meat was produced, and nearly 35% was exported. (ABPA, 2017). Broiler production is carried out in several variations of house design. However, most of the production in the integrated system is done in open-sided houses with lateral polypropylene curtains, and with solar orientation East-West. The inside cooling is a combination of natural and forced...
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Innovation, Sustainability, and Quality: Norel’s Approach to Animal Nutrition
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INTRODUCTION Housing systems and mating strategies have become a global focus of concern as these are being referred one of the most cogent factors in overall performance of broiler parent stock (PS) in progressive poultry (Whitehead et al., 2016). Hence, now a days, the scientists are striving to probe the exact impact of keeping place of birds on their productive and reproductive performance. Despite of many advantages and disadvantages, two housing systems i.e., floor and...
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INTRODUCTION Substantial consumer pressure demonstrates that some practices adopted by the poultry industry should be revised as soon as possible, particularly those related to the management of debeaking methods. Pecking committed by dominant bird causes prolonged stress, decreased feed intake and worsening feed conversion, and may even affect internal and external egg quality (Vieira Filho, et al., 2016). Also, whole beak pullets waste and select feed grains, compromising...
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Technical Advances in Vitamin Physical Properties and Premix Performance
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High pressure sodium (HPS) lights have been used in broiler-breeder houses for decades due to their very high lumen output. The typical 150-watt HPS fixture produces approximately 16,000 lumens of light which is 16 times the amount of light produced by a 75-watt incandescent light bulb. The downside of HPS lighting systems is that in order to...
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Dust found in poultry housing is a complex substance most likely comprised of a mixture of excreta, feather, feed and bedding material. Exposure to poultry dust can impair the health of both poultry and poultry farmworkers as it serves as a medium for survival and spread of pathogenic microorganisms and inhalation of respirable particles and toxins (Just et al. 2009; Viegas et al. 2013). It has also proven useful as a population level sample material for tracking pathogen incidence and...
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Rick van Emous, Ph.D., Senior Researcher in Animal Nutrition at Wageningen Livestock Research (Netherlands), shares some recommendations to reduce the negative effects of feed restriction on bird behaviour and welfare...
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One way to improve efficiency is to optimize the nutrition and management of the breeder hen by optimizing its reproduction and the performance of the progeny. Hear what Mercedes Vázquez-Añón, Ph.D., Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives and Account Collaboration at Novus International, has to say about it...
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Farmers and feed companies have witnessed unforeseen price increases of feed materials during the last year, which has further escalated recently due to the inconceivable and brutal war in Ukraine. Prices of grains, protein, oils, and...
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I. INTRODUCTION In accepting the invitation to present a paper on laying hen welfare at APSS 2021, I thought that I would provide an overview of a special issue of Animal Production Science on layer hen welfare that will be published in early 2021. This special issue consists of 19 review papers on the welfare implications of: the production system; development, growth and production; husbandry and behaviour; and health. I had planned to report on the main findings of the...
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FIGAP 2026: The Scientific And Technological Exhibition Of The Livestock Industry
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I. INTRODUCTION Most Australian households consume large numbers of eggs on an annual basis, but we know very little about what members of the broader community think about the practices associated with commercial egg production and the underlying values that they bring to these considerations. A previous study for Australian Eggs (Fisher et al., 2019) examined the values-based elements underlying the consensus in animal science across key areas related to laying hen...
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Broiler welfare assurance programs specify the standards that producers must follow to sell their broilers, receive a premium, and/or a certification label on their products. Broiler assurance programs differ in the guidelines and audit standards that producers must follow because the missions and goals of each organization...
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Identifying individual birds that are suffering or that have compromised health and welfare is key to maintaining high standards of poultry care. Knowing your birds and when they are ill or in pain is imperative for identifying birds that need treatment or that might need to be euthanized....
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Turkeys are an important American cultural icon and Thanksgiving dinner staple. In fact, it is tradition for the US president to “pardon” a turkey each year at an annual White House ceremony. The 2021 turkeys that participated in the ceremony were from Indiana. ...
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Compromised leg health is a welfare and economic concern for meat chickens. Enrichment of the production environment via the provision of perches has been a focal point of research into reducing the prevalence of leg disorders in recent years. Despite inconsistent evidence of the effect of perches (Groves and Muir 2013; Phibbs et al. 2019), they are provided in almost two thirds of the Australian meat chicken industry, with 2.7 m perch/1000 birds required under the RSPCA Approved Farming...
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by Sam Shafer
Higher stocking density linked to lower body weight and weight gain, but is total antioxidant capacity the culprit?
Poultry scientists have found that a goose’s performance is closely tied to their housing conditions. But while there are several studies linking high stocking density to health problems in geese, research is lacking when it comes to the actual physiological drivers behind...
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