Category: Sponsor Spotlight

Beak trimming of hens: Practices, welfare concerns and alternatives

Beak trimming is common in the management of laying hens, involving the removal of a portion of a bird’s beak to minimize harmful behaviors. While beak trimming helps reduce injuries among birds, the technique has also raised animal welfare concerns. Thus, farmers and researchers are continuing to explore ways to manage hens without the need to trim their beaks.

Coccidiosis control: Why vaccination wins — and how to do it right

Coccidiosis doesn’t just lurk in poultry houses — it thrives there. For decades, producers have relied on synthetic anticoccidials and ionophores to keep it in check. But with growing resistance and increasing pressure to reduce antibiotic use, more operations are turning to vaccination as a sustainable, effective alternative.

Case report: In-depth investigation of enteritis in turkeys reveals cochlosomiasis

When enteritis strikes, the challenge is identifying the exact cause. In February 2023, Huvepharma’s research and development personnel received a call about enteritis symptoms in two commercial antibiotic-free turkey houses. A team went out to conduct a thorough field investigation to determine precisely what was going on with the flocks.

Common causes of mortality in cage-free egg production systems

While some mortality is expected in all layer flocks, regardless of the housing type or breed, the rate and causes can vary depending on the production system. Cage-free systems may not inherently have higher mortality than cages and experience in managing birds in cage-free systems plays a big role in maintaining low mortality.

Multi-strain bacterin vaccine demonstrates broad protection against spotty liver disease

Recently, Campylobacter hepaticus was identified as the causative agent for chicken spotty liver disease (SLD), an illness which manifests as acute infectious hepatitis and causes a significant drop in egg production and high mortality in layer chickens. Researchers from Iowa State University, led by Orhan Sahin, DVM, PhD, are studying Campylobacter bacterins in the control of SLD.

Poultry experts urge ‘village’ approach to control H5N1 dairy outbreak

Waiting for the H5 influenza outbreak to slow down in dairy cattle is no longer enough for the AAAP and PSA. The two groups teamed up to push for more action to help the dairy industry address its growing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza. In PSA’s Unplucked podcast “H5 Influenza Uncovered” veterinarians from both organizations discussed this topic.

New genotype assay improves ILTV diagnosis in broilers

University of Georgia researchers, led by Maricarmen Garcia, PhD, have developed a new genotyping assay for analyzing clinical samples of infectious laryngotracheitis virus (ILTV). Identifying the genotype of the outbreak-related virus and determining its genetic relationship to field or vaccine strains is key to diagnosing ILTV.

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