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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.
1. Introduction
Stress, a response to adverse stimuli, is difficult to define and understand because of its nebulous perception. According to Selye [1], “stress is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand”, whereas stressor can be defined as “an agent that produces stress at any time”. Therefore, stress represents the reaction of the animal organism (i.e., a...
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Cia Johnson (AVMA) discussed guidance and standards for euthanasia, slaughter and depopulation of animals, during 2019 NIAA Annual Conference: Animal Agriculture - Innovation, Technology and Consumer Engagement in Des Moines, Iowa, USA....
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An impact of Deoxynivalenol produced by Fusarium graminearum on broiler chickens
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Darrin Karcher (Purdue University) discussed the minimum stocking density in this system to achieve sufficient production and welfare conditions -including feather coverage-, during an interview at the Multi-State Poultry Feeding and Nutrition Conference and Silvateam's Technical Symposium in Indianapolis, USA....
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Heat stress is a major welfare problem in poultry industry leading to huge economic losses every year, because of heavy mortality and decreased performance. High temperatures, especially when coupled with high humidity, imposes severe stress on broiler birds and lead to reduced performance. In...
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Half of the birds reared worldwide are estimated to suffer from the consequences of heat stress during the summer period. The first visible sign is an increase in the water: feed ratio, however recent research has also shown that excessively hot conditions have an impact on the gut structure and its permeability. Reduced feed consumption and decreased intestinal integrity and function result in the decreased energy intake, animal discomfort and the reduced...
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Tom Tabler (Mississippi State University) explained how to use this tool and discussed other methods to check temperature and evaluate facilities, during IPPE 2019 in Atlanta, USA....
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Innovative Directions in Aflatoxin Testing Point to Measureable Gains in Quality Of Lab Data
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Mike Czarick (University of Georgia) discussed the effect of temperature of pads on humidity, as well as water usage, during IPPE 2019 in Atlanta, USA....
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Dianna Bourassa (Auburn University) talked about the possibility of slaughtering birds on the farm to reduce concerns in transport to the plant, during IPPE 2019 in Atlanta, USA....
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Supplemental dietary methionine sources have a neutral impact on oxidative status in broiler chickens
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Yi Liang (University of Arkansas) talked about temperature, humidity and wind variations during transportation, as well as the effect of density, during IPPE 2019 in Atlanta, USA....
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Kenneth Anderson (NC State University) explained his findings regarding time requirements in terms of labor and other factors involved, during IPPE 2019 in Atlanta, USA....
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A 2 ½ day training program has been specifically designed for those who want to learn more about the design and management of modern poultry houses. The workshop/webinar consists of lectures as well as hands on group exercises designed to help attendees gain a firm understanding of the principles behind hot weather poultry house...
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Tom Tabler (Mississippi State University) discusses the relevance of monitoring the PH in the water supplied to chickens, during IPPE 2019 in Atlanta, USA....
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Introduction Appropriate housing conditions have a significant role in successful poultry farming. Poultry birds are mostly reared on floor and cage systems and need accurate management for better health and production. Commercial poultry farming is suited to planned and managed proper housing conditions for keeping the birds productive and healthy as poultry keepers can increase the production. The Leghorn fowls are the greatest and most productive layers and used for egg...
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Michael Czarick (University of Georgia) discussed the impact of stocking density, above every other factor, on the body temperature of broilers and how to notice the important signs, during IPPE 2018 in Atlanta, USA....
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Introduction Keeping birds comfortable during hot, humid weather is critical for optimizing weight gains, feed conversion and livability. Improved growth rates and the trend to heavier average market weights contribute to greater heat loads in modern broiler barns. While the poultry industry has made significant strides to minimize seasonal effects, even the best housing design can still result in birds settling with lighter weights when nature turns up the temperature. Current...
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Husam Bakri (Vaxxinova) talked about the impact of climate changes, biosecurity problems and toxins in the feed on the vulnerability of the birds, during IPPE 2018 in Atlanta, USA....
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Tom Tabler (Mississippi State University) explained how litter quality, ammonia levels and other factors can help in avoiding the appearance of this disease, during IPPE 2018 in Atlanta, USA....
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Introduction Many parameters such as temperature and humidity affect environmental conditions within a poultry house. Heat and cold stresses, wet litter and ammonia emissions are among the extreme conditions adversely affecting the poultry performance (Al-Homidan et al., 2003). The two later factors are associated with another factor termed stocking density as a debating issue in intensive poultry production (Dozier et al., 2006; Estevez, 2007). Increasing stocking density is an...
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An impact of Deoxynivalenol produced by Fusarium graminearum on broiler chickens
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Introduction Recent legislation in Australia, that came into effect from March 2017, states that eggs labelled ‘free-range’ need to be laid by hens with meaningful and regular access to the outdoors and that there would be a ceiling on outdoor stocking density of 10000 hens/hectare [1]. However, earlier model Code of Practice [2] and standards from animal welfare bodies [3, 4], as well as many established semi-intensive free-range egg farmers, have often advocated...
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Raising chickens in the United States dates back to the 17th century when the English first brought them here. The chicken was originally domesticated by the English for cock fighting which was considered a spectator sport. Since then chickens have been grown for showing, meat and egg supply or just the pure pleasure of having the birds running around in the yard. Whatever your reasons for having a flock of birds in your yard, consideration should be given to where and how the birds will be...
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