Broiler School focuses on the bottom line

The fourth Aviagen^® Europe, Middle East and Africa Production Management School - Broiler Module was held recently in Edinburgh, Scotland. The program topics included the value chain, broiler growing and broiler philosophy were the focus.
“Optimizing Broiler Performance and Economic Returns” was the title of the six-day school, which has built up a reputation over the past few years for its uniquely interactive format.
All aspects of the industry chain were covered with guest presentations from Duncan Sinclair, agricultural manager at UK retailer Waitrose and Aviagen customer Ian Dowsland, head of Agri Improvement Projects at Moy Park.
Graeme Dear, general manager Aviagen UK Limited, said, “Aviagen has a long history of providing education to the poultry industry, and an important aspect of the school’s success and popularity has been the emphasis on sharing knowledge, working together and providing expert insight that allows the next generation to flourish.
“The week was about practical problem solving, identifying the problems and discussing options using teamwork to find a best solution,” he continued. “These skills always prove valuable as they can be directly applicable to students’ everyday work when they return to their companies.”
Particular emphasis was placed on educating and sharing knowledge around the effect on bottom line performance and consumer requirements, with a number of team-working exercises taking place throughout.
One student, Emanuele D’Erasmo from Euroagricola Avizoo in Italy, said: “For me the school was all about improving my own knowledge in broiler farming and updating my skill set with new information from the tutors and other students. The school gave us the instruments to improve our problem-solving approach and this proved an invaluable experience.”
Ciprian Butunoi from Agricola International, Inc., in Romania commented, “Hearing from the expert tutors on how to be financially mindful and how to offer preventative measures rather than treatment was of particular interest. It is about seeing the big picture, not a small one, and that is the biggest learning point I took from the school.”

China's Xiantan Co. stays profitable in depressed market

Four of China’s top broiler companies have released their performance reports for the last three quarters. Shandong Xiantan Co. Ltd. managed to gain while the other three large broiler companies — Yisheng Livestock & Poultry Breeding, Shandong Minhe, and Sunner Development  — were mired in losses.
According to the performance review, total revenues of Xiantan in the first nine months of 2015 totaled USD 207.03 million. The net profits of Xiantan stood at US$2.25 million, down 67.41 percent year on year.
China’s economic downturn and the lingering influence of food safety incidents have been taking their toll on the consumption of chicken across the country. In the first half of 2015, with increasing supplies of broilers and decreasing demand in the domestic market, the prices of chicken products saw continuous decline since January, according to reports.
Thanks to the decreasing supplies of broilers and higher prices of pork on the market between July and August, the comprehensive price of chicken products showed modest recovery of growth above USD 1,493.40 per ton; the prices of broilers fluctuated around the level of US$1.26 per kilo. However, the comprehensive price gradually dropped to US$1,414.80 per ton as the supplies of broilers and the inventory of the slaughter houses both rose and the prices of broilers as a result dived below US$0.94 per kilo, the rock-bottom price since2006.
Founded in 2001 and listed in Shenzhen Stock Exchange in February 16, 2015, Shandong Xiantan Co., Ltd. has become an industry-leading integrated corporation with business covering feed processing, parent broiler breeding, chick hatching, commercial broiler farming and chicken slaughtering and processing.

Will antibiotic-free broiler producers be competitive?

The cascade of foodservice outlet pledges to purchase only chicken from flocks that have been raised without antibiotics that started with Chick-fil-A’s is causing a major shift in how broilers are raised in the United States. Dr. Steve Davis, DVM, Colorado Quality Research, said, “In my opinion, it (raised without antibiotics broiler production in the U.S.) won’t work without ionophores.” The problem, he explained, is that some antibiotic-free husbandry programs being mandated by customers are calling for “no antibiotics ever” and exclude the use of ionophores, a class of coccidiostats that also have antibacterial properties.
Davis told the audience at USPOULTRY’s Live Production & Welfare Seminar, in Nashville, “I fear this will make the U.S. broiler industry noncompetitive in the world market.” The research that Davis has conducted on necrotic enteritis, which has already become a major health problem in the U.S. broiler industry, has convinced him that prevention of this disease without access to antibiotics will be an even bigger problem for U.S. broiler producers as they move to reduce or eliminate antibiotic use in the future.
Davis speculated that broiler complexes in dry climates, which excludes most of the U.S. broiler belt, would have an advantage in antibiotic-free production because dry air helps keep litter dry and control coccidiosis in flocks and prevent necrotic enteritis from developing. He said that antibiotic-free production in the U.S. may only be feasible in some complexes with increased house cleanouts, perhaps as often as every flock, and houses might need to have concrete floors. Increased downtime between flocks, reduced bird densities in houses, and low-protein vegetarian diets may also be required, according to Davis.
 Antibiotic-free broiler production could be an “industry killer” for the U.S., according to Davis, and he questioned if it was sustainable. As a veterinarian, Davis said he finds that no antibiotics ever and raised without antibiotics growing programs are troubling. They are “not best for the chickens and not best for the chicken companies,” he said.

SRUC study: No bad effects on broilers from LED lighting

A study from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) into the effects of LED lighting on broiler chickens has found that there were no detrimental effects in comparison to more traditional tungsten lighting.
The small study was carried out by researchers from SRUC, in conjunction with lighting manufacturers KEW LEDs. It was funded by a grant from the government’s Innovate UK Technology Strategy Board.
Tungsten (and fluorescent) lights are being superseded by more efficient technology such as low-emitting diodes (LEDs), however their effects on livestock are unknown. Researchers investigated if there were major differences in broiler performance and welfare under 4000K cool, 3000K warm, and 3500K plain (‘neutral’) white LEDs (LC, LW, LN respectively) or tungsten incandescent (T) lighting.
Dr. Victoria Sandilands, Senior Behavior and Welfare Scientist with SRUC’s Avian Science Centre, said: “Birds exposed to LED lights showed more comfort behaviors (4.4 percent) such as preening and dustbathing than birds under tungsten lighting (2.9 percent), whereas tungsten birds sat slightly more (75.6 percent) than LED birds (72.5 percent). This might be viewed as a positive outcome of LED lights as they appear to promote positive behavior and less inactivity.”
Body weights were not significantly affected by lighting treatment at any age, neither was food conversion ratio. Hock and foot pad lesions remained low throughout the study, and lighting appeared to have no effect. Gait scores (an indicator of how well a chicken can walk) gradually worsened with bird age as expected, but also without apparent lighting effects. 

Arbor Acres participates in technical transfer at Sudan Poultry Show

The Arbor Acres international team joined poultry businesses from across Europe and Asia at the recent Sudan Poultry Show in Khartoum, to transfer technical knowledge to customers. 
Arbor Acres, which has a long presence in the Sudanese market through the partnerships with two successful companies, Ommat and Mico, were represented by Stanley Miller, International Commercial Manager, and Mohsen Ganjaei, Commercial and Technical Manager for Arbor Acres in Sudan.
Discussing the show, Mohsen Ganjaei said, “The outstanding Arbor Acres broiler performance and technical support is key to the success of our birds in Sudan. That, along with having professional partners in the country, helps us speak the language of our customers and support them with face to face technical support and seminars.
“We believe that the combination of the best performance and the best support is the reason why Arbor Acres is the breed of choice in Sudan.”
Miller added, “Arbor Acres understands the importance of technical transfer to our customer, particularly in the emerging Sudanese poultry industry. Chicken means the world to us and the Poultry Show was evidence that we share this enthusiasm with customers in Sudan.
“Like the rest of Africa, the cost of the poultry meat production in Sudan is rising, mostly due to the local imports of raw materials and energy cost. The Sudanese industry is not an exception to this trend. Farming modern birds with higher growth rates and lower feed conversation ratios (FCR) is the way forward to building a profitable industry.”

Controlling kinky back disease in broilers

USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announce the completion of a funded research project at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, in which researchers were able to determine factors that lead to kinky back disease in broilers. The project is part of the Association’s comprehensive research program encompassing all phases of poultry and egg production and processing. A brief summary of the completed project is shown below. A complete report may be obtained by going to USPOULTRY’s website, www.uspoultry.org. The project summary is as follows.
Project #682:  Intestinal Co-infection and Flock Management Risk Factors for Enterococcus cecorum-Associated Disease
(Dr. Luke Borst; Dr. H. John Barnes; Dr. Michael Martin; and Dr. Emily Griffith, North Carolina State University)
Enterococcal spondylitis, usually called kinky back in the broiler industry, is an important cause of lameness and mortality in many broiler companies. Researchers at North Carolina State University, led by Dr. Luke Borst, recently completed a research project in which they were able to determine factors that lead to this disease. They found that the causative organism, Enterococcus cecorum, invades through the intestinal tract of the broiler at an early age and travels through the bloodstream to the vertebrae. This finding has led the researchers on the path of developing a vaccine for use in broiler breeders to protect the broiler progeny against the disease. For a detailed summary, click here.

Kuzbasskiy Broiler completes third phase of Smart expansion

Kuzbasskiy Broiler Group, part of Volcov A.P., has achieved remarkable growth in less than five years, expanding from small-scale production to a modern meat processing company with more than triple its original output.
The company meets all European security and quality requirements, setting a prime example of smart investment not only in its own business, but also for modern agribusiness development in the Kemerovo region. Both the company’s Novosafonovskaya and Plotnikovskaya poultry farms are modern, well-equipped facilities that have created employment for more than 1,000 people.
Owner Anatoly Volcov says such outstanding results have been made possible by adopting innovative, future-focused technologies including Pas Reform’s Smart incubation system, observing strict standards of hygiene and biosecurity and employing well-trained personnel. “Quality is our best card,” he says, “The trademark ‘Kuzbasskiy broiler’ is well-known and liked by customers and has delivered steady growth since we launched our own retail operations in 2010.
“Our retail channel is now being further expanded, with the launch of our first franchised operations in Novosibirsk city, in January of this year.”
Last year, Novosafonovskaya poultry farm expanded its hatchery operations by 10 million eggs per year, completing the third phase of Kuzbasskiy’s plans to meet the growing market demand. The company’s collaboration with Pas Reform began in 2008, with the purchase, installation and commissioning of Smart single-stage equipment, climate control and hatchery automation systems.
Volcov concludes, “Pas Reform has proven to be an excellent partner for the realization of our plans. “Smart hatchery planning by the project team from the very beginning has built-in the capacity for all three phases of our expansion, without the need for further significant investments into the hatchery buildings.”

Research provides insight for ventilation of broiler houses during hot weather

USPOULTRY and the USPOULTRY Foundation announce the completion of a funded research project at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA, in which researchers studied the interaction of temperature, relative humidity and air velocity in influencing heat production by broilers in tunnel-ventilated houses. The project is part of the Association’s comprehensive research program encompassing all phases of poultry and egg production and processing. A brief summary of the completed project is shown below. A complete report, along with information on other Association research, may be obtained by going to USPOULTRY’s website, www.uspoultry.org. The project summary is as follows:
Project #F050:  Factors that Influence Bird Heat Production in Tunnel-Ventilated Broiler House
The findings of Dr. Brian Fairchild and Michael Czarick at the University of Georgia Department of Poultry Science help to clarify how broilers of different body weights produce and lose heat in response to the environment. Several trends in bird heat production and loss were observed, which will provide practical insight for growers and integrators to minimize heat stress in broilers during hot weather. For a detailed summary, click here.

Overheating in incubation and its impact on broiler performance

No matter how good or bad you are at incubating your eggs, you will always produce many good-looking chicks, especially from prime flocks with good fertility.
Unfortunately, you cannot look inside each chick and say which chicks have the best-developed hearts, livers, digestive organs and the correct residual yolk sac weights. But all these organs are affected by how well we have incubated our eggs and, as a result, hatchery managers can have a bigger effect on broiler performance than they ever imagined. Hatchery managers can affect the broiler weights going into the processing plant and, in an integrated company, can directly affect the profit/loss of the company.
All hatchery managers are aware of the need to provide certain basic requirements during incubation such as temperature, humidity, egg turning and ventilation.
Consequences of high temperatures
All of these things are important, but in this article I will focus only on temperature, and the consequences of high temperature during incubation for broiler performance.
Temperature controls embryo growth and the rate of development, but embryos cannot regulate their own temperatures during incubation.
During the first nine days of incubation, embryos are small and have little activity. Therefore, heat production from the embryos is insufficient to maintain optimal temperature. Heat has to be absorbed from the environment, i.e. from the air of the incubator. Eggs are also continuously losing water to the environment by the process of evaporation making the egg shell surface temperature lower (by about 0.1C) than the surrounding air or set point of the machine.
When temperatures rise
After nine days of incubation, embryos become more active and heat production rises daily. This heat has to be lost into the environment if embryo temperatures are to remain within comfortable limits (Figure 1). It is not unusual for eggshell surface temperatures to be 0.2C higher than the surrounding air. So, in the second half of the incubation period, it becomes important to gradually reduce the set point of the machine in order to prevent embryos from becoming too hot.
It is best not to think in terms of your set-point temperature program, but to adjust your set points based on the egg shell temperatures you actually measure daily. The best target egg shell temperature appears to be 37.8C (100.0F) from the beginning of incubation to time of transfer of the eggs to the hatcher. Set-point temperatures should also be reduced gradually farther in the hatcher.
The results of trials conducted at the Aviagen product development center in the U.S. indicate the effects of incubating eggs too hot.
Three consecutive trials were run, using two Aviagen breeds, including a high-breast-meat-yield chicken, and a competitor strain, to investigate the impact of raised incubation temperature on hatch, chick quality and broiler performance. The results reported here were from the conventional Aviagen broiler product, in the second trial.
Egg shell temperatures were recorded using Gemini data loggers feeding to a wireless broadcast system that could be interrogated in real time. Incubator conditions were changed as necessary to maintain the desired eggshell temperature.
During the first 10 days of incubation, all the eggs were incubated with a target eggshell temperature of 37.8C. From 11 days of incubation through to transfer at 18 days, the eggs were incubated with an eggshell temperature of either 37.8C, 38.1C, or 39.4C. After hatch, we evaluated the chicks and grew them on our research farm.
More quality chicks
The results showed the treatment of 37.8C throughout the incubation period resulted in better hatchability and a higher percentage of first quality chicks (fewer red hocks and poor navels), higher broiler weight and better livability compared to the higher temperature treatments (Figures 2 a, b, c). In another trial, chicks were examined immediately after take-off and those on the control treatment (eggshell temperature of 37.8C) had bigger hearts, gizzard, and small intestines as a percentage of yolk-free body weight and a lower residual yolk weight than those incubated on the two hotter treatments.
So, high embryonic temperatures during incubation accelerate embryo development, causing chicks to hatch early with large residual yolk sacs. But, high temperature also affects the growth and development of many internal organs, especially the heart. Too much heat reduces heart size relative to body weight. This means the heart will have to work hard to support fast growth on the farm.
Finally, too much heat reduces the size of the digestive organs, which compromises the genetic potential for growth. All three of the commercial crosses included in the trial were affected to the same extent by higher temperatures, both in the hatchery and in the broiler house. It is often suggested that higher-yield breeds are less able to deal with high incubation temperatures. However, in these trials there was no evidence that the high-yield breed was more or less sensitive to high incubation temperatures than the other breeds.
Hence, in order to produce a good-quality broiler, it is important to set a target for egg shell temperature of 37.8C. In this way, you can help your company achieve not only good hatchability and good chick quality, but also good broiler performance on the farm.

Broiler breeder management needs continuous alteration

Management of broiler breeders must be altered continuously due to the changing genetic properties. That was the overall conclusion of the Broiler Breeder Nutrition Seminar, held recently at Wageningen University.
According to Wageningen’s René Kwakkel, broiler breeders play an important role in the poultry meat chain. A relative small number of parent stock can have a major impact on following links in the chain. Therefore optimization of the diet and management is necessary.
Feeding strategies and body weight uniformity
Wageningen researcher Rick van Emous presented his recent work with different feeding strategies and the effects on body composition and reproduction in broiler breeders. His take-home message was: “A modern broiler breeder needs a higher energy-protein ratio in the diet during the rearing and second phase of the laying period.”
Feeding management -- including frequency, timing of feed delivery and feeder space -- affects uniformity of body weight. Poor body weight uniformity results in reduced reproductive success because of overweight and underweight birds. For these reasons, Dr. Martin Zuidhof and his research team from Canada developed a precision broiler breeder feeding system. This innovative integrated feeding management system aimed to feed the birds “the right amount of feed on the right time.”
Emeritus Prof. Dr. Rob M. Gous was the third speaker and his talk was about light and breeders. He postulated that “less light is better for broiler breeders.” He explained the attendees that broiler breeders react different than layers on photo stimulation. From different experiments he concludes that a photo period of 13 hours during the laying period is the optimum.
Transgenerational effects of feed restriction
Based on the results of Van Emous, Prof. Dr Johan Buyse started a long-term project with different feeding strategies during the rearing and laying period of breeders. They follow broiler breeders during three generations and the focus is on the transgenerational effects of qualitative and quantitative feed restriction on behavior and welfare. They found comparable effects on body composition as found by Van Emous. Besides, they found interesting effects on motivation behavior of the birds.
The overall conclusion of the seminar was that management of broilers breeder must be altered continuously due to the changing genetic properties.

Expert panel examines video from North Carolina broiler farm

The Center for Food Integrity's (CFI) Animal Care Review Panel has examined video recently released from a North Carolina broiler farm. It is contained in a report produced by the group Compassion in World Farming.
CFI created the Animal Care Review Panel program to engage recognized animal care specialists to examine video and provide expert perspectives for food retailers, the poultry industry and the media. Panels include a veterinarian, an animal scientist and an ethicist to assure various perspectives are represented.
This expert panel was comprised of Dr. Patricia Hester, Purdue University; Dr. S.F. Bilgili, Auburn University; and Dr. Ruth Newberry, Washington State University and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.
"In a large flock, there will be some birds with problems depicted in this video," said Newberry. "Due to editing of the film, it is impossible to determine if the same birds are shown multiple times or if there are more widespread problems. The incidence of these conditions should be documented by the farmer and the reasons should be investigated. Birds with incurable conditions should be detected at an early stage and euthanized immediately. It's the humane thing to do."
"The farmer needs to implement a twice-daily bird health monitoring program that includes culling and euthanasia of any age chicken that is suffering and in distress," said Hester. "This includes the humane euthanasia of young chicks and older chickens with severe leg problems. It is obvious from the video that the farmer did not implement a rigorous culling program as there were older chickens in the flock that had been retained with severe leg problems. These lame chickens should have been humanely euthanized weeks earlier, yet the farmer allowed them to continue their suffering.
"The National Chicken Council's welfare guidelines explicitly state that chickens with 'stunted growth and obvious gait defects that limit an individual bird's ability to move about or access feed and water for normal growth and development are humanely euthanized.'"
In the video report, chickens are shown with what appear to be broken or defective legs and beak deformities. Other chicks appear to be lethargic and sick with an inference that this is a typical, widespread condition.
Dr. Newberry: The sick and lethargic chicks shown in the video appear to be failing to convert from living off internal yolk reserves to eating solid food. This incurable condition occurs in some chicks of every hatch and becomes evident within a few days after hatching. These chicks should be euthanized immediately to minimize suffering as they will, unfortunately, not survive.
Dr. Bilgili: Chicks with congenital or development defects, such as a twisted leg or a crossed-beak are expected given the fact that more than nine billion chicks are hatched annually in the U.S. Usually chicks with congenital defects are euthanized at the hatchery and never sent to the farms. Those that are missed or develop an anomaly after placement at the farm are supposed to be humanely euthanized by the farmer. This is an important part of the Animal Welfare Program that the farmer should have been trained on.
Many animal welfare programs require farmers to inspect their birds twice daily. If you walk into a chicken house and see birds that are sick, immobilized, with gait problems, etc., they should be humanely euthanized immediately, at any age. So, if what is shown in the video is correct, the farmer was negligent in his husbandry obligations.
Dr. Newberry: A crossed-beak is an incurable congenital disorder and the chick should be euthanized immediately to minimize suffering due to difficulty feeding. A few chicks in every hatch will have such disorders.
Dr. Hester: The leg was twisted and the broiler should have been humanely euthanized as soon as detected rather than retained in the flock and allowed to continue its suffering. A typical mortality pattern in broiler flocks is one percent the first week with a cumulative mortality of 3.8 percent at a market age of 47 days. The chicks that appear ill, like the one with the twisted leg, should have been humanely euthanized.
Dr. Newberry: A bird several weeks old is also shown with a severely deformed leg. This bird's deformity would likely have been evident within the first week after hatching. To minimize suffering, this bird should have been euthanized immediately when first seen, rather than allowing it to grow this big. Such deformities are, unfortunately, incurable in the context of chicken production.
The video's narrator says in a flock of 30,000 birds, it's not unusual for 1,000 to die prematurely.
Dr. Bilgili: This is a correct figure. Average mortality in the U.S. is about 3-4 percent, depending on the bird age. Nobody wants to lose animals, but we have come a long way in improving the health and well-being of broiler chickens.
Dr. Hester: The annual national mortality rate for broiler chickens has gradually declined over the years due to improved management, nutrition, biosecurity, and vaccination programs. National averages for broiler mortality to market age in 1925, 1965, and 2005 were 18, 6, and 4 percent, respectively. With breeding companies focusing on skeletal and cardiovascular health, it is hopeful that these mortality rates will continue to decline more in the future.
The farmer in the video says the birds spend a majority of their time squatting due to breast size and inability to stand.
Dr. Hester: The genetic stock of broilers shown in the video have been bred for rapid growth rate and increased breast meat yields. These modern strains of broilers are physiologically and genetically distant from their ancestor, the Red Jungle Fowl. Not only have their genetics and physiology changed, but the behavior of these rapidly growing lines of broiler chickens has also been altered. The metabolic demands for rapid growth in broilers are huge, leaving less energy for activity. Broilers spend about 76 percent of their time sitting, 7 percent of their time standing idle on their feet, 3.5 percent standing preening, and 4.7 percent of their time standing eating. These chickens have enormous appetites feeding more than 50 times in a 24 hour period. They spend about 3 percent of their day drinking (Weeks et al., 2000, Applied Animal Behaviour Science 67: 111). So contrary to what the farmer states, the broilers are able to stand, but they do spend the majority of their time idling and sleeping in a sitting position. Genetically selecting broilers for rapid growth and broad breast has led to a more inactive chicken.
Dr. Bilgili: Compared to their free-roaming counterparts, housed-broilers spend less time looking for food (foraging) because feed and water is readily available/accessible continuously. Therefore, they spend most of their time resting.
The narrator says the litter that covers the floor of the barn is not changed between flocks and sometimes not for years which results in poor living conditions for the birds.
Dr. Hester: It is hard for me to assess the quality of the litter through a video. I need to feel and smell the litter and see the whole house. If there has been no disease outbreak and there are no issues with the quality of the litter, then the litter can be recycled over several flocks so as to minimize impact on the environment due to waste disposal. With recycled litter, the farmer is responsible for removing caked and wet areas of the bedding. The old litter is stirred in between flocks and generally 1 to 2 inches of fresh litter is top-dressed on the old litter before the arrival of the hatchlings.
Dr. Bilgili: The bedding is the farmer's responsibility. What type of bedding to use, how to maintain its quality and when to replace is the farmer's call. If the litter is wet or caked, then it's the farmer who is not maintaining a proper house environment (i.e., ventilation, water drinker management). The farmer can replace the litter after each flock with new bedding if he/she chooses. They save more money if they use it for a longer period. Keeping the same litter for a year is not at all common.
A bird is shown with little or no feathers on its underside. The narrator says this is due to the condition of the litter and the fact the bird spends a majority of its time squatting.
Dr. Bilgili: Broiler chickens today have a different feathering pattern. Also, because broilers rest with their breasts in contact with the bedding, this contact and associated friction can cause feather loss (similar to loss of hair on arms and legs of humans at contact points). The red color is probably due to contact irritation and/or inflammation from poor quality litter.
Dr. Hester: Inflamed red skin in the breast area with few feathers may be associated with too much contact with poor-quality litter. Lame birds spend more time lying down and I suspect that the chicken shown in the video was lame and should have been humanely euthanized to prevent its continued suffering.
The farmer says, "They don't want the birds active. They just want them sitting down and getting fat."
Dr. Hester: Improvements in feed efficiency have inconsequently led to more inactive chickens with more muscle as compared to the heritage lines of chickens. When these fast-growing genetic lines of chickens are given access to pasture and their growth rate is slowed down through diet manipulation, they still spend the majority of their time sitting (Weeks et al., 1994. Animal Welfare, 3: 179).
Heritage lines or slow-growing chickens are more active than the rapidly growing genetic lines shown in the video. They require more feed to gain weight, produce a smaller amount of breast meat, and can take twice as long to reach market weight. It costs the farmer more to raise these types of broilers, therefore the meat is more expensive at the grocery store. Although more science is needed, it is also suspected that the carbon footprint or impact on the environment would be less favorable for the slower-growing chickens.
The farmer says his contract agreement with the company that provides the chicks he raises does not allow him to do away with the solid walls of the house to provide outdoor access to the chickens.
Dr. Hester: I believe the company that provides the chicks knows that there are disadvantages to outdoor access including higher mortality due to inclement weather, predators, and exposure to disease from other animals such as waterfowl potentially carrying the avian influenza virus.
The farmer says he would like to provide the chickens sunlight and fresh air.
Dr. Hester: For solid wall houses without exposure to outside natural light, artificial supplemental light is provided. Sunlight is not needed by the chickens to meet their vitamin D requirement because the feed is supplemented with adequate levels of Vitamin D. Fresh air is brought into the chicken house through the inlets of the ventilation system and the stale air removed through exhaust fans.
Dr. Bilgili: Birds naturally respond to light with increased activity, which is not desirable because they can pile up, climb over each other and can get injured. Sunlight also provides a high level of light intensity that not only increases activity but also creates bird migration in the house. Chicken houses are retrofitted with extensive ventilation and heating/cooling systems to better control air quality and bird comfort, similar to using an air conditioning system rather than opening the windows at our homes. All houses are equipped with ventilation systems to bring in fresh air, provided farmers do their jobs to manage the electronic controllers. If there is an air quality issue in a chicken house, it is usually attributed to the farmer's deficiency in husbandry.
The flock is described in the video as "a sea of panting birds," inferring they are overheated.
Dr. Newberry: Chickens can withstand short periods of heat stress in the hottest part of the day. Panting is their method of cooling down as, unlike humans, they do not have sweat glands all over their body. With good insulation and proper ventilation, a chicken house will be cooler indoors than outdoors at the hottest time of the day.
Dr. Bilgili: Broilers pant to dissipate heat when overheated – either due to high ambient temperature and humidity or poor environmental control in the house. Again, the responsibility to respond to the needs of the flock lies with the farmer, who is on site 24/7 to make the appropriate changes in house environmental parameters (i.e., increasing the number or duration of fans operating, initiating evaporative cooling, fogging, etc.).
Dr. Hester: Panting is the major method used by birds to get rid of excess heat. Panting involves evaporative cooling. In humans, we lose heat through evaporative cooling by sweating. Increasing the ventilation may have helped reduce the incidence of panting in this particular broiler flock. Many farmers who raise broilers in hot climates use evaporative cooling pads or sprinklers along with high capacity ventilation to keep broilers cool during hot summer days.

Aviagen: Broiler performance traits continue to improve

While genetic progress in broiler chicken biological performance and welfare traits has been remarkable, the potential to naturally select for even more improvement to these traits hasn’t been exhausted, said Dr Bryan Fancher, Aviagen group vice president for global technical operations. Fancher shared his insights at the 2014 edition of the Poultry Beyond 2020 Broiler Nutritionists Conference.
With the implementation of more advanced methods of selecting pedigree stock for naturally occurring traits, further genetic progress/benefits can be expected going forward, said Fancher. In fact, the efficiency of broiler meat production – both in genetic potential and nutritional inputs – must continue to improve for broiler producers to meet the ever-increasing global demand for animal protein. Using an intensive, but balanced, genetic selection strategy, both biological performance and welfare traits in Aviagen broiler genotypes have been simultaneously improved. 
Fancher joined other experts in New Zealand at the invitation-only conference held every four years by the Poultry Industry Association New Zealand (PIANZ) and designed for poultry nutritionists and industry stakeholders. The conference attracts top speakers from around the globe covering poultry nutrition topics and related issues. The 2014 conference drew 116 delegates, 70 of whom are Aviagen customers. 
In a group workshop session following Fancher’s presentation, attendees had an opportunity to discuss his central question: “What is the Upper Limit to Commercially Relevant Body Weight in Modern Broilers?” 
“This conference offers a great chance to network and share insights with different people within our industry and to connect more closely with customers,” said Marc Scott, operations manager for Aviagen New Zealand. “Aviagen was delighted to be one of the main sponsors for such a prestigious conference – one that is highly regarded and that attracts industry leaders from around the Asia/Pacific region.”
Scott served as chairperson for one of the morning sessions. Also in attendance from Aviagen were Bob Dobbie, president of international business, Alex Chang, poultry nutritionist for Aviagen’s global technical operations group, and Debbie Fisher, technical service manager for Asia. 

Canadian government commits funds for broiler health research

The Canadian government has committed an investment of up to CA$275,000 (US$254,606) to the Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan to undertake research on disease control in the Saskatchewan broiler chicken industry. The allocation of funds was announced by Brad Trost, a member of parliament.
With this investment, the Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan aims to identify and characterize new variants of the avian reovirus and determine how they are transmitted. It also aims to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of vaccines for inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) in field trials.
This project is a step in the development of vaccines for avian reovirus and IBH, two diseases that are a common problem for many Canadian broiler producers. If commercialized, these vaccines have the potential of reducing economic losses in the Canadian chicken industry and the need for therapeutics by preventing instead of treating these diseases.
"Our government supports the Canadian chicken industry's ability to seek innovative solutions that will help it prosper and remain competitive,” said Trost. “This project involves the development of control measures for emerging diseases impacting the sector, thereby helping it to remain a significant contributor to Canada's economy."
Diane Pastoor, chairperson of the Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan, welcomed the government’s commitment to poultry health research.

Register for webinar on broiler chick gut health

A balanced and stable gut ensures that broiler chicks have the correct gut microflora to promote early development of the intestine,leading to more efficient use of feed, reduced risk of gut disease and shorter finishing times.
Register athttps://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/136349304 to attend the webinar, “Optimizing the gut environment for improved performance,” sponsored by MSD Animal Health and presented by WATT Global Media, on Thursday, June 19 at 8:30 a.m. CDT.
During this webinar, you will learn:


• How to utilize basic principles of gut flora development for improved performance 
• How to manage the lower gut beyond digestion
• How to rehabilitate intestinal microflora and their environment
• Tools for reducing harmful microflora that can impair performance


Speakers
Dr. Stephen Collett and Fernando Vargas will be the webinar’s featured speakers.
Collett is a clinical associate professor at the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center (PDRC) in the College of Veterinary Medicine at The University of Georgia. As a clinician at the PDRC, he is primarily responsible for teaching clinical medicine in the Masters in Avian Medicine program and problem solving in the State of Georgia’s enormous poultry industry.
After spending 10 years in private practice, he specialized in poultry, receiving his MMed.Vet. in Poultry, from the University of Pretoria and diplomat status with the American College of Poultry Veterinarians. He gained many years of industry experience as head veterinarian with Rainbow Chicken Farms in South Africa and as director of Alltech Inc.’s North American Poultry Division before joining the UGA in 2004.
Fernando Vargas is a veterinarian with more than 20 years dedicated to the poultry industry in several areas, such as broiler health and management, breeders and hatchery, nutrition and feed milling. He has worked for some of the major Brazilian poultry companies.

Hatchery-applied probiotics can improve broiler performance

“Normal intestinal villus development is entirely dependent upon colonization by pioneer colonizers,” said Dr. William Hargis, sustainable poultry health chair, Center of Excellence for Poultry Science, University of Arkansas. Providing broiler chicks with a large enough quantity of beneficial bacteria to colonize the birds' guts shortly after hatch also allows for normal intestinal acquired and innate immune function to develop as well.
Hargis discussed the benefits of using appropriate probiotics treatments for broilers during the WattAgnet.com webinar, “You never have to recover from a good start: The importance of early flock performance and recent innovations in hatchery probiotics,” which was sponsored by the Pacific Vet Group. He said that the immediate post-hatch period is a critical time for the development of the chick’s digestive tract. Chicks must undergo the transition from energy supplied by the endogenous nutrients of the yolk to exogenous carbohydrate-rich feed. During this time, dramatic changes occur in mucosal development, morphology and function. He said that the timing and occurrence of these changes is “entirely dependent upon appropriate microbial colonization.”
Exposing the chick to a sufficient quantity of the appropriate probiotics mixture before it is exposed to other microbes can improve the effectiveness of the probiotics. Application in the hatchery gives the probiotics bacteria a head start on colonizing the chick's digestive tract, before the chicks will be exposed to the bacteria and fungi in the broiler house.


Symbiotic relationship
The intestinal microbiota of the chicken can aid the health and growth of the bird by fermenting carbohydrates, producing short-chain fatty acids, metabolizing proteins, and enhancing mineral and lipid absorption. Early establishment of the intestinal microbiota promotes proliferation and differentiation of epithelial cell lineages, regulates angiogenesis, modifies the activity of the enteric nervous system, extracting and processing nutrients in the diet, assembly of the gut-associated lymphoid tissue, and education of the immune system.
Hargis said the most beneficial pioneer colonizers of the gastrointestinal tract must competitively establish within the neonatal intestinal tract, displace opportunistic pathogens to which chicks are commonly exposed as early as hatch, stimulate enteric development and integrity, and must create favorable niches for eventual colonization by complex beneficial microbiota. Selection for bacterial strains that can meet all of these criteria is an essential part of the development of a truly effective probiotics culture.


Field trials
Dr. Ross E. Wolfenden, vice president of research and development, Pacific Vet Group, and Dr. James Barton, technical service director, Pacific Vet Group, presented results of large field trials, one with 9 million broilers, of hatchery-applied probiotics, FloraStart, in the U.S. The probiotics-treated birds had higher weights, with greater uniformity, and lower mortality at seven days of age. In the 9 million broiler test, the livability and weight gain improvements carried through to market.

Sri Lanka’s CIC Feeds expanding broiler breeder business

Sri Lanka's CIC Feeds has plans to expand its broiler breeder business, increasing production with an additional 400,000 day-old chicks per week. The expansion will help CIC Feeds meet the rising demand in its own broiler farms and for supply to its customers.
CIC Feeds has chosen to use equipment from leading Dutch hatchery technology company Pas Reform, to attain its fast-track plans for further expansion. CIC Feeds will use the latest SmartSetPro setters and SmartHatchPro hatchers, together with a full suite of ventilation, climate control and hatchery automation systems from Pas Reform.
As an integrated poultry company the operations of CIC Feeds Group include the manufacturing of compound feeds, breeder farms, hatchery, broiler farms and processing plant.

Lal Silva, managing director of CIC Feeds Group, said: "For solid, sustained growth, we have looked at the latest modular, single-stage technologies to deliver robust, uniform day-old-chicks that support our plans throughout the integration, as well as increasing efficiencies in our hatchery operations.

"In choosing Pas Reform, we have an incubation partner that understands our challenges and opportunities for the future, with SmartPro hatchery technologies that meet all of our criteria for quality, increased production and energy savings."
As an integrated operation, it has become imperative to exploit the full genetic potential of modern chicken breeds, which is made possible by modular, single stage incubation practices, said Silva.

The company has chosen 12 SmartSetPro setters and 12 SmartHatchPro hatchers, in combination with Pas Reform's SmartTray 162 setter tray with space saving honeycomb design, for improved cost per hatch. The new CIC Feeds hatchery is nearing completion and will be fully operational in the third quarter of 2014.

MSU, Repreve Renewables developing alternative broiler litter

In recent years, broiler producers have found it increasingly difficult and expensive to find consistent litter materials. According to Dr. Jeremiah Davis of Mississippi State University (MSU), speaking March 19 at the Midwest Poultry Federation Convention (MPF) in St. Paul, Minn., there is great potential in the Southeastern United States to grow large volumes of grass materials from which to source alternative bedding materials.
In the past, studies have been conducted on alternatives to pine bedding, such as rice hulls, peanut hulls, corn stover and bagasse. Other alternatives have included chopped cereal straws such as barley and wheat; paper products, such as newspaper; and sand and gypsum. But, Davis said, there are caking problems with barley and wheat straws and gypsum. Supplies of newspapers are dwindling as more newspapers abandon their print products, and sand litter makes it more difficult to heat the poultry house.
"Our gold standard has been pine shavings over the years," Davis said. But other options may be viable alternatives, studies have found.
In exploring other alternative litter materials, the focus has been on Bermuda grass, switchgrass and giant miscanthus. The latter has offered great promise, Davis said, and MSU has collaborated with Repreve Renewables LLC to grow and study Repreve's Freedom giant miscanthus feedstock for use as poultry litter.
For the Repreve project, growers contract with the company to custom plant the crop - which at full production can yield 14 tons per acre - and manage it based on the company's recommendations. The crop is evaluated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and several universities. Davis said invasiveness is not a risk because the crop is sterile, there is not live plant in the bedding material, and all the chopped material is dead. Davis said the potential for large volume production of Freedom is higher than the other materials tested.
Freedom giant miscanthus is being grown and tested in Alabama, and Davis believes the plant is almost ready for commercial sale and use.
"This stuff is really at the state of full commercial utilization here," Davis said during the Poultry Litter Management Workshop at MPF.
The floor pen trials compared live production and processing characteristics of large broilers using chopped switchgrass, chopped Bermuda grass and pine shavings. The chopped grasses worked the best when they were kept to one inch in length. Litter was spread in floor pens 3.5 inches deep. Day-old chicks were placed on the litter and were processed at 49 days.
The studies measured the birds' body weight, feed conversion, carcass weight and foot pad condition scores. Birds in each trial performed similarly in each measurement, however, ammonia levels were noticeably lower in houses that used Freedom giant miscanthus, Davis said. He also noted there were fewer footpad downgrades with birds raised on chopped grass litter.
Another benefit of the chopped grass litter includes cost savings associated with transport and drying of litter materials because the chopped grasses have a lower moisture content than green pine shavings.

Russian broiler producers aim to improve breeder performance

Farm managers from the Russian broiler producer Chelny were given an insight on a visit to Sweden into how the Cobb-Vantress Scandinavian distributor Blenta achieves some of the top breeder results in Europe. The visitors from the Tartastan region - already averaging 136 chicks per breeder - were eager to learn more to improve further the performance of their flocks under similar climatic conditions to Sweden.
"Looking at the genetic potential of Cobb500 we've seen here in Sweden, this will stimulate us to strive for better results," said Timur Khusnullin, Chelny breeder farms manager.  "Being one of the best breeder farms in Russia does not mean we can't improve going forward."
"Blenta has very good production numbers in breeder flocks, peaking at more than 95 percent," said Patrick van Trijp, Cobb account manager for Russia.  "Showing the hatchery, rearing and production farms gave the young managers of Chelny Broiler an excellent understanding where and how to improve.
"I'm very proud on the way Chelny has progressed, starting with breeders from scratch just four years ago.  They've shown that working with the Cobb500 it's not difficult to achieve and maintain good results. Together with the help of our technical manager Irina Khamatshina, they've managed to become one of the top three in Russia in terms of production and hatchability."
Blenta also benefited from the visit. Torbjörn Persson, general manager of Blenta, stated: "We found the remarks and questions from this group, and their analysis very beneficial. Looking at our organization from a different angle is always refreshing and helpful."

New research partnership to advance broiler genetics

A three-year research agreement between Cobb-Vantress, a global industry leader in poultry genetics, and The Roslin Institute, at the University of Edinburgh, will facilitate collaboration on avian disease resistance, genome analysis and genome preservation.
Cobb is putting almost $1 million into avian research programs at The Roslin Institute to identify innovative ways to improve avian health as well as developing unique technologies to understand and preserve the current and heritage poultry genomes.
The investment creates a strategic partnership between Cobb and The Roslin Institute which leverages each world class entity's strengths. Mitch Abrahamsen, Cobb vice president of research and development, stated: "This research partnership provides a wonderful opportunity for Cobb to continue a close collaborative relationship with The Roslin Institute and their new National Avian Research Facility (NARF).
"The continued financial investments by The Roslin Institute in people and infrastructure demonstrate their commitment to making significant contributions toward improving poultry health and capitalizing on the opportunities afforded by the ever expanding understanding of the chicken genome."
The National Avian Research Facility recently opened a state-of-the-art facility with its focus in poultry research. Professor David Hume, director of The Roslin Institute, said of the new agreement: "The joint partnership with Cobb is an excellent example of the kind of industrial interactions that allow The Roslin Institute's research to drive sustainable improvements in animal health and livestock productivity.
"I am delighted to be able to formalize the relationship we have with Cobb and capitalize on a number of key opportunities that we will be pursuing under the agreement."
One of the applications of this joint partnership is an effort to develop new technology enabling pedigree or heritage lines to be maintained without the need to physically maintain the bird stock. In addition, several projects will investigate DNA markers in the genome, targeting some of the more difficult to select for traits such as avian immunity, disease tolerance and disease resistance.
 "These are exciting new areas which we hope will lead to major breakthroughs in avian health and preservation." said Dr Christine Daugherty, chief technology officer of Cobb.
"Cobb has an extensive gene pool and to be able to better understand the poultry genome will be critical to meeting future demands for poultry products. We're always striving to breed more robust chickens that will withstand disease and environmental challenges. We're looking for birds with greater immunity to diseases or with the ability to tolerate disease without affecting their performance."
The collaboration will support research by graduate students and is for an initial three years, with potential for renewal.   The agreement with The Roslin Institute, which receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, is one of more than 30 research projects that Cobb has been supporting in 18 different universities across the globe over the past five years.

Broiler breeder diet focus of new research project

How to improve the diets of broiler breeder chickens is being investigated by researchers at Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Newcastle University, The Roslin Institute and Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland (BioSS). The groups will study birds' behavior and brain activity to establish the best possible diet to keep them feeling full for longer. The work is being supported with a £400,000 (US$659,000) grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
SRUC notes that the life of broiler breeder chickens has long been a welfare issue for all those connected with poultry production. Growth of broiler breeders up to 20 weeks is important because if their access to food is not controlled, they might grow to be obese as adults, which can lead to health problems. However, if their diet is too restrictive, the birds are left feeling hungry, which has always troubled those involved in animal welfare.
Dr. Rick D'Eath, who will be leading the project at the SRUC explains: "The research will assess how the chickens are affected by different types and amounts of food. We need to understand how best to rear them from chick to adult, keeping them healthy without over or under feeding them."
A potential solution to the problem of hunger resulting from restricted feeding in broiler breeders is adding indigestible, high-fiber ingredients to their feed. These can potentially make the chickens feel more satisfied and, as they are very low energy, they should not result in excessive weight gain. However, having a physically full gut is only one part of feeling satisfied and not hungry.
The project will also investigate the ways in which different diets affect signs of hunger in the brain, the gut and in the birds' behavior, in order to better understand whether they genuinely feel less hungry when fed the newly designed diets. SRUC's team will assess the behavior aspect while The Roslin Institute and Newcastle University will provide expertise on brain and gut physiology, with experimental design advice and analysis provided by BioSS.
Dr. D'Eath adds: "At the end of this three-year project, we hope to inform and influence future poultry industry guidance on feeding broiler breeders which could improve the welfare of millions of chickens around the world."