Study suggests seasonality impacts flock health

A retrospective study conducted in five Northern European nations using Elanco’s Health Tracking System (HTS) suggests that seasonality influences the enteric health of broilers, and also affects poultry producers’ economics. The Intestinal Integrity Index (I2) developed by Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly and Co., serves as a cumulative assessment of all factors affecting a flock’s enteric health which contributes to broiler welfare. Elanco’s HTS database was used to calculate the I2 index for flocks in the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland during summer (June through September) and winter (October through May) months over a three-year period between January 2012 and December 2014.
Observations derived from the research indicate the difference in the I2 index between winter and summer groups resulted in an improvement of +0.44 points for the winter period. The cost of seasonality for producers was estimated using differences in average live body weight (LBW). Comparisons of LBW between winter and summer seasons revealed a difference of +22.04 g. In addition to the season’s effect on flock health, seasonality was also estimated to have an economic impact of €20 ($21) /1,000 kg of LBW for the three year period, or the equivalent of €16,000/yr ($17,000) for every million broilers of 2.4 kg LBW.
Elanco technical consultants Guillermo Gonzalez Garcia and Alexandre Teixeira Zocche, co-authors of the “Impact of Seasonality in the Intestinal Integrity of Broilers in Northern European Countries in the Period 2012-2014,” discussed findings from the study during the Symposium on Gut Heath in Production of Food Animals poster session, Nov. 9-11 in Kansas City, MO.
Dr. Alexandre Zocche, senior global technical consultant, poultry brands at Elanco, said the findings support the implementation of a multifactorial approach to promote better intestinal integrity protection, especially during the summer months. “The impact of seasonality on flocks’ intestinal integrity has long been a point of discussion in the industry, along with questions about how to effectively assess enteric health,” Zocche said. While further investigations need to be performed to more fully understand and evaluate which macroscopial GIT changes are more visible in the summer, Zocche said an effective anticoccidial strategy implemented during the summer months can ensure better protection of a flock’s intestinal integrity.
As 2016 approaches, Elanco is poised to embrace intestinal integrity as the cornerstone of enhanced enteric health and improved flock performance and economics. “Intestinal integrity is critical to the health and welfare, performance and economics of flocks around the globe,” said Zocche. “Enteric disease imposes costs across the value chain and Elanco is turning to value added diagnostics and data-driven technologies to help producers proactively measure, monitor and manage their flocks’ enteric health.”

Flock monitoring program key to efficient production

Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6991670562422161409 to attend the webinar, “Developing a Flock Health Monitoring Program, why and how?” sponsored by Biochek and presented by WATT Global Media, on May 27, 2015, at 10 a.m. Central.
Dr. Phil Stayer from Sanderson Farms will explain in this webinar why setting up a flock health monitoring program is important to efficient production.  A health monitoring program can detect problems with the flock before clinical signs are observed and help identify the source of problems once they do occur. With the help of a routine health monitoring program comparisons can be made between different regions, seasons, vaccination programs, flocks and houses.
Stayer will explain how to get the most out of your monitoring program by using both routine post-mortem necropsy and ELISA testing. He will provide detailed information as to what serology reports are optimal in effectively managing a monitoring program. 
Poultry veterinarians, integrators, producers and processors, poultry farm managers, C-level executives, poultry professionals, and allied poultry health professionals should attend this webinar.
What you'll learn:


• Why setting up a monitoring program for flock is important
• How to set up a monitoring program for flock
• How to use ELISA as a tool to maintain healthier flocks
• What tools and reports are optimal to employ
• How to analyze the results of ELISA testing 
Stayer has been the corporate veterinarian for Sanderson Farms Inc. based in Laurel, Mississippi, for the past 13 years.  He grew up in Pennsylvania, graduated from Pennsylvania State University and moved south to attain his DVM from the University of Tennessee.  After practicing small animal clinical veterinary, he returned to graduate school at Mississippi State University to specialize in poultry pathology (M.S.).  He also earned and maintains diplomate status in the American College of Poultry Veterinarians.  Before hiring on with Sanderson Farms, he worked for a primary breeder company and then an animal health company.  He is actively involved in various state and national poultry and veterinary organizations as well as serving as adjunct professor at Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Federal insurance to cover poultry flocks under consideration

Is it feasible for chicken and turkey flocks to be covered under a federal crop insurance plan? A forthcoming study called for in the 2014 farm bill may answer that question.
The farm bill, which was signed into law on February 7, includes an amendment that calls for a study of whether a federal program should be launched that would insure poultry producers for flock losses in the case of a disaster, whether it would be a disease outbreak, weather-related disaster or a financial disaster, such as a poultry processor bankruptcy.
The amendment including the poultry insurance study was championed by Sens. Chris Coons, D-Del., and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. Both Coons and Chambliss are members of the Senate Chicken Caucus.
Insurance for poultry flocks would have helped growers for Allen Family Foods when the company went bankrupt in 2011, Coons said during a news conference on February 18.
"Many other segments of agriculture benefit from crop insurance," Coons said. "Poultry's something where there is no such product available. There's no federal role in providing for that ... We're trying to encourage young folks to get into this segment. We want to help them manage risk in a responsible way."
The amendment doesn't include any estimate of what a poultry crop insurance program might cost, according to reports. The federal crop insurance program for corn, wheat and other seed crops cost $5.9 billion in federal funds in the most recent fiscal year, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, or 3.8 percent of the USDA's annual budget.
National Chicken Council President Mike Brown, who also participated in the press conference, said he supports the study, saying an insurance program could help growers "when their flocks are disrupted."

Small flock poultry expo set for January 18

The University of Maryland Extension will host a Mid-Atlantic Small Flock Poultry Mini Expo from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 18 at Chesapeake College Eastern Shore Higher Education Center, Room 110, 1000 College Circle, Wye Mills.
The mini expo will feature at least 10 educational seminars on urban poultry keeping, feeds and feeding, breed characteristics, rules and regulations, disease prevention and control, production basics, predator control, poultry first aid, poultry production for profit, breeding & incubation, egg grading and handling.
Registration is required and can be done online. Fee for adults is $35 and youths under 18 years can attend for $15. Registration fees include lunch.

Webinar offers flock respiratory health information

If you are seeking a comprehensive respiratory health package for your flock, on Tuesday, June 25, at 9 a.m. CDT, a webinar will be presented about a scientifically proven combination of vaccines. New research is available showing how to control infectious bronchitis virus by maximizing IB protection through a combination of individual vaccines.
This technique, known as Protectotype, will help advance your flock's total respiratory health.
What you'll learn:

• What are the best solutions available for controlling infectious bronchitis virus
• The newest research just released showing how to combine individual vaccines to create an easier and better solution for IBV. PDRC data reveals a proven vaccine combination that provides good cross-protection against IBV disease
• How one easy-to-administer dose with a combination of products can be used to advance IBV protection
• At the end of this webinar, you have the knowledge to work smarter when it comes to your flock's respiratory health
Register for this free webinar, sponsored by Merck Animal Health, at: www.WATTAgNet.com/Upcoming_Webinars.aspx.

Aviagen hosts poultry best practices training

Aviagen held an international training course at its laboratory in Scotland, focusing on the importance of effective laboratory techniques and improving the care and performance of poultry flocks.
The lab training covered the areas of virology, serology, bacteriology and the molecular departments. “It is our mission to provide as much support as possible to our customers, but also to help grow the poultry industry worldwide," said Dr. Kara Pierce, Aviagen laboratory manager. "All our trainees will take back new techniques and advice to their own labs and pass on tips to their colleagues.”
Aviagen holds two tailor-made courses each year as a way to provide support to its customers. Since the class initiative began in 1997, Aviagen gas completed training for more than 300 people from 30 countries

Chicken group asks FDA to revise egg rule

The National Chicken Council has asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to modify a rule that would virtually eliminate the $5M annual market for hatching eggs that are not needed for broiler production and are sold to companies that can use them for processed food products.
“FDA’s rule on handling of eggs was intended to apply to table eggs, and to apply it without warning to hatching eggs makes no sense and achieves no gain in food safety since processed egg products fully meet safety standards without the required refrigeration step,” said Steve Pretanik, NCC’s director of science and technology.
The rule on “farm to table shell egg safety” did not apply to hatching eggs when it was proposed in 2004, and the broiler chicken industry did not comment on the rule since it did not apply to the industry, according to the NCC petition to the FDA. However, by the time the rule was published in final form in July 2009, it had been changed to apply to hatching eggs in such a way as to prevent them from being sold to processors, known as “breakers.”
The rule requires that any eggs being sold for human consumption must be refrigerated at 45F no more than 36 hours after they are laid in order to control salmonella. In the broiler chicken industry, eggs from breeder flocks can be held for several days at 65F before being put into incubators. If a company does not need all the hatching eggs on hand, surplus eggs can be withheld from incubation and sent instead to egg breakers.
Refrigerating hatching eggs at 45F, as required for table eggs, is not an option since such a low temperature would ruin them as hatching eggs, the petition said. Since a company rarely decides if eggs are surplus as soon as 36 hours after lay, the FDA rule would have the effect of barring hatching eggs from the breaker market.
The refrigeration requirement is unnecessary for hatching eggs since breakers already pasteurize egg products to achieve a 99.999% reduction in salmonella, the same standard as applied to table eggs, Pretanik said.
In its petition, NCC asked FDA to amend the final rule or to reopen the comment period with respect to application of the rule to hatching eggs.

AMI launches sustainability Web site

The American Meat Institute has developed a new Web site to assist producers with aspects of environmental management and related issues.
The home page provides tabs for benefiting community, caring for employees, flock/herd welfare and caring for the environment.
The section on quantifying the carbon footprint has a link to “the greenhouse gas protocol and actions plans to effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Welfare Trap: Gut Health, Leg Problems and More

How are societal, regulatory and consumer pressures impacting the health of poultry flocks around the world? Sign up now for a free online session about this topic at www.WATTevents.com. It’s part of the WATT Online Poultry Nutrition and Health Forum to be held Wednesday, November 18, 2009.
An international panel will discuss how consumer and regulatory pressures impact nutritional and veterinary care and the consequences for flock welfare and performance. Discussion will include the impact of reduction or elimination of antibiotics on gut health, plus other nutritional, husbandry and health implications for leg problems.
Moderating the panel will be Dr. Peter Ferket, North Carolina State University. Joining him on the panel will be Professor Richard Ducatelle, Dept. of Pathology, Bacteriology and Poultry Industries, Ghent University, Belgium, and Dr. Kenneth Powell, Hubbard.
Other forum presentations will deal with identifying and dealing with subclinical necrotic enteritis and the effective use of enzymes, prebiotics, probiotics and competitive exclusion. A panel will also examine runting-stunting and malabsoprtion syndromes.

New event hours
New for this second in a series of online poultry nutrition and health forums are special event hours to accommodate participants worldwide: 03.00 hrs to 18.00 hrs (-6 GMT), 3 a.m. CST – 6 p.m. CST. Hours are flexible. Participants can log in and out of the forum as their schedules allow. Participants can also attend the archived version for 90 days after the show.
The forum allows poultry nutritionists, veterinarians, production/husbandry managers, technical consultants and manufacturers of animal health products, feed ingredients and feed additives to engage in real-time interaction via chats, group chats, e-mails, Twitter or the exchange of electronic business cards by making use of any available local internet access.
For more details and to sign up for this free event, visit www.WATTevents.com.