By Tom Tabler, PhD
Professor, Extension Poultry Specialist
University of Tennessee Extension Service/Animal Science Department
Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center
Spring Hill, Tennessee
Consumer interest in poultry welfare has led to the expansion of unconventional poultry-rearing systems, such as silvopasture. Justin Lowery, MS, and a team of researchers from North Carolina State University conducted a broiler research trial comparing the impact of conventional and silvopasture production systems on the cecal microbiota of slow- and fast-growing broilers.
Cases from an outbreak of aMPV among broiler flocks in Mississippi are mostly coming with secondary infections, which can exacerbate disease severity. A research team led by Autumn Gregg, DVM, a poultry resident at Mississippi State University, investigated the infections appearing in the outbreak.
HPAI is a significant threat to the poultry industry, and vaccination alone is not enough to combat this virus, said David Swayne, DVM, PhD, DACVP, a former USDA scientist who has spent more than 30 years studying this disease. Swayne discussed HPAI vaccination programs, addressing four misconceptions about the vaccines.
The One Health approach, which encompasses human, animal and environmental health, is well-suited to address a disease issue such as HPAI, according to Meghan Davis, DVM, PhD, associate professor at John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Engineering.
By Zac Williams, PhD
Extension specialist – Poultry Husbandry and Management
University of Arkansas
Gut health is often discussed in poultry production. But according to immunologist Michael Kogut, PhD, lead research microbiologist at the USDA-ARS, College Station, Texas, the term is really about gut homeostasis, which enables birds to maximize performance and reach their full potential.
By Iqra Nazir, PhD candidate
Department of Animal Sciences
Purdue University, USA
When it comes to resisting bird flu, chickens on poultry farms are like sitting ducks. Last year, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, H5N1, ripped through poultry farms across the US, prompting farmers to cull tens of millions of chickens to contain the outbreaks. But far-UVC light may offer a safe and practical way to inactivate any type of virus in the air, reducing the chance of transmission.
Amino acid requirements for laying hens are not well understood, primarily because data are lacking for the pullet stage. This gap is increasingly important as the table-egg industry wants to extend the hen’s life cycle to 100 weeks or more. Jo Ann Chew, graduate research assistant, University of Alberta, investigated how amino acid levels during rearing might impact body fat and the onset of lay.
At the 2025 Poultry Science Association annual meeting, Michael Carroll, graduate assistant at Iowa State University, presented his research investigating whether dietary changes can produce a useful immune response to combat necrotic enteritis.
Woody breast, sometimes called wooden breast, has become a familiar and costly problem for today’s broiler industry, according to Cirenio Hisasaga, doctoral student at the University of California– Davis.
