Merck Animal Health

Five steps to address low-grade fowl cholera in poultry

Even with the best flock-management and vaccination protocols, fowl cholera can occasionally find a crack in the system. Chronic, low-grade cholera problems can materialize, or occasional breaks in breeder flocks can suddenly appear.

Merck Animal Health

10 steps for successful fowl cholera vaccination

Developing a thorough vaccination strategy for fowl cholera — one that includes selecting the right vaccine strain for the field challenge that the birds are facing and proper vaccine administration — is critical when managing this bacterial disease.

Merck Animal Health

Don’t overlook the basics when using coccidiosis vaccines

Most poultry producers today use vaccines to help manage coccidiosis. Live coccidial vaccines are designed to uniformly infect birds with a controlled number of Eimeria oocysts to stimulate a protective immune response, but not all vaccines are the same.

Cargill Animal Nutrition

How phytogenic feed additives can benefit poultry production systems

From supporting poultry health to improving bird growth and production efficiencies, phytogenic feed additives can offer a range of benefits to poultry production systems. Megan Koppen, US poultry technical manager with Cargill, explains what phytogenics are and why they can be a valuable addition to broiler, layer and turkey diets.

Ancera

New data on Salmonella growth rates question current testing methods

Conventional diagnostic methods for detecting Salmonella in live poultry production typically rely on analyzing isolated bacterial colonies from enriched samples. Recent evidence, however, suggests these methods can overlook the presence of certain strains and serotypes.

Phibro Animal Health Corporation

Sustainable eggs: A new approach hatched in Indiana

There’s a new egg on the block in the US — the carbon-neutral egg from Kipster Farm. It’s the result of a different approach to egg farming that started in 2017, when Kipster, a Dutch egg producer, introduced the world’s first carbon-neutral egg to the Netherlands.

Ancera

Data show rise in coccidia oocysts after control-program change

The global poultry industry spends billions of dollars annually to help ensure flock health, welfare, efficiency and performance. Faced with rising costs, a major US poultry company recently partnered with Ancera to monitor the effectiveness of its program for controlling coccidiosis.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Drinker management key aspect of poultry welfare

Drinker management is a key aspect of poultry welfare, as water is a crucial resource involved in thermal regulation, nutrient absorption, digestion, waste elimination and overall homeostatic balance in birds.

Ancera

New non-invasive assay for C. perfringens helps monitor NE in poultry

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is a devastating disease characterized by severe gut inflammation and sudden death, which can lead to significant economic losses. A new instrument from Ancera can help identify Clostridium perfringens, the causative agent of NE, early enough to help producers treat or prevent NE.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Behavioral needs of chickens: Dustbathing

Dustbathing occurs in all commercial chicken housing housing systems, even in caged systems with no substrate. But why do chickens dustbathe?

Merck Animal Health

Understanding post-vaccination ‘takes’ critical for managing fowl cholera

Vaccination is key to managing fowl cholera in poultry. For a program to be successful, however, it’s critical to train vaccination crews to monitor vaccine “takes” or major cutaneous reactions within a flock — no easy task with today’s employee shortages and rotating vaccination crews.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Human-animal interactions: Impacts on animal welfare

Human-animal interaction is the mutual and dynamic relationship between a human and an animal where the animal perceives human interaction as degree of relatedness or distance and vice-versa. Human beings have domesticated poultry species for eggs and meat production. However, fearfulness as a trait still persists and domestic animals often perceive human encounters as fearful.

Huvepharma

Coccidiosis: Management options for today’s turkeys

Virtually everyone in the poultry industry is aware of coccidiosis — a disease caused by protozoan parasites, Eimeria, that develop within the intestine of most domestic and wild animals and birds. The condition is more elusive in turkeys, however.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Cold temperatures can have severe consequences for poultry health and welfare

The consequences of cold stress can be severe, leading to death in extreme cases. A chicken's susceptibility to cold stress depends on various factors, including the chicken's breed, age, body size, amount of feather coverage and condition of the feathers and nutritional status.

Phibro Animal Health Corporation

Transforming data into information that makes poultry healthier

Veterinary data play a critical role in not only analyzing poultry health but also implementing long- and short-term strategies to improve health and prevent disease. However, several challenges present roadblocks to capturing and interpreting these data.

Industry Insights

Tryptophan: The link between poultry welfare and nutrition

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which is the building block of protein, therefore it cannot be synthesized by the body itself and must be obtained through food; it is important for many metabolic functions. A tryptophan deficiency could affect behavioral responses to stress in poultry.

Poultry Science Association

Study shows brain size is smaller in commercially bred laying hens

When humans domesticate and breed an animal, they tend to select for a very specific trait. In laying hens, artificial selection for high egg production has led to hens that can produce 320 eggs a year. But could artificial selection have unintentionally altered hen brain morphology?

Once by Signify

Four factors to select ideal poultry-house lighting systems

Lighting, among other factors like feeding and ventilation, plays a critical role in the growth and behavior of poultry and should be given careful consideration. Gabrielle House, PhD, ONCE by Signify, discusses the four main factors to consider when selecting which light source is best for your poultry house.

Poultry Science Association

Advanced disinfection methods to fight poultry disease in hatching eggs

Novel disinfection strategies — electrostatic disinfection (ED) and cold fog (CF) disinfection — could help improve hatchability, reduce chronic respiratory disease (CRD) incidence and improve overall health outcomes for poultry, according to a recent Poultry Science report.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Food labels, claims and animal welfare

Various claims and labels on the products provide consumers with information about how the animals were raised and treated during production. However, the information on animal products can sometimes be confusing.

US Poultry & Egg Association

Dark periods positively impact broiler chick performance parameters

Providing chicks a dark period from the time of placement in the broiler house is practical and affordable for broiler producers and has no apparent negative effects on broiler performance, according to research conducted by Garret Ashabranner, PhD; Brian Fairchild, PhD; and Michael Czarick, engineer at the University of Georgia.

National Chicken Council

NCC highlights chicken industry’s efforts to reduce food waste

In comments submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Chicken Council outlined numerous ways in which chicken producers reduce food waste, recycle byproducts and use products that would otherwise be destined for landfills.

Ceva Animal Health

Four tips for fine-tuning coccidiosis management in turkeys

Turkey veterinarians and producers are increasingly turning to coccidiosis vaccines and using them in a rotation with anticoccidials in the feed as a standard component in their prevention programs. Kelli Jones, DVM, MAM, Ceva Animal Health, shares tips for successfully using coccidiosis vaccination.

National Chicken Council

NCC: Get (and spread) the facts about avian influenza

Poultry producers are well aware of the catastrophic losses associated with avian influenza, but even those close to live production could benefit from a refresh on the virus’ transmission and control. 

Merck Animal Health

Management, vaccines are keys to fowl cholera prevention

Fowl cholera is a bacterial disease of poultry that commonly affects chickens around 15 weeks of age and older, but it can impact birds as young as 6 weeks, cautions Charlie Broussard, DVM, Merck Animal Health.

Phibro Animal Health Corporation

Broilers fed saponins show better performance, efficacy in US, Germany studies

Research conducted in the US and Germany showed that feeding broilers Quillaja saponaria trees and Yucca schidigera plants improved performance, nutrient digestibility and the physical condition of their intestinal tract, both when the birds were healthy and when they faced a parasitic disease challenge.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Stocking density and broiler behavior

Stocking density is a key determinant of profits from a broiler operation as revenues per unit of space increase with increasing stocking density. However, overcrowding due to high stocking density can lead to negative behavior and welfare consequences.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

The importance of litter management for bird welfare

Litter and its management are an essential part of bird management and ensuring bird welfare. Dr. Bethany Baker-Cook discusses the importance of managing litter properly throughout the production cycle.

Cargill Animal Nutrition

Gingerich: Managing bacterial disease in cage-free systems

In cage-free systems, it’s not only the birds that are moving around more freely. Bacterial transmission is also quicker and more efficient when birds roam uninhibited in large groups, underlining the importance of effective disease management.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Internal parasites in free-range chicken farming: Roundworms

With the recent rise in the use of slow-growing lines for pasture-based and free-range broiler production, worm infestations could become a significant issue. Warmer weather also contributes to the rise in worm populations, as moisture and humidity create favorable conditions for parasite eggs to thrive, explains Prafulla Regmi, PhD, University of Georgia.

Poultry Science Association

Poultry scientists test promising avian flu vaccination strategies

Avian influenza outbreaks in the US are rare but, when the virus strikes, the results are devastating. The disease spreads rapidly, forcing producers to rely on quarantine-and-cull to limit the damage. A 2015 outbreak in the US led to an estimated loss of more than 48 million birds.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Starting off right: Ensuring chick welfare

The first few days of life are some of the most important in chicks' lives. During this time, chicks start developing and set themselves up for the rest of their lifetime. The husbandry decisions made at this point can impact the birds' growth, development, health and welfare.

US Poultry & Egg Association

Bioluminescence shows vertical transmission of S. Reading in turkeys

A multistate salmonella outbreak in the US due to the consumption of contaminated turkey products spurred a joint effort between the Centers for Disease Control and the turkey industry to identify an untraditional serotype of Salmonella, S. enterica serotype Reading (S. Reading).

BASF Animal Nutrition

Enzyme addition helps chickens gain more energy from feed

Using the commercial feed enzyme β-mannanase can improve energy digestibility of corn-soy feed for chickens, both alone and in combination with xylanase and glucanase, research by São Paulo State University scientists in collaboration with BASF suggests.

Poultry Science Association

Feeding olive co-products supports broiler performance

Feeding olive oil byproducts such as olive pulp and olive pomace to broilers can improve several growth performance parameters, including nutrient digestibility, feed efficiency and growth, according to a review article published recently in Poultry Science.

US Poultry & Egg Association

Researchers identify early indicators of necrotic enteritis in broilers

In this age of “no antibiotics ever” farming, the re-emerging necrotic enteritis (NE) disease caused by Clostridium perfringens poses a major economically important health concern in poultry, particularly in broiler flocks, says Ravi Kulkarni, BVSc, assistant professor at North Carolina State University.

Phibro Animal Health Corporation

Impact of multi-strain direct-fed microbial against Salmonella

Broilers fed a microbial supplement of four probiotic strains had a lower incidence of Salmonella and higher expression of proteins associated with immunity, according to research presented at the 2024 IPSF by Kevin Bolek, PhD, microbials innovation director for Phibro Animal Health.

Phibro Animal Health Corporation

Improved productivity outcomes with multi-species microbial product

A multi-species microbial feed product outperformed single-species products during a disease challenge, according to research presented at the 2024 International Poultry Scientific Forum by Kevin Bolek, PhD, microbials innovation director for Phibro Animal Health.

Poultry Science Association

Eggshell translucency helps assess egg quality

Eggshell translucency is linked to several hatching-egg quality parameters but not egg specific gravity or eggshell color, according to a recent study published in Poultry Science.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Beak to toes: Impact, causes, and prevention of toe pecking in laying hens

Damaging behaviors in poultry include feather pecking, vent pecking, and toe pecking. While feather and vent pecking are well-known welfare problems in poultry that have received significant attention from researchers and farmers, toe pecking remains relatively unknown.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Walking on eggshells — Assessing anxiety in chickens

Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder in people. Chickens may also experience anxiety, but it is difficult to measure and research has been mainly focused on assessing fear. However, we can get insight into their mental state based on observations of behaviors.

Cargill Animal Nutrition

Identifying and managing late-stage E. coli mortalities in layers

When weekly mortality rates in layer flocks older than 50 weeks start creeping up over 0.3%, producers and veterinarians should be suspicious. According to Eric Gingerich, DVM, Cargill’s Diamond V, these numbers could indicate the presence of Escherichia coli.

Poultry Science Association

Emergency depopulation with steam shows promise in recent study

Steam or steam plus forced air heat may become an approved method to supplement ventilation shutdown during emergency depopulation of cage-free aviary laying operations, according to researchers at Michigan State University and the University of Arkansas.

Phibro Animal Health Corporation

Is it necrotic enteritis, dysbacteriosis or coccidiosis?

Want to learn more about identifying and managing enteric health problems in poultry? A webinar hosted by Vasil Stanev, DVM, director of global technical services for Phibro Animal Health Corporation, is a good place to start.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Pullet rearing: Preparing laying hens for a cage-free environment

Currently, 34% of laying hens used for commercial egg production in the United States are housed in cage-free environments. This number will nearly double to 66% by 2026 by to meet retailer demands and state legislation requirements. How do we prepare for this increase?

BASF Animal Nutrition

Factors influencing feed-enzyme stability for poultry

Exogenous feed enzymes are commonly used in commercial monogastric diets to enhance nutrient and energy digestibility by reducing the impact of antinutritional factors, releasing additional nutrients or both.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Optimizing incubation conditions for chick welfare

The incubation environment is important for embryonic development and programs chick welfare. The focus of this newsletter is on the effects of the incubator environment on chicken egg incubation, but the same principles can apply to other poultry species.

Poultry Extension Collaborative

Effective enrichments for broiler breeders

Enrichment improves the environment of an animal, to meet their behavioral needs and ultimately improve their welfare. Although the research related to enrichments for broiler breeders is sparse, there are several different types of enrichments that have been shown to be beneficial. In this article, Marcela Quino and Bethany Baker-Cook, PhD, Auburn University describe a few of these enrichments that are particularly effective for broiler breeders.