Exhaust fan with air outlet cone
4 practical eyebolts for suspended installation as air circulation fan
Removable shutters
Box fan with nozzle Perfectly adaptable to your needs.
One fan, many different configurations. Air circulation fan or exhaust fan. Cone or nozzle. Removable shutters and safety net.
AviNews International Magazine explores in the December 2024 issue key aspects of ventilation, the path of incoming air and why the world is moving fast towards community nests. We will also look at advancements in poultry salmonella vaccine strategies and how poultry nutrition can be optimized for profitability and sustainability.
Michael Czarick and Brian Fairchild show us that negative pressure ventilation is the most popular method for ventilating poultry farms in cold weather due to its simplicity and relatively low initial costs.
Implementing efficient heating strategies, including adequate capacity and appropriate temperature differentials, can significantly reduce operational expenses while ensuring that chicks remain comfortable and healthy, says Udaykumar Mudbakhe in his article.
Eduardo Cervantes López explains in depth why modern world poses two major challenges for the broiler business and Winfridus Bakker states that the world is moving fast towards community nests.
On the other hand, Christine Laganá from Brazil shares an interesting article on the importance of antioxidants in the feed of laying hens.
For this edition of the magazine, Dr. Edgar Oviedo talks to us about poultry production challenges, including cash flow, inflation, economic downturns, and market volatility. Despite all those constant challenges and variations, poultry businesses remain profitable. However, it is always necessary to adopt methodologies to optimize productivity and profitability.
Among the different on-farm prophylactic alternatives to control Salmonella in poultry, vaccination can be highlighted as the chief strategy. However, Santiago Uribe-Diaz says that research is still needed to improve the effectiveness of current commercial vaccines.
The Secretary General of the International Poultry Council, Nicolò Cinotti, makes an interesting point in our magazine by showing that what we do, how we do it and why we do it, not only can address concerns and misconceptions in poultry farming, but can also position poultry production as a dynamic driving force for positive change.
And finally, Dr. Edgar Oviedo shares his impressions and learnings from the 49 th annual Incubation and Fertility Research Group (IFRG) meeting, held in Antalya, Türkiye, on October 3rd and 4th , 2024. This is one of the most important meetings related to avian reproduction and incubation worldwide.
Enjoy reading and get the most out of it!
EDITOR
GRUPO DE COMUNICACIÓN AGRINEWS LLC
ADVERTISING
Luis Carrasco +34 605 09 05 13 lc@agrinews.es
Adoración Guerrero Guzmán +(34) 664 66 06 05 int@grupoagrinews.com
Nicole Carletti Ramírez +57 312 391 9330 avinewslatam@grupoagrinews.com
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
Mercé Soler
EDITORIAL STAFF
José Luis Valls
Osmayra Cabrera
María de los Angeles Gutiérrez
Nicole Carletti Ramírez
Héctor David Corredor Martínez
TECHNICAL DIRECTION
Edgar Oviedo
COLLABORATORS
Eduardo Cervantes
info@grupoagrinews.com avinews.com grupoagrinews.com
Subscription price
Images: Noun Project / Freepik/Dreamstime
Depression, Air Speed and Path of Incoming Air
Michael Czarick1 & Brian Fairchild2
1UGA Extension Engineer
2UGA Extension Poultry Scientist
Poultry producers will often find that if they can get the incoming air near the center of the house during the cooler hours of the day, the air path will improve as outside temperatures rise throughout the day.
A Signal Light Feeding Program for Breeder Flocks 04 10 26
Feathers, Fans, and Fahrenheit: The Ultimate Chick Comfort Guide!
Udaykumar Mudbakhe Consultant & Subject Matter Expert in Poultry Ventilation, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
A holistic approach that integrates minimum ventilation, efficient heating, and effective feeding systems is essential for successful brooding.
Eduardo Cervantes López
International Consultancy - Productive and Innovative Management in Poultry Processing
The modern world poses two major challenges for the broiler business: It just keeps on growing (there are already 8 billion of us) and chicken meat consumption is growing sustainably.
Chance Bryant, Director of Technical Services, Cobb-Vantress, LLC.
The main objective of the Signal Light Feeding Program is to provide uniform feed distribution during the rearing period. The program aims to train birds to associate the Signal Light with feed distribution.
The world is moving fast towards community nests due to the possibility of increasing bird density to reduce the investment cost per hen and the cost price of the hatching eggs.
It is told that first impression is critical, and in our industry, this is related with chick quality at arrival.
Advancements in Poultry Salmonella Vaccine Strategies: Balancing
Christine Laganá
The use of antioxidant compounds found in diet or even synthetic ones is one of the defense mechanisms against free radicals that can be used in the food, cosmetics and beverage industries.
São Paulo Agribusiness Technology Agency, Eastern Regional Center of São Paulo Biozyme Technical Team
Digestive health is key to successful animal production. At BioZyme® Inc., we know that good digestive health, as well as nutrition, are the cornerstone of a good health protocol.
Santiago Uribe-Diaz Department of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, U.S.
Recent advances in molecular biology and immunology are transforming vaccine development for Salmonella control.
Poultry is Good, People Should Know It
Guillermo Tellez-Isaias Department of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Fayetteville, AR, USA
To prevent intestinal inflammation and oxidative stress in poultry, a multifactorial approach is needed.
Nicolò Cinotti
Secretary General of the International Poultry Council
Despite playing a crucial role in our global food security, providing nutritious, affordable and widely accessible food, the image of poultry production not kept pace with its contributions.
A Summary of Learnings From the 49 th Incubation & Fertility Research Group (IFRG) Meeting
Edgar O. Oviedo-Rondón
Prestage Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC
Edgar O. Oviedo-Rondón
Prestage Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC
Despite constant challenges and variations, poultry businesses remain profitable. However, it is always necessary to adopt methodologies to optimize productivity and profitability.
Zucami Technical Team
ZUCAMI has developed a treatment system that dries 85% of poultry manure and eliminates odors, insects and ammonia-derived gases: the Seconov system.
Michael Czarick 1 & Brian Fairchild 2
1UGA Extension Engineer
2UGA Extension Poultry Scientist
Negative pressure ventilation is the most popular method for ventilating poultry farms in cold weather due to its simplicity and relatively low initial costs.
Exhaust fans create negative pressure inside the house and give the poultry producer precise control over the amount of fresh air entering the house.
The air inlets distribute the cold outside air, sucked in by the exhaust fans, evenly throughout the house and direct it along the ceiling, where the warm air (produced by the birds and the heating system) accumulates near the ceiling; so that the fresh air will be heated before it descends to the level of the birds.
One of the most important features of negative pressure ventilation is that it gives the poultry producer control over the rate at which clean, cool outside air enters the house.
It doesn’t matter if the house is 30 or 200 meters long; it doesn’t matter if the house is 9 or 18 meters wide; it doesn’t matter if the house has broilers, layers, breeders or ducks. With adequate air inlets and the right level of negative pressure, it is relatively simple to provide fresh, warm air to all birds in a house with minimal cost and effort.
The goal during cold weather is to maximize the distance the incoming cool air travels along the ceiling before descending to bird level.
The faster the air enters the house, the longer it will stay near the ceiling, the more it will mix with the warm air that accumulates near the ceiling and the less likely it is to cool the birds as it descends to the floor.
In addition, as the temperature of the incoming air increases, its ability to retain moisture increases, making it more effective at removing moisture from the bedding.
If the cold, heavy air entering through the hatches of a house does not enter with sufficient velocity, it will tend to fall rapidly to the floor as it enters the house, causing the chicks to cool and the litter to clump.
In negative pressure ventilation, the depression determines the velocity of air entry through the house’s air inlets.
The greater the depression, the faster the air will enter the house.
The lower the depression, the slower the air enters the house..
The relationship between depression and air inlet velocity is very well defined.
In fact, the depression of the house can be known by measuring the velocity of the air entering the house through a side wall hatch and using Graphic 1.
Graphic 1. Relationship between air inlet speed and depression.
It is often thought that the main factor determining the optimum depression for a house is the width of the house.
It stands to reason that the wider the house, the greater the air velocity required for the incoming air to reach the center of the house and, therefore, the greater the required depression.
But, in reality, the main factor that determines the optimum depression is the cold outside, or more specifically, the difference in air temperature between the inside and outside of the house.
This makes sense if we consider why we use air inlets... to keep the cold, heavy air close to the ceiling, and warm it up before it goes down to the floor.
If the incoming air is warm and relatively light, why is it going to fall to the ground?
After all, if it is about the same temperature as the hot air in the house, it is not heavier than the air in the house and will therefore tend to stay close to the ceiling.
However, if the incoming air is much cooler and therefore heavier than the house’s air, it will tend to fall to the ground quickly if it enters the house at low velocity.*
Equations have been developed to predict the extent of air along the ceiling entering through a hatch before descending to ground level, as a function of various factors (e.g., static pressure, size of inlet opening, type of inlet, position of inlet, etc.).
Although they do not provide precise answers for every situation, these equations can be used to explore how factors such as indoor/outdoor temperature differences affect the path of incoming air.
For example, for a typical Europeanstyle hatch placed near a smooth ceiling, open 5 centimeters, at a static pressure of 27 pascals, the air sheet will travel approximately 8 meters along the ceiling before descending to floor level when the outside temperature is 21 oC and 27 oC inside (see Table 1).
But if the outside temperature drops to -1 oC, the distance traveled will be reduced to only 3.3 meters!
Table 1. Theoretical distance (in meters) that air will travel from a European hatch, located at the top of the sidewall, along a smooth ceiling when opened 5 centimeters with a house temperature of 27 °C (from the equation developed by Dr. Steven Hoff, Iowa State University).
*Translator’s note: Only some models of poultry computers available in the Spanish market have the function to progressively increase the house depression (in some computers) or the air inlet speed (in other computers) as the outside temperature drops. This function is highly recommended to achieve an adequate incoming air path when the outside temperature is low; and when the outside temperature rises, the computer progressively reduces the air inlet depression/speed, increasing the efficiency of the exhaust fans (cubic meters of air per hour and per watt consumed).
Thus, during an autumn afternoon, air entering through a hatch could easily reach the center of a 15-meter-wide building, but at night, the cold incoming air could fall to the ground just over 3 meters away from the side wall.
Although higher air inlet velocities are generally required as outside temperatures drop, it is important to note that programming higher depression values into the computer may not improve the path of the incoming air.
This is because a house’s computer increases the depression by decreasing the size of the inlet opening.
The environment for the birds could be excellent in the afternoon and relatively cool at night with the same entrance opening, depression and same exhaust fans working.
This is why it is so important for poultry producers to evaluate the path of incoming air when outside temperatures are at their lowest.
If the incoming air range is acceptable in the early morning or evening, the incoming air path is likely to remain acceptable as outside temperatures rise during the day.
As can be expected, as the size of the inlet opening decreases, the airflow from the hatches decreases.
This is why it is sometimes better to increase the depression by closing part of the house hatches (i.e. 1/4, 1/3, etc.).
This will allow the poultry producer to increase the depression without reducing the opening size of the hatches.
Although there is no single depression that works in all cases, it is generally recommended to use a depression between 12 and 32 pascals (4.6 and 7.1 meters/second) in most houses.
Scheduling lower depressions works best during moderate to hot climates with larger inlet openings (5 centimeters or more).
Conversely, higher depressions are more suitable for colder climates with smaller inlet openings (3 to 5 centimeters).
Determining the optimum depression and inlet opening will require trial and error.
Poultry keepers can view the path of incoming airflow by attaching a 13 to 25 centimeter piece of inspection tape to the roof in front of one or two hatches every few meters from the side wall to the highest point of the roof.
When the minimum ventilation fans are operating, the inspection tape closest to the side wall should be positioned parallel to the ceiling, while the one closest to the highest point of the ceiling should barely move, indicating that the air is moving slowly towards the floor.
Since the air circuit will vary with outside temperature, poultry producers should make observations throughout the day, paying particular attention in the early morning and evening when outside temperatures are cooler.
Poultry producers will often find that if they can get the incoming air near the center of the house during the cooler hours of the day, the air path will improve as outside temperatures rise throughout the day.
Depression, Air Speed and Path of Incoming Air
DOWNLOAD PDF
Udaykumar
(Uday Patil) Mudbakhe Consultant & Subject Matter Expert in Poultry Ventilation Mumbai,
Maharashtra, India
We often struggle to set the minimum ventilation rate from day one and onward. Some controllers have minimum ventilation rate graphs, while others provide minimum ventilation rate levels.
We can initially set the minimum ventilation rate with the help of the Poultry 411 app by the University of Georgia - Department of Poultry Science or simply by calculating the minimum ventilation rate as 1 CFM (cubic foot per minute) per chick.
In this process, we must consider maximum outside humidity at minimum temperature and add extra ventilation for high humidity.
As the chicks grow, their daily water consumption increases with age, necessitating an increase in the minimum ventilation rate to match their growing needs.
Table 1. Air Quality permissible values
The primary goal of minimum ventilation during brooding is to maintain a steady supply of fresh air for the chicks while minimizing temperature variations, drafts, and effectively managing heating costs.
This requires a careful balance of fan capacity, placement, and timing, as well as proper positioning and adjustments of air inlets. Key steps include:
Using fans at 1 CFM per square foot and distributing fan capacity evenly between brooding and non-brooding areas.
These steps are essential for creating a controlled and efficient environment that supports chick health while minimizing energy use and potential stressors during the brooding phase.
Winter is on the way. Starting in November, we will need to run more heaters while brooding chicks. In my region, most farmers use space heaters (forced air) and infrared gas brooders and the average yearly LPG gas consumption per broiler batch for brooding is around 300 kg for a poultry house that is 300 feet long, 42 feet wide, and 7.5 feet high, with insulated side curtains.
Ensuring proper static pressure levels when inlets are open to maintain air ow balance and limit condensation risks.
Adjusting fan timers and inlet openings to achieve optimal air distribution based on the number of chicks, desired humidity, and ammonia levels.
Utilizing circulation fans for even temperature distribution to support environmental uniformity throughout the brooding process.
The heating cost of an environmentally controlled house depends on:
Local weather
Climate controller settings 1 2 3 4 5
The purpose of heating systems is not only to maintain the required temperature but also to do so quickly.
Therefore, it is advisable to add 20% extra heating capacity to the required heating capacity.
Poultry house dimensions
Insulation of the house
Heater capacity
The first three factors are fixed once the environmental control house is completed.
When purchasing a heater, we often ask the seller how many chicks the heater can provide heat for. This question is somewhat irrelevant.
The heater’s capacity should be defined based on local weather conditions and the volume of the house, rather than the number of chicks.
According to Cobb Academy’s Ventilation module, we need approximately 50 to 100 watts per cubic meter of heat (or about 5 to 10 BTUs per cubic foot).
Ideally, we should aim for 6 to 12 BTUs per cubic foot.
Space heaters come in different capacities, such as 73 kW, 63 kW, and 35 kW. For a poultry house measuring 300 feet by 42 feet by 7.5 feet (totaling 94,500 cubic feet), the required heater capacity would be:
94,500{cubic feet} times 12 (BTUs} = 1,134,000 {BTUs}
Thus, we would need approximately five space heaters with a capacity of 245,000 BTUs each for full-house brooding.
In a pure tunnel-ventilated house, brooding is usually done in half the house, so heater capacity can be calculated accordingly.
In the mentioned farm, we use three space heaters with a capacity of 73 kW (LPG gasfired).
To optimize your gas bill, set an appropriate temperature differential between the required temperature and the heater’s activation temperature.
Initially, this should be as close as possible to the required temperature (e.g., 0.5 degrees). Since chicks are not fully feathered, heaters will quickly attain the required temperature and shut off.
After the arrival of the chicks, the farmer is often in a state of dilemma for several days.
He frequently expresses concern that fewer chicks are at the feeder or drinker, despite all parameters (temperature, humidity, duty cycle, and light) being set correctly.
During this period, the retention time of the chicks at the feeder or drinkers is quite short.
The minimum ventilation cycle duration should be between 3 to 5 minutes.
The Poultry411 app supports a 5-minute duty cycle.
In the first week, the feed consumption per chick per day ranges from 13 grams to 36 grams by the seventh day.
If the weather is too humid, a 3-minute duty cycle can be selected to prevent humidity from accumulating in the house.
Note that this will result in more frequent fan switching.
Additionally, keep in mind the default temperature and time delay settings in the climate controller when configuring the space heaters.
This low feed intake is the reason, as we often observe that most of the chicks are resting.
Only crop scores can provide insight into the chicks’ comfort levels.
By day three, if a chick’s weight exceeds 100 grams, you have already made significant progress.
Simultaneously, heating costs play a significant role in overall poultry management, especially during colder months.
Understanding the dynamics of heater capacity, local climate, and house insulation is vital for optimizing energy use.
Implementing efficient heating strategies, including adequate capacity and appropriate temperature differentials, can significantly reduce operational expenses while ensuring that chicks remain comfortable and healthy.
Feathers, Fans, and Fahrenheit: The
FEED INTAKE (PAPER)
FEED LOST (PAPER) 5 grams 10 grams
FEED INTAKE (FEEDER)
grams per bird
grams per bird WEIGHT GAIN
In summary, a holistic approach that integrates minimum ventilation, efficient heating, and effective feeding systems is essential for successful brooding. By prioritizing these elements, poultry producers can foster a productive environment that supports chick health and maximizes growth potential.
Eduardo Cervantes López
International
Consultancy - Productive and Innovative Management in Poultry Processing
The modern world poses two major challenges for the broiler business!
It just keeps on growing. There are already 8 billion of us.
Chicken meat consumption is growing sustainably.
Within this gradual growth there are several human groups that suffer from hunger and/or malnutrition, due to the difficulty in improving the quality of the food they consume:
Children, elderly, unemployed completely and others partially, legal and illegal refugees, homeless, indigenous, etc.
Many of them may sporadically consume and enjoy chicken meat.
This daily reality poses a great social challenge:
Is it possible to direct the cost of a part of this process and offer it to some unprotected communities?
Fortunately, chicken continues to be consumed despite the lack of systematic campaigns to raise awareness of all the nutritional benefits of this miraculous meat!
At this point I ask myself:
Why have the leaders of these poultry associations been discreet with the purpose of disclosing all the scientifically proven nutritional benefits of chicken meat?
It contains the highest percentage of protein - 21% - of terrestrial animal origin.
In addition, vitamins, minerals that contribute effectively to keep us nourished and healthy.
In Google you will find detailed benefits in the different organs and systems that make up the human being.
A mega product requires two permanent steps:
Adjusting all waste and scrap to management parameters, broadly widely disclosed in articles published physically and digitally through the different media.
Plan the increase of monthly broiler production, bearing in mind to create an appropriate infrastructure and operating systems so that the Saleable Product Losses (SPL), are within management parameters.
Verification of compliance and/or reduction of the control parameters established in the preslaugether stages.
The poultry houses can be divided into several groups of birds, equivalent to the number of animals to be captured, caged and loaded onto trucks.
When the sheds do not have enclosures, the collection crews must build them. For this purpose, the collectors must follow the procedure established by the companies in a disciplined manner. The following are some of them:
Entrance to the booths
The catching personnel should walk slowly and quietly, so as not to cause stress to the chicks.
The collection crew must get the animals to start moving calmly to the site where the workers who will perform the trapping and caging are located.
Achievements: Significantly decrease scratches, hemorrhages, bruises, dislocations in the thighs and/or wings, etc.
These sufferings go in the opposite direction to the guidelines established by the Animal Welfare area.
Handling of full cages and their proper organization in trucks
They are decisive to prevent the birds from suffering any damage to their physical integrity.
Purpose: Once they reach the platform, the height of the flocks must be completed and they must be transported using specially designed carts that have a double benefit:
In chickens, the stress caused by interrupting the tranquility that should characterize this new condition is reduced: Caged.
The personnel decreases the fatigue curve, maintaining a stable performance.
With a few exceptions, truck drivers have traditionally been passive bystanders. They take advantage of this critical moment of loading and organizing the cargo to sleep.
This gives the impression that they have no responsibility for the physical quality of the fragile cargo they are transporting and no knowledge of the exact quantity of chickens they are moving. They limit themselves to receiving from the farm the shipment they deliver to the plant.
To put into practice this dual philosophy where an environment of comfort is preserved for the protagonists in the final part of this business: the birds and their handlers.
These three details should be monitored during transportation:
Temperature and relative humidity inside the load where most evaporative heat is concentrated. When it goes out of the established parameters, for example: hot climates: temperature: 220C - 260C and RH: 65%, you must put the fans located behind the cabin in operation. Purpose: to reduce chicks drowning due to heat stress (DOA)
On the road, when cornering you should slow down to about 40 km/hour to reduce the effects of the centrifugal force that moves the chickens sideways hitting their wings.
When approaching speed bumps, the truck driver should gradually slow down to pass over them slowly. This decreases the levitation of the birds where their backs impact the top of the cages or containers.
When they fall, they hit their breasts, causing bruises on both the back and the breast.
The monitoring of broiler stress kills in hot climates is of utmost importance, due to the direct impact on meat yield and operating costs before reaching the plant.
In addition to the above-mentioned details, evaporative heat should be monitored during enclosures, catching and caging of the chicks from the moment when the organization of the cages with chickens starts. For this purpose, the environment around the trailers where they are being loaded should be conditioned, such as:
Protection from sunlight, use of mobile awnings.
Mobile fan batteries with humidifiers.
Wet the birds as they arrange themselves on the platform.
Conditioning of the infrastructure to be installed in the trailer to create a renewal of the interior air, entering through the aisles along the entire length of the body.
Purpose: to keep birds within comfort parameters. 220C - 260C and Relative Humidity (RH) around 65%.
Likewise, there should be other facilities in the plant designed so that the animals are calm - lacking heat stress - waiting for their turn to be processed.
If the above suggestions are followed in a disciplined manner, it is possible to reduce the traditional management parameter: 0.10% of the total number of chickens received at the slaughterhouse for the monthly process.
Some companies in Latin America are working to reduce it and stabilize it at 0.05%, e.g:
Process month: 1`000.000.000 chickens.
Traditional DOA rate: 0.10%.
Total, birds/month: 1,000 chickens
New rate (NDOA): 0.05%, equivalent to only 500 birds/month.
Annual increase: 6,000 chickens.
During slaughtering, a series of situations occur that affect meat quality and yield before the carcasses enter the prechiller.
The most relevant ones are listed below:
The required dark environmentblue, red or green lights - must be adequate.
Continuous air renewal to dissipate dust and dry fecal matter generated during placement of birds on the shackles, using noisy fans will affect the welfare of both personnel and animals.
This detail affects the performance of the workers and the relaxation of the chickens.
The correct installation and graduation of the breast massager according to the size of the birds being processed is a determining factor for them to arrive properly calm to the stunner.
Access to the stunner should prevent birds from suffering from Pre-shock. If it occurs, intense flapping will increase and many animals will leave the water tub properly conscious.
Consequences: hemorrhages, hematomas, wing dislocations, etc.
The path from the exit of the water tub and the entrance to the guides of the automatic killer and/or personnel cutting the blood vessels should take 10 to 12 seconds, fulfilling the tonic and clonic stages.
Proper slaughter and bleeding requires that the electrical variables governing stunning be properly adjusted, avoiding electrocution of chickens and ruptures of fragile thorax bones and the blood vessels that supply the muscles of this part of the body. Likewise, the bleeding time must take into account the ambient temperature and the altitude above sea level.
Purpose: Chickens must enter the scalder completely dead, after evacuating 45% to 50% of the blood. Compliance with this specific detail makes it possible to achieve the objective of carcass dry yield before falling into the prechiller.
All these data have been mentioned in previous articles.
Scalding must be carried out with total immersion of the chicks during the entire journey, appropriate water turbulence on the surface of the tanks facilitating the dilatation of the follicles and the detachment of the feathers due to protein denaturation, a sine qua non condition to achieve productive plucking.
This plucking requires that the following conditions, among others, are always met:
Permanent supply of warm water: 34ºC to 38ºC.
Fingers positioned with hardness according to the part of the chickens to be in contact with.
Complete fingers in good condition.
The top of the plucking machines should be covered to conserve the heat that exists during feather removal.
Plucking machines are sequentially tilted downward at the exit to increase efficiency in the removal of wing feathers that are inserted into the muscle as well as the tail feathers.
Fingers are checked at the end of the daily shift to replace worn, split and fallen fingers. This ensures even wear and tear.
Remember consumption parameter: 1 finger for “minimum” every 2000 chickens processed.
Evisceration
If the established fasting and harvesting times of the birds are maintained within the established parameters and if the quality of the eviscerated chickens is affected:
Skin stained.
Contaminated by food.
Lost during slaughter.
In addition, they adjust to the management indices, the accumulated losses for the different concepts must be within these reference data or be lower.
This information is updated like the well-known Guinness World Records.
Example:
Monthly process: 1'000.000 chickens
Average live weight: 2.3 Kg
Total, Kilograms: 2'300.000 Kg
Extrapolated to one year, this represents an extra 49,680 Kg.
For a company that slaughters 5 million chickens/month, it is equivalent to 248,400 Kg of additional meat.
As these new quantities are achieved, the results of having created a Micromanagement Culture, yields will rise and processing costs per kg will begin to decrease, increasing competitiveness in the marketplace.
This dreamed condition will allow offer Grade A quality products, to the most vulnerable segments of society, where to eat meat chicken, means achieving glory for eating nutritiously. This special sector of the economy will continue to increase consumption, because the companies have defined a price very accessible to their income.
stages of this business.
This new phase must be managed with the guidelines of the conscious companies:
“Grow friendly with the environment and humanity that will consume the best animal protein in the world!”
From Broiler Processing: Preparing to Feed the World Nutritionally! DOWNLOAD PDF
Chance Bryant, Director of Technical Services, Cobb-Vantress, LLC.
The main objective of the Signal Light Feeding Program is to provide uniform feed distribution during the rearing period. The program aims to train birds to associate the Signal Light with feed distribution.
The Signal Light Feeding Program contrasts to the “traditional method” of feed distribution using chains and troughs¹ where birds associate either the flock manager or the sound of the feed motor as an indication of feeding time.
The “traditional method” method often creates commotion where birds rush the center of the house² increasing the potential for piling and injuries.
The frantic dash to the hoppers is often followed by birds racing around the house before finally finding space to eat. Under these conditions, timid eaters are disadvantaged and often do not satisfy their nutrient requirement to sustain adequate growth.
IMPROVED UNIFORMITY
Birds tend to eat slower creating longer feed clean-up times.
Birds consume less feed per pullet because they expend less energy during the feeding process (*birds approach feeder more calmly at eat slower).
IMPROVED LIVABILITY
In general, pullets reared under a Signal Light program are calmer and less prone to piling when stressed.
Since the flocks eat more slowly, the risk of feed choking is reduced. The incidence of mechanical injury from moving feeding equipment is also reduced.
Installations of Signal Lights systems are usually easy and present minimal shadow issues.
Install the Signal Light approximately 5 to 10 ft. from the end wall of the house approximately 2 to 4 ft. from the floor (Figure 1). Ideally, the end 1/3 of the house should be illuminated with a low light intensity.
Birds do not congregate at hoppers waiting to be fed and spread evenly throughout the house during feeding.
Because birds do not associate eating with the flock manager, it is easier for the manager to move around the house to complete daily chores (i.e. refilling hoppers, collecting fixing equipment, etc.).
The Signal Light should be wired with the main house lights. Wiring to the main house ensures all lights are off when the main house light timer goes off each afternoon.
Feed and light switches should be in the house entry room for easy access without having to enter the bird area
It is more difficult to train a flock to a Signal Light program if the manager must enter the house to turn on the Signal Light.
If managers must enter the bird area, the birds may continue to associate the manager with feeding.
The purpose of the “Training Period” is to teach the birds to associate the Signal Light with feeding.
Birds learn to move in the direction of the Signal Light and position themselves at the trough.
Feeding in the dark, in the absence of a Signal Light, does not guarantee there will be an even distribution of birds around the entire feed trough.
Use a bulb type and wattage that will only illuminate the area of the house around the Signal Light for good results. Use a low wattage bulb (5 to 10 W) to prevent many birds moving toward the Signal Light.
It is also necessary to use a low wattage bulb to prevent illuminating the area around the feed hopper/source of feed. The area around the feed source must be totally dark so the birds will congregate and wait for feed to exit the hopper.
If the birds can see the track/feed they will stay there, and Signal Light will be less affective.
The Signal Light feeding program should commence once the flock is placed on a skip day feeding program (i.e. everyother-day; 5 and 2; 4 and 3).
If restricted everyday feeding is prolonged, begin using Signal Light feeding no later than 3 to 4 weeks of age.
Protocol (It is recommended that the grower is present during the feeding process).
Turn the main house lights “on” for 10 to 30 minutes.
After 1 minute of darkness, turn the Signal Light “on” for 45 to 60 seconds (or enough time for the birds to begin to move toward the light and away from the feed source).
Turn the main house lights “o ” for 1 minute (*the house should be in blackout conditions).
Birds that congregate at the hoppers can happen in houses that have split feed systems with two sets of hoppers at the ¼ and ¾ positions of the house.
Ideally, all feed should run out in one complete loop. The feed level gate on the hopper must be managed for feed to run out in one complete loop and be appropriately distributed.
Once the Signal Light has been on long enough, start the feeding system with only the Signal Light on
A 3rd Signal Light is recommended at the middle of the house to draw birds away from the hopper areas and prevent congregating around the feed source/hoppers (Figure 2).
2. In houses with 2 loops of chain feeder, a third signal feeding light can be installed in the middle of the house.
With three Signal Lights, there will be a Signal Light at each end wall and one in the middle. Three Signal Lights may require an even lower wattage/lumen bulb to prevent illuminating the area around the hoppers.
Depending on house set-up and length, it may be necessary to use a lower (or higher) wattage bulb to correctly illuminate the end 1/3 of the house.
Painting the bulb with black paint can also help reduce the brightness.
The height of the Signal Light from the floor may require adjustment to ensure the correct pattern of light dispersion on the floor.
method to help manage feeding and can potentially improve performance during the production period.
Uniformity and livability are consistently improved in flocks reared on this program.
Uniformity and livability are essential to produce flocks capable of high peak production and persistence and low hen mortality.
A Signal Light Feeding Program for Breeder Flocks DOWNLOAD PDF
The tiniest edge can make a huge difference: in poultry genetics, but also in animal health, food security, production efficiency and more. The Cobb Research Initiative (CRI) is our commitment to advancement, and our grant recipients are pushing boundaries across the poultry supply chain to tackle challenges and help ensure that we can meet the demand for healthy, sustainable and affordable protein worldwide.
The tiniest edge can make a huge difference: in poultry genetics, but also in animal health, food security, production efficiency and more. The Cobb Research Initiative (CRI) is our commitment to advancement, and our grant recipients are pushing boundaries across the poultry supply chain to tackle challenges and help ensure that we can meet the demand for healthy, sustainable and affordable protein worldwide.
The tiniest edge can make a huge difference: in poultry genetics, but also in animal health, food security, production efficiency and more. The Cobb Research Initiative (CRI) is our commitment to advancement, and our grant recipients are pushing boundaries across the poultry supply chain to tackle challenges and help ensure that we can meet the demand for healthy, sustainable and affordable protein worldwide.
Winfridus Bakker
winfridus.bakker@gmail.com
Our world of broiler breeders at grandparent and parent stock levels is moving fast to more technification, trying to reduce the cost of hatching eggs and to manage larger breeder flocks with less labor available and receive a higher quality egg.
Many countries suffer from labor shortages, and the available handlabor is often of reduced technical quality and needs a lot of training and constant education.
Egg collection is a daily activity that may take more time.
There are currently two production house configurations related to higher technification or automation for broiler breeders worldwide. In this article, we will call these two systems the US and the European concept.
Here, we have basically all the nest, feeding, and drinker equipment for females on the slats. The house has a central scratch area for the males with their feeding system. Males need to go on the slats to drink.
66% slat & 33% oor area
Max. 1.95 ft2/ = Max 5.5
1.95 ft2 / = 5.5 / m2 in 40 ft=12 m wide house = 4.7"=12.1 cm of feeder space and that is normally not enough.
This US concept has a significant advantage: the floor eggs are often low. Still, a significant disadvantage is that female density cannot go lower than 1.95 ft2/female or higher than 5.5 females/m2, and that is, in theory, already on the high side, then feeder space is shorted to only 4.7” (12.1 cm).
Adult hens need 6” (15 cm) for all birds to eat at the same time. This is especially important in the period from 21 weeks to peak production, when feeding cleanup times can be very fast if crumbled or pelleted feed is used.
The other disadvantage is that slats need to be at least 17.7” (45 cm) in height to avoid over time that the droppings will accumulate below the slats and come up through the slats, dirtying and contaminating the feet of the hens.
A high slat often requires more use of litter to reduce the step-up distance, which is more costly, and more litter will entice hens to lay in the scratch area, causing a loss of hatching eggs or more contamination.
This concept uses large community nests in the middle of the house, giving more space to the total house area to add more feeder space and, with that, the possibility of increasing female density considerably. This is a great advantage for the grower, increasing his return on investment (ROI) considerably and getting easier bank loans with higher income. The US market could benefit greatly from this concept.
MECHANICAL COMMUNITY NEST WITH 6.5 ft (2 m) WIDE SLATS IN 40 ft (12 m) WIDE HOUSE
46% slat & 54% oor.
From 1.79-1.54 ft2/ (6 to 7 / m2)
Enough feeder space with 3 feeder loops in 40 ft (12 m) wide house. Situation with updating existing houses.
MECHANICAL COMMUNITY NEST WITH 10 ft (3 m) WIDE SLATS IN 46 ft /49 ft (14-15 m) WIDE HOUSE
54% slat & 46% oor area
From 1.79-1.54 ft2/ (6 to 7 /m2) Higher female density is the single most important factor in reducing the fixed house investment per hen, reducing the cost price of hatching eggs. The concept has been proven over the last 30 years in many parts of the world. It is important to realize that we do not include males in the density calculations.
To construct the new house, the idea is to build 46 ft or 49 ft (1415 m) wide houses to maximize the utilization of feeder, drinker, and nesting space. Another feeder loop will be added, bringing the total to four feeder loops, which will give more than enough feeder space for the hens.
With the community nest concept, hard wooden slats are used that give the possibility to have a low slat height of 14” (35 cm) in the first part of the production period and then raise the height of the slats very easily to 18” (45 cm) in the 2nd part of the production when the droppings are nearing the slats.
Hens have the terrible habit of producing droppings when they jump on the slats.
This gives more accumulation at the slat stepup area.
The slat height cannot be adjusted with plastic slats, and the negative points of plastic slats will be discussed in the following articles.
EVERY STAGE. EVERY CHALLENGE. EVERY OPERATION.
We’re proud to offer expanded Medicated Feed Additives and Water-Soluble solutions combined with our trusted offerings:
Medicated Feed Additives
Mineral Nutrition
Nutritional Specialty Products
Vaccines
Water-Solubles
No matter the type of operation, our portfolio of products and services offers comprehensive solutions you need to help protect the health of your flock and maximize performance.
Learn more about our expanded portfolio.
Visit us at IPPE 2025 Booth A1043
January 28-30 Atlanta,
The following table clearly compares the most simple mechanization concept with community nests. As a next step in automation, using an egg packer can increase the number of hens per person and thus considerably reduce labor costs, besides reducing the fixed costs per hen due to higher bird densities.
LABOR REDUCTION WITH COMMUNITY NESTS & EGG PACKER
Type of automation
Mechanical Feeding
All manual # of birds / person 5,000-6,000 (5.0 /m2 - 2.39 ft2/ ) 3,000 (4.5 /m2 - 2.39 ft2/ )
All mechanical with community nests
All mechanical with egg packer 10,000 - 12,000 (5.5-6.6 /m2 or 1,95-1.63 ft2/ ) 18,000 (6.0 - 7.0 /m2 or 1,79 - 1.53 ft2/ )
Reduction of labor cost is enormous with community nests!
Increasing female density is the main reason the world is adopting the European community house concept and not the US house configuration.
Increasing bird density will generally reduce the hatching egg (HE) production per hen, but it is easily compensated by the higher HE output per ft2 or per m2, reducing the overall cost / HE.
Increasing the female density does not generally affect fertility or hatchability as long as sexually synchronized active body weight-controlled males are used.
The world is moving fast towards community nests due to the possibility of increasing bird density to reduce the investment cost per hen and the cost price of the hatching eggs.
Poultry is good, people should know it DOWNLOAD PDF
H&N Technical Team
It is told that first impression is critical, and in our industry this is related with chick quality at arrival. Having this in mind, it is very important to have the procedures and tools to help us evaluate chick quality at hatchery and at arrival on the farm and with that information we can make the corrections to improve it.
At the hatchery is critical to understand if the incubation conditions were optimal and when necessary, make corrections and assure the best quality is sent to our customers.
On the other hand, during placement is important to not only assets the incubation conditions but also to check if both holding and transport conditions were optimal, and furthermore to be sure we are receiving the best quality.
Pre-incubation factors impacting on chick quality:
1
Nutrition of parent stock.
Health status of parent stock.
Quality of hatching eggs.
Egg storage and transport to the hatchery
The purpose of this technical document is to provide guidance to hatchery and farm managers to evaluate chick quality. This document is arranging the factors in three categories: preincubation, incubation and post incubation.
Incubation factors impacting chick quality: Post-incubation factors impacting on chick quality:
2
Incubation environment (temperature, oxygen, CO2, ventilation, and turning)
Eggshell temperature. Transfer.
Hatching window. Pull out time.
3
Chick holding conditions (temperature, humidity, ventilation, and light).
Transport conditions (temperature, ventilation, and humidity).
Brooding conditions during first four days after placement.
As you can imagine, chick quality starts at the breeder farm. In this technical document we will review the most important factors impacting the quality and how the hatchery managers at hatch and farmers at placement can evaluate it.
Quality of PS flock determines the HE quality
4 5 6 2 3
Management on the farm
For example, poor feeding management affecting performance and eggshell quality. 1
Age of the PS
As the flock ages the eggshell quality decreases. While hens younger than 30 weeks of age could produce more immature chicks which require the best brooding conditions (thermoregulatory system development) hens older than 67 weeks produce poorer quality eggs (eggshell and internal quality).
Health status of the PS
Any disease impacting on eggshell quality and/or internal quality (infectious bronchitis), and chick quality and livability (salmonella, Escherichia coli, mycoplasma, chicken anemia virus, avian encephalomyelitis etc.). Therefore, it is important to have a monitoring plan and evaluate the status of these diseases.
Feed quality
Is critical to follow the recommended levels of vitamins and minerals from the management guide. Not following them could decrease chick quality, fertility and/or hatchability.
Always check the label of the vitamins/minerals premix and confirm that the levels are within the optimal range. This is even more critical in hot weather conditions and/or in situations of drop in feed intake. Optimal premix storage is critical to prevent a decline in vitamin levels.
Water quality
Suboptimal water could carry diseases, toxins, or high levels of minerals. A constant water disinfection is critical to prevent bacteria or viruses. It extremely important to check periodically the microbiological and mineral quality of the water.
Characteristics and quality of hatching eggs
Egg weight: Incubate eggs of at least 50 g and from flocks of at least 22 weeks of age. Ideally incubate batch of eggs averaging 58 to 61 g (between 50 g and 70 g) with good uniformity (>90%). This contributes to have good hatchability, hatch window and chick quality.
Egg shape: depending on the abnormality is the degree of impact on hatchability (see Table 1). Only incubate normal shape eggs.
Adapted from Banday and Bakat, 2014
and the impact on hatchability
Egg shell quality: good eggshell provides protection and optimal Ca source and homeostasis for a good embryo development. Flock age, nutrition, season, and management impact on eggshell quality.
Eggs with poorer eggshell quality are more susceptible of bacterial contamination affecting chick quality (see Graph 1).
Clean eggs: Only use clean eggs. Never use floor eggs. To prevent floor eggs and improve the nest utilization, it is critical to achieve a good training in rearing. Disease, nutrition, water quality, management, cleanliness of the nest (and egg belts) and characteristics of the equipment play and important role in having clean eggs.
When incubating dirty egg there is always risk of hatching chicks that may have high morality due to bacterial diseases (see Graph 2 and Table 2).
Adapted from Sauter and Petersen, 1974
Graph 1. Percentage of eggs of different shell specific gravity containing viable Salmonella 24 hours after challenge by species of Salmonella. The higher the specific quality the less eggs positive to Salmonella.
Adapted from Mauldin, 2008 (engormix.com)
Graph 2. Impact of nest clean condition in cumulative mortality at second week.
Adapted from Mauldin, 2008 (engormix.com). Egg
Egg storage: the longer the storage the poorer the chick quality. Research done by Tona (2003) showed the longer the storage time of hatching eggs the poorer the chick quality (see Graph 3). In addition, the body weight gain at 27 days after placement is lower in chick hatched from eggs stored for a long period (> 14 days). Short Period of Incubation During Egg Storage (SPIDES) can be used to mitigate the impact of long storage.
Score 100%: best chick quality. Therefore, poorer quality means lower %.
Table 2. Effect of nest clean status in bacteria count and cumulative mortality at second week.
Transport the hatching eggs in clean and disinfected truck. Designated only for hatching eggs transport. The temperature should be within the range of 18 to 22°C and relative humidity between 40 to 60%.
Adapted from Tona et al., 2003.
Condensation on the eggshell must be avoided at all costs because moisture on the eggshell impairs the natural mechanism of defense of the egg against microorganism and provide optimal conditions for microorganism multiplication. The table below can be used to predict if condensation will occur when no additional measures are taken.
Adapted from Gerd de Lange, 2011 (poultrysite.com). For a wider range of temperatures and humidities use a psychometric graph.
Table 3. Prediction whether sweating will occur if no additional measures are taken.
In part two we will cover pre- and
factors that affect
quality. Stay tuned for the next edition.
Christine Laganá
São Paulo Agribusiness Technology Agency, Eastern Regional Center of São Paulo
The inclusion of lipid sources in layer diets is a common practice, as they increase energy density, improve feed conversion and the palatability of feed, and also facilitate the absorption and digestion of nonlipid components, as well as being sources of essential fatty acids.
The supply of fat-soluble vitamins and essential fatty acids;
Reduction the speed of passage, favoring digestion and absorption (Bertechini, 2012), among others.
In addition to the functions already mentioned, lipids have unique actions on the body that are only exercised by them, such as:
Promotes the absorption and use of fat-soluble substances such as vitamins, carotene and fatty acids;
Stimulation of the release of the hormone cholecystokinin (CCK), which has an e ect on increasing the release of enzyme-rich pancreatic juice;
Most lipid synthesis in poultry takes place in liver tissue. Because lipogenesis occurs almost exclusively in the liver, birds are more predisposed to metabolic disorders such as hepatic lipidosis (Bertechini, 2012).
The addition of oils or fats to the feed as a source of unsaturated fatty acids is essential to obtain adequate nutrition and production from the animals (Nogueira et al.,2014).
In the period before the start of laying, pullets reduce the feed consumption due to stress metabolic production, this fact suggests the need to raise the dietary energy levels so that the bird can accumulate reserves for production.
Stress affects the physiology of poultry at all stages of rearing, producing metabolic oxidation reactions which, at high levels, impair performance and increase predisposition to disease, since oxidative stress alters the functioning of the immune system (Souza, 2022).
An important caveat that is common to non-ruminants is that the fatty acid profile of the diet directly influences the lipid profile deposited in both the carcass and the eggs.
Eggs are considered to be one of the most complete foods, because as well as being a natural food and a low-cost source of protein, they also contain fats, vitamins, minerals and are low in calories.
It is an important reserve of nutrients favorable to health and preventive of diseases, acting in antibacterial, antiviral activities and in the modulation of the immune system (Amaral et al., 2016).
Due to their composition, which is rich in essential fatty acids, eggs are subject to lipid oxidation as soon as they are laid.
According to Amensour et al., (2010), although oxidative processes are not seen as an obstacle, when ingredients rich in unsaturated fatty acids are added to the diet and, consequently, the production of eggs enriched in these long-chain acids, there may be a greater susceptibility to oxidative deterioration, affecting egg quality and resulting in the production of toxic compounds.
Oxidation is a mechanism that can occur in plant and animal tissues and also in by-products obtained from them, such as fats and oils.
Catalysts such as light, heat, free radicals, metal ions and pigments induce a complex process called lipid oxidation in the presence of oxygen (Laguerre et al., 2007).
Lipid oxidation during food processing and storage is of great importance. As polyunsaturated lipids oxidize, they form hydroperoxides, which are susceptible to further oxidation or decomposition into secondary reaction products such as short-chain aldehydes, ketones and other oxygenated compounds that can negatively affect the overall quality of the food, including aroma, taste, nutritional value and the production of toxic compounds (Vercellotti et al., 1992).
Exposure to light, storage conditions, processing, time and temperature of the egg can cause oxidative damage.
The use of antioxidant compounds found in the diet or even synthetic ones is one of the defense mechanisms against free radicals that can be used in the food, cosmetics and beverage industries, as well as in medicine, and medicines themselves often increase the intracellular generation of these radicals (Doroshow, 1983; Halliwell et al., 1995; Weijl et al., 1997).
Today’s market wants to ensure the reliability of the products generated by food production chains of animal origin through international certifications and regulations that even consider animal welfare as a policy of responsibility for food quality and safety.
In view of the above, there has been progress in research aimed at including viable alternative products in the diet of layers, such as plant extracts (Fukayama et al., 2005) and vitamins that have been shown to have antimicrobial and antioxidant effects and promote improvements in animal performance and immune response (Brugalli, 2003).
Minerals such as selenium, copper, zinc, manganese and iron, as well as vitamins such as C, E and A, carotenoids such as beta-carotene, lycopene and lutein, and tannins such as catechins, are notable for their role in defending against oxidation (Halliwell & Gutterdge, 1999).
Compounds found in plant cells, such as lycopene, xanthine, betacarotene, lutein, cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin and astaxanthin, which are precursors of vitamin A, are also antioxidants, as they can oxidize oxygen radicals, which is essential for neutralizing these harmful molecules (Valduga, 2009).
Phenolic substances are products of plant secondary metabolism and can be found in plant tissues, both free and bound to sugars and proteins. These substances have antioxidant properties, as they act as oxidationreduction agents, contributing to the neutralization of free radicals in the body (Silva, 2010).
With the aim of improving bird performance and egg quality due to the presence of antioxidant activity, many studies have been carried out on the inclusion of plant compounds in layer feed.
Radwan et al. (2008) found that the inclusion of oregano, rosemary, thyme or saffron can improve the productive performance of hens, help the oxidative stability of eggs and reduce the oxidation of yolk lipids during storage.
Özeku et al. (2011) reported a significant improvement in albumen height and Haugh unit values in eggs from layers fed a mixture of oregano, laurel, sage, myrtle, fennel and citrus essential oils.
Zhao et al. (2011) concluded that adding ginger powder to layer feed increased the mass of eggs produced and lipid stability of the feed and eggs during storage.
Freitas et al., (2013) found that the addition of synthetic antioxidants or mango ethanolic extracts improved the quality of the albumen and the lipid stability of the eggs.
Papadoupoulou et al. (2017) observed that the inclusion of polyphenols contained in olives in the diet via drinking water of laying hens helps to reduce the damage induced by oxidative stress.
Supplementation with tea polyphenols (600 mg/kg) partially alleviates the adverse effects, which were reflected by increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes, up-regulating the expression of antioxidant-related genes in laying hens and increasing free amino acids in the egg yolk, according to studies by Zhou et al., (2021).
Plant extracts and essential oils have long been used in human medicine and, more recently, have been exploited in animal production.
Other compounds, such as passion fruit seed oil, which is rich in tocopherols, phytosterols, carotenoids and phenolic compounds, and is known to protect the body against the action of oxidants, have had their antioxidant action investigated (Da Silva & Jorge, 2017).
The use of phytogenic feed additives or herbal plants has recently received much more attention as alternatives to traditional antibiotics, probiotics and prebiotics and will certainly be a healthy alternative for quality poultry production in the near future.
Biozyme Technical Team
Digestive health is key to successful animal production.
At BioZyme® Inc., we know that good digestive health, as well as nutrition, are the cornerstone of a good health protocol.
Nutrition and health work synergistically. It’s fairly well-known that 70% of the immune system is found within the digestive system, and a healthy immune response leads to a healthy animal.
That is one reason that BioZyme® places such an emphasis on digestive health in its nutrition products and feed additives.
BioZyme® has served the agriculture industry as an innovator in fermentation and animal health for more than 70 years. What started as a small feed store in the Saint Joseph, Missouri Stockyards has flourished.
Today, BioZyme® is a global company that manufactures and sells its own line of fermentation products, AO-Biotics®, produced from a proprietary strain of the Aspergillus oryzae, a filamentous fungus.
In addition to these products, the BioZyme® family of brands manufactures supplements and animal health products for a variety of animals, including cattle, swine, poultry, sheep, goats, horses, dogs and cats.
At BioZyme®, our motto is to provide care that comes full circle. That means we want to provide the best possible care to every animal every day. We do that by providing research-proven products to solve animal agriculture’s greatest challenges.
Our mission:
An undeniable impact on the health and wellness of your animals and your business.
BioZyme® uses fermentation and knowledge to enable passionate solutions that promote healthy animals. In 1968, BioZyme®'s founder, Larry Ehlert, purchased a patent and marketing rights to an unheard-of direct-fed microbial produced from Aspergillus oryzae.
AO-Biotics® Amaferm® is a prebiotic research-proven to enhance digestibility.
It has more than 111 published and/or presented research studies proving its increase in digestibility and, ultimately, its impact on the animal.
The result of including Amaferm® in the diet can be succinctly summarized as more performance for less cost.
Today, that product is now known as a prebiotic and is marketed as AO-Biotics® Amaferm®. More recently BioZyme® has leveraged fermentation expertise to release a postbiotic for layers, AO Biotics® EQE, also derived from A. oryzae.
“Amaferm® stimulates the growth of energy-harvesting bacteria, resulting in greater volatile fatty acid production (VFA) in the rumen.
Volatile fatty acids serve as the primary energy source for ruminants, and an improvement in VFA production by 16% from feeding Amaferm is nutritionally the same as feeding a pound of DDGs per head per day,”
said Chris Cassady, Ph.D., BioZyme Director of Beef Technical Sales.
“Unlocking more energy from within affords the animal additional energy available for growth, improved body condition and an earlier onset of puberty.
Elevated energy levels have also been shown to improve the production of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), which are crucial to the effective onset of ovulation in heifers.
Obviously, these are essential for reproductive success, meaning that the prebiotic Amaferm® can help support breed-ups without any risks of grain-fed, overweight heifers.”
In 2023, BioZyme® introduced AO-Biotics® EQE, the first-and-only AO postbiotic developed specifically for layers. Unlike many other postbiotics, AO-Biotics EQE® starts with BioZyme®’s proprietary strain of AO and is tailored to address specific production challenges.
AO-Biotics® EQE is research-proven to:
Produce more sellable eggs.
Improve egg mass.
Increase productive life span.
“Through the AO-Biotics® brand, BioZyme® aims to offer a line of prebiotics and postbiotics matched to specific animal health challenges, well-being and productivity. The way we have developed these products is truly innovative and a game-changer for the industry,”
said Cesar Ocasio, Ph.D., Senior Manager of Business Development and Innovation.
BioZyme® Relies on AO-Biotics® to Accomplish its Mission
BioZyme® manufacturers innovative products for all species of animals at our locations in Saint Joseph, Missouri and Lexington, Kentucky. Our products are research-proven and powered by Amaferm® or AO-Biotics® EQE.
In addition, we provide various services and resources to producers and partners to ensure the success of their businesses. This includes hay testing for customers and easy-to-use gestation calculators for your cattle, sheep and goats.
Will you be attending IPPE? Stop by the BioZyme® booth to learn more about AO-Biotics® and our fermentation expertise.
Our team is excited to attend IPPE on January 28-30 in Atlanta, Georgia USA. Stop by our booth A2746 at the world's largest annual poultry and egg, meat and animal food industry event of its kind to visit with us about AO-Biotics®.
Guillermo Tellez-Isaias Department of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, Fayetteville, AR, USA
CHRONIC INFLAMMATION: MODELS AND BIOMARKERS
There is a delicate balance between pro-oxidant and antioxidant production during homeostasis, but chronic inflammation promotes an overabundance of ROS molecules, which can be severely damaging.
Extracellular pathogens that are too large for phagocytosis are targeted by ROS (Griffiths, 2005).
When stimulated, RNS target intracellular/phagocytosed pathogens, extracellular pathogens, and tumor cells.
Macrophages, the primary producers of ROS and RNS, detect and activate to eliminate bacterial infection via LPS recognition, a necessary and beneficial host mechanism (Lauridsen, 2019).
However, prolonged exposure to high doses of LPS triggers inflammatory mediators (cytokine cascade), causing oxidative stress (Figure 2 & Figure 3).
Nevertheless, it is essential to recognize that all forms of chronic stress (biological, nutritional, physical, chemical, or psychological) induce prolonged inflammation (Khansari et al., 2009).
In the GIT, chronic inflammation affects the integrity of the intestinal barrier by disrupting tight junction proteins leading to increased intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”) (Fasano, 2020), causing bacterial translocation and systemic inflammation (Ilan, 2012).
Researchers may use enteric inflammation models in a laboratory setting to examine alternative growth promoters and dietary supplements for poultry. Several intestinal inflammatory models have been developed, including:
High NSP diets
Dexamethasone
Dextran sodium sulfate
Feed restriction/ fasting
Heat stress
Gut integrity relies on its barrier function, which can be compromised by various stressors such as oxidative stress, certain components in soy, indigestible proteins, heat stress, and infections like histomonosis.
The removal of antimicrobial growth boosters has led to new multifactorial diseases in broilers, causing significant health and performance issues.
Dysbacteriosis, characterized by an imbalanced gut microbiota, leads to issues like reduced nutrient absorption, inflammation, and leaky gut, negatively impacting gut health.
Poor gut health is linked to conditions such as bacterial chondronecrosis, osteomyelitis lesions, and lameness in broiler chickens.
The gut barrier plays a crucial role in maintaining health by defending against environmental antigens.
Its first layer consists of mucus, bacteria, IgA, and mucin, while the second layer is formed by intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) that separate the intestinal lumen from deeper tissues.
These cells aid in nutrient absorption, tissue repair, and regulate barrier permeability through tight junctions, preventing bacteria and antigens from crossing into the body.
As the primary contact point with the external environment, IECs serve as the host’s frontline defense.
Despite not being of hematopoietic origin, intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) play a vital role in innate immunity within the gutassociated lymphoid tissue (GALT).
They recognize pathogens through immune receptors, release antimicrobial molecules, and secrete hormones, neurotransmitters, enzymes, cytokines, and chemokines that link innate and adaptive immune responses.
Damage to IECs can compromise the gut barrier, disrupt mucosal immune balance, and lead to chronic intestinal and systemic inflammation.
Research has shown that inflammatory mediators such as hormones, free radicals, enzymes, and proinflammatory cytokines—triggered by infections, diet, or stress—can disrupt the protein networks connecting epithelial cells.
Additional factors like feeding oxidized fats in poultry and swine increase intestinal cell turnover and apoptosis, while mineral nutrition also impacts gut barrier integrity.
Metals, like pro-oxidants, may cause oxidative stress and damage the barrier.
Zinc, however, plays a key role in tight junction formation, and its deficiency has been linked to impaired barrier function.
Loss of mocus layer
Permeability
Epithelial permeability & bacterial entry
propria expansion
and cytokines
1. Gut barrier failure. Infectious agents (bacterial, protozoal, viral, helminth) in poultry stimulate host proinflammatory responses. Gut barrier failure caused by Eimeria tenella. Mucosa and submucosa of ceca with infiltration of inflammatory cells, ulceration, and necrosis. Arrows show the presence of the parasite. Hematoxylin and eosin staining (created with BioRender.com).
The proper functioning of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) is essential for animal health, welfare, and performance.
Gut health involves factors like oxidative stress, genetics, diet, the gut barrier, and the interactions between the brain, gut microbiota, and immune system, all interconnected through complex mechanisms.
Identifying key aspects of GIT functionality helps researchers develop biomarkers to evaluate intestinal performance in poultry.
Table 1. Biomarkers to evaluate intestinal integrity in chickens.
Assesment
Serum intestinal permeability
Intestinal permeability
Serum intestinal antioxidant activity / Serum and tissue inflammation
Cellullar and inmunological intestinal inflammation (mRNA)
Serum enterocyte biomarkers / Serum inmune biomarkers
Circulating inflammatory and redox markers
Indirect way to evaluate shortchain fatty acids
Serum and feces intestinal inflammation
Due to the complexity of the GIT, multiple biomarkers are often required.
Research on “biomarkers for intestinal integrity in poultry” has identified numerous studies, highlighting the need for effective models to induce gut inflammation and assess the effects of nutraceuticals as alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters.
Table 1 summarizes some related and reliable biomarkers to evaluate intestinal integrity in chickens
Biomarker
Flurescin isothiocynate dextran
Mannitol and rhamnose sugars
d(-)Lactate
Fibronectin, intestinal alkaline phosphate, and lipocalin-2
Faecal ocotransferrin
Liver bacterial translocation
Griess, superoxide dismutase, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, total antioxidant capacity
Isoprostane 0-iso-PGF2α
Prostaglandin CF2α
Endotoxin and α1-acid glycoprotein
Interleukin (IL)-1β, tumour necrosis factor-α and IL-10
IL-8, IL-1β, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β4, and fatty acid-binding protein
Extracellular signal-regulated kinase
Citrulline
IFN-γ
Secreroy IgA
IL-3, Il-6, IL-4, Il-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α, chemokines (CCL-20), and NOD-like receptor farnily pyrin domain containing three inflammasomes
Peptide YY
Calprotectin
Reference
Baxter et al. (2017); Gilani et al. (2017a); Vuong et al. (2021)
Giliani et al. (2017b)
Zou et al. (2020)
Barekatain et al. (2020)
Goossents et al. (2018)
Latorre et al. (2014, 1015)
Baxter et al (2019)
Petrone-Garcia et al. (2021)
Chen et al. (2028)
Zou et al. (2018)
Chen et al (2015)
Baxter et al. (2019)
Mullenix et al. (2021)
Tellez et al. (2020)
Dal Pont et al. (2021)
Hans Selye’s 1975 article, “Confusion and Controversy in the Stress Field”, highlights challenges in stress research, including unclear definitions and inconsistent terminology.
Selye defines stress as “the body’s nonspecific response to any demand” and discusses the concept of “eustress” or positive stress, which some believe enhances performance and well-being.
He argues that all stress can be harmful if not managed, emphasizing the importance of finding an optimal, tolerable stress level.
Selye advocates interdisciplinary research, integrating psychology, physiology, and endocrinology, and encourages viewing stress as a holistic phenomenon that encompasses both biological and psychological dimensions.
Stress in humans is described as a disruption of homeostasis, which can manifest as both systemic and local stress. A specific stressor may trigger local stress, but exceeding a certain threshold typically activates the HPA axis, leading to a systemic stress response.
Stress is classified into three types: stress (inadequate stress), eustress (good stress), and distress (poor stress).
While stress and distress can impair physiological functions and cause pathology, eustress may promote health by optimizing equilibrium.
Chronic neuroendocrine-immune interactions in poultry can lead to infections, reduced feed intake, impaired feed conversion, and carcass condemnation.
Heat stress is a major ecological stressor in chicken farming, affecting performance, immunity, and food safety.
It triggers changes in proteins, lipids, and metabolic rates, with heat shock proteins produced as a defense.
The hypothalamus and HPA axis play key roles in maintaining homeostasis by releasing steroid hormones and regulating stress responses.
The activation of glucocorticoids helps liver gluconeogenesis and boosts epinephrine production, supporting the animal’s adaptation to stress.
Maintaining an adequate stress level is crucial for biological resilience.
Despite the known link between stress
Necrotic Enteritis
Highly pathogenic
Avian Influenza Viurs
Figure 2. Necrotic enteritis may cause necrosis and severe inflammation in the intestine and bacterial liver translocation, resulting in fever, depression, and reduced performance. Infections with highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza (i.e., H5 or H7 subtypes) cause 100% mortality without clinical signs or lesions. In both examples, the excess proinflammatory cytokines or “cytokine storm” is responsible for those impressive effects. Image shows extensive mortality related to H7N7 (A/ chicken/Jalisco/CPA1/2012) in a commercial flock in Mexico “Courtesy of Dr. Victor Petrone” (created with BioRender.com).
Flock density, or the number of chickens in a given space, can increase social stress among birds, as higher density leads to more competition for resources like food, water, and space.
This stress can reduce immune function, making chickens more susceptible to diseases like enteritis, and can also lead to behaviors such as feather pecking and cannibalism, which create entry points for infections.
High density can also worsen heat stress, which negatively impacts feed intake, egg production, and increases mortality.
Managing flock density carefully, including providing adequate space and resources, is essential to reduce social stress and improve chicken health. Additionally, factors like breeder age, chick gender, and breed are related to chick mortality, and stress during transport to processing plants requires attention.
Inflammation is the final stage of the stress response, triggered by cellular harm, and is regulated by immune and endocrine mechanisms.
Stress activates the autonomic nervous system and hormones like adrenaline and glucocorticoids, preparing the body for “fight-or-flight.”
While this response is meant to be short and acute, prolonged stress keeps stress hormones and pro-inflammatory molecules circulating, leading to oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and damage to cells and mitochondrial membranes.
The cell and mitochondrial membranes, composed of a phospholipid bilayer with proteins and transport channels, regulate cell functions like adhesion, ion conductivity, and signaling.
Prokaryotes, the simplest organisms, have provided insights into the cell membrane’s extraordinary properties, acting as both a protective barrier and the “brain” of the cell.
Prokaryotes, including bacteria, use their membranes for nutrient acquisition, communication, and information processing, much like a neurological system.
Any damage to the membrane can severely affect the cell’s function, whether in prokaryotes or eukaryotes.
According to the endosymbiotic theory, essential eukaryotic organelles evolved from symbiotic relationships between prokaryotes. Around two billion years ago, a free-living bacterium was incorporated into a host cell, forming a symbiotic relationship.
Mitochondria and chloroplasts are believed to have evolved from proteobacteria and cyanobacteria, respectively, through symbiotic relationships that significantly impacted evolution.
Mitochondria, known as the “powerhouse of eukaryotic cells,” are crucial for energy production, signal transduction, and apoptosis. Mitochondrial dysfunction is linked to various diseases in animals and plants.
Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress, caused by reactive oxygen species, disrupt cell and mitochondrial membranes, affecting cell function. This phenomenon, recognized as a major health risk in humans, also applies to poultry.
Lipid peroxidation
The balance of microbiomes on mucosal surfaces is crucial for biological and physiological processes.
Dysbiosis, or the imbalance of microbiota in the GIT, leads to intestinal inflammation and compromised intestinal integrity.
The composition of feed and the viscosity of intestinal contents affect microbial development, particularly in the small intestine.
High non-starch polysaccharide diets in monogastric animals require exogenous enzymes to prevent negative effects like intestinal irritation and decreased performance.
Studies in chickens and turkeys have shown that rye increases digesta viscosity, bacterial translocation, and microbiota changes, impacting bone mineralization.
The nutritional value of grains influences energy use in chicken diets.
Multiorgan failure
Figure 3. Excessive and chronic oxidative stress causes damage and lipid peroxidation of the mitochondrial and cell membranes. Alteration of these vital organelles affects all cells and tissues, causing apoptosis, necrosis, and multiple organ failure [a) intestine; b) thymus; c) kidneys; d) lungs; e) bursa of Fabricius; f) liver; g) muscle; h) brain/cerebellum; i) spleen; j) heart] (created with BioRender.com).
Low-grade intestinal damage and inflammation reduce feed efficiency, which is costly for the poultry industry.
Both endogenous and exogenous factors, including biological, nutritional, environmental, and chemical stressors, can disrupt the GIT’s balance, leading to inflammation, dysbacteriosis, and impaired nutrient absorption.
Chronic stress further exacerbates these issues.
Determining the optimal microbiome for chickens involves several steps:
1 2 3 4 5
Reviewing existing literature on beneficial microbes.
Analyzing fecal or intestinal samples to establish a healthy microbiome benchmark.
Conducting experimental trials with different diets or supplements.
Using metagenomic sequencing for a detailed understanding of microbial diversity.
Analyzing data to identify patterns linking the microbiome to chicken health and productivity. This ongoing research aims to enhance poultry health and performance.
Intestinal homeostasis refers to a balanced state without inflammation or excessive secretions.
While physiological inflammation helps maintain tolerance to dietary antigens and gut microbiota, chronic inflammation can lead to excessive fluid secretion and nutrient diversion to the immune response.
This process can impair growth, cause muscle catabolism, and reduce body weight gain.
Damage to the intestinal barrier further reduces nutrient absorption and increases permeability.
Factors like high NSP diets without added enzymes can cause dysbiosis and inflammation, negatively affecting poultry performance.
In poultry, increased water excretion can be due to physiological diuresis or diarrhea,
Effects of chronic stress and intestinal inflammation on commercial poultry health and performance: Part II DOWNLOAD PDF
Edgar O. Oviedo-Rondon
Prestage Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC
Like other businesses, poultry production faces challenges, including cash flow, inflation, economic downturns, and market volatility. Despite all those constant challenges and variations, poultry businesses remain profitable. However, it is always necessary to adopt methodologies to optimize productivity and profitability.
Common advice to maximize productivity, profitability, and economic sustainability is to improve efficiency, reduce waste, manage costs, review pricing, and improve infrastructure in the long term.
Improving environmental sustainability is also related to reducing waste, emissions, and energy use.
Feed is the most important factor affecting production costs and sustainability structures worldwide.
The most effective method to reduce feed costs is through feed formulation.
Least-cost feed formulation based on linear programming reduces costs but does not consider maximizing business profitability.
Least-cost feed formulation has also consolidated the idea that nutrient levels are fixed, obtained from Tables or Breeder Guides, making them an absolute requirement.
Those “nutrient requirements” for poultry are values determined for maximum biological performance in multiple independent experiments. This means that a maximum of three nutrients have been determined under similar conditions.
Still, profit-maximizing energy and nutrient levels are only known once an econometric analysis is made for each market and production site.
The most profitable nutrient levels could be variable, depending on changes in feedstuff cost and price of the poultry products to sell (live birds, carcasses, cut-up parts, eggs in shell or egg mass).
A common issue with least-cost feed formulation is that when the prices of protein sources like soybean meal rise, the mathematical solution tends to reduce dietary amino acid density to obtain cheaper feed.
However, broilers are sensitive to amino acid intake.
At lower amino acid levels, they may dictate a lower growth rate, yield, higher feed conversion ratio, and lower income, reducing profitability.
On the other hand, profitability may be reduced if the same dietary nutrient density is maintained when the poultry final product price reduces. Bird stocking density and final market weight can also affect the optimum dietary nutrient densities to maximize profitability.
Instead of looking only at the least cost, a more appropriate approach is to apply feed formulation to maximize profit. Feed formulation to maximize margin or profit can employ nonlinear programming, computer models linked to optimizers, or a combination of both systems.
Nonlinear programming allows for the inclusion of profit equation(s) instead of a fixed desired nutrient density.
This means the desired nutrient levels are determined at the time of feed formulation instead of using pre-established “nutrient requirements.”
The profit equation can be obtained by fitting a quadratic curve between feeding cost per unit of gain or income over feed cost versus energy, nutrients, and ingredient levels.
These curves are fitted to obtain the function that will produce the economic optimums as energy or nutrient levels vary. Quadratic equations can be used, but other mathematical functions may be more appropriate or accurate to fit this experimental and econometric data.
This methodology requires obtaining data on animal responses to each energy, primary nutrient, and even main feed ingredient levels.
However, these responses vary with environmental conditions and, over time, with the evolution caused by constant genetic selection.
Then, obtaining information from classical dose-response experiments is not sustainable anyway.
Dadalt et al. (2015) compared linear and nonlinear formulations to feed broilers stocked at two densities. A high stocking density (HDH) with 14 chickens/m2 and a low density (LDH) with 10 chickens/m2 were evaluated. Both formulation systems promoted similar broiler performance. However, the high-density feed using linear formulation reduced body weight in 42-day-old males, but not when nonlinear formulation was used.
The non-linear feed formulation at LDH yielded the highest feed conversion ratio values and the lowest cost/kg broiler for both sexes.
The results demonstrated that the feed formulation system that yields the best performance or lowest feed conversion ratio is only sometimes the most profitable.
Almeida et al. (2019) also evaluated the value of non-linear programming for laying hens under three market scenarios. They compared it with diets formulated with linear programming following nutrient requirement recommendations of the Brazilian Tables, the genetic strain guidelines, or mathematical models to maximize performance.
These feed formulation systems did not influence Haugh unit, albumen height, or external egg quality parameters.
However, feed formulation affected yolk weight, albumen weight, yolk color, yolk percentage, albumen percentage, and performance parameters.
However, the treatments or feed formulations that maximized live performance did not result in higher profitability.
The maximum profitability was obtained with the diet formulated for a favorable market scenario using nonlinear programming, which generally maintained the maximum profitability under each condition.
The results of these effects will not be discussed here due to the space available, but in general, feeds formulated using linear programming based on nutritional requirements obtained by mathematical models and the genetic strain manual promoted better performance results because these feeds were nutritionally denser.
In conclusion, non-linear programming is a tool to maximize profitability.
However, data is required to calculate the bird’s response to energy and nutrient levels under diverse conditions, making it difficult to obtain most of the time by empirical observations or experiments. These estimations can be obtained with mathematical models.
A few academic research groups and several private companies, such as NOVUS International, Cargill, Aviagen, and Trouw Nutrition, have proposed multiple models. Many of these models are not longer available due to their low industry adoption or because they were not updated.
Table 1 shows a comprehensive but not exhaustive list of the published mathematical models that were or are publicly accessible and have implications for poultry nutrition optimization.
Some models use a series of equations based on empirical research obtained with large datasets.
In contrast, other models are mechanistic based on theory and research designed to estimate nutrient utilization and deposition parameters instead of only observing animal performance.
Some of these models included an econometric component or module seeking to optimize profitability and minimize environmental impact rather than only maximize animal performance.
One of the main issues that has limited its implementation, validation, evaluation, and further development has been the need for more education on model development and utilization for practical nutritionists.
The limited understanding of these models’ principles and solid scientific basis comes from the narrow visualization of the multitude of disaggregated scientific publications throughout several decades without references to link them to particular model development.
Models based on empirical research or collection of observations without seeking explanatory factors have become outdated and underutilized.
Mechanistic models that describe the main factors causing a response continue to be developed and can be used with the new genotypes while improving prediction accuracy.
Most mechanistic models currently are fixed or employ a single average value, representing the average bird in a group. Stochasticity or potential variability is implemented by simulating multiple times the potential distribution of the population or by altering the most significant factors causing variability.
The EFG Software and the AVINESP models are two of the most welldeveloped models.
https://efgsoftware. net/ VISIT WEB
https://www. poultrymodel.com VISIT WEB
These models share similar theoretical or conceptual aspects but differ in some estimation methodologies and terminology.
TARGET
Broilers
MODEL NAME
FORTEL*
CHICKOPT*
IGM*
OmniPro II (Omnus a NOVUS International Company) Project closed almost 20 years ago.
Emmans, 1981, 1994; Emmans and Fisher, 1987
Hurwitz et al., 1978, 1980; Talpaz et al., 1986, 1991
Harlow and Ivey, 1994
Pesti et al. (1986)
Liebert et al. (2000)
King (2001)
Guevara (2004)
EFG Broiler Model
Aviagen (Alabama, USA) with LIDM Software from Israel
Feed2Gain
Panorama*
Layers
INAVI, CENTRAVI
Gous, 2006, 2007, 2012; Chrystal, 2022
De Beer, 2009, 2010; Talpaz et al., 2013
Ivey and Harlow, 1991, 1992, 1994Mehr
Cargill Animal Nutrition (USA, Brazil)
Nutreco - Trouw Nutrition
Danisco Animal Nutrition (UK)
Bignon et al., 2007; Mathiaud et al., 2013; Meda, 2011, 2014; Nugues et al., 2013.
Broiler growth model, LAVINESP, UNESP, Brazil Sakomura et al., 2015; Hauschild et al., 2015; Azevedo et al., 2021a,b; Reis et al., 2022; Reis et al., 2023a b; Reis et al., 2022.
Reading Model
Economic Feeding and Management of Commercial Leghorns
Fisher et al., 1973
Hurwitz and Bornstein, 1977
Roland et al., 1999; Ahmad and Roland, 2001, 2003a, b; Sohail et al., 2003
Egg production model, LAVINESP, UNESP, Brazil Bonato et al., 2016; Alves et al., 2019; Neme et al., 2005 Sakomura et al., 2005, 2019; Da Nóbrega et al., 2022; Reis et al., 2023c.
Broiler breeders EFG
Turkeys
Japanese quail
Ostriches
Gous et al. 2015b
Egg production model, LAVINESP, UNESP, Brazil Sakomura et al., 2003; 2005a; Sakomura, 2004.
Hurwitz et al., 1983a, b. Emmans, 1989
Rivera-Torres et al., 2011a, b, c
Da Silva et al., 2019
Gous et al., 2008; Olivier et al., 2024
* Models not longer available to the public or not updated in the past 10 years.
Table 1. Poultry nutritional models developed.
Gerry Emmans, Colin Fisher, and Rob Gous from South Africa developed the EFG models for broilers, broiler breeders, turkeys, and swine. Currently, only the EFG broiler and pig growth models are available. Dr. Nilva K. Sakomura directed the development of the AVINESP models at the State University of São Paulo in Jaboticabal, Brazil.
The AVINESP models have been developed for several species: broilers, broiler breeders, pullets, laying hens, and quails. AVINESP has broiler and layer models available to the public.
These two mechanistic models are based on the theory developed by Gerry Emmans and collaborators in Scotland.
This theory suggests that accurate mathematical descriptions of animal genotypes and genetic growth potential are critical to determining energy and nutrient requirements in any animal species.
Accurate mathematical descriptions of egg production are also crucial for determining nutrients according to the stage of egg production and egg mass.
Figure 1. Quadratic relationship between balanced protein level and profitability for live broilers. Prices in Brazilian reals. Balanced protein based on recommendations of Aviagen for Ross broilers. Source: Sakomura et al., 2024.
The EFG and AVINESP mechanistic models were developed with a logical series of modules to predict metabolizable energy (ME), net energy (NE), amino acids (AA), calcium and phosphorus needs to meet growth and egg production targets.
The equations that describe the utilization of energy and nutrients have been published and described. Examples of their ability to predict optimum levels of amino acids to maximize profitability depending on the market objectives have been published.
In Figures 1 and 2, readers can observe the differences in calculations to estimate the level of balanced protein required to maximize profitability.
Price of commercial parts for Sep-2024 (in R$/kg): Breast-13.26, leg-7.82 , wing 14.59, remainder 3.32
Figure 2. Quadratic relationship between balanced protein level and profitability for processed broilers. Prices in Brazilian reals. Balanced protein based on recommendations of Aviagen for Ross broilers. Source: Sakomura et al., 2024.
We still need a better understanding of metabolic processes and efficiencies for nutrient utilization or the impact of other environmental, nutritional, and antinutritional factors and feed additives.
When using models, it is essential to remember that only the average bird is simulated. The population distribution of the flocks must be included to make the results applicable to commercial conditions.
Electronic sensor technology, extensive data analysis, and machine learning can improve the accuracy of mechanistic models.
There is a consensus that modeling is more sustainable for conducting poultry nutrition research. It has become a powerful tool for optimizing nutrient excretion and maximizing profitability for more sustainable poultry production.
How can poultry nutrition be optimized to seek profitability and sustainability? DOWNLOAD PDF
The 2024 NASEM report on “Nutrient Requirements” of Poultry (10th revised edition) recommended that academia develop mathematical models. However, the NASEM committee report did not address the critical econometric aspect that needs to be included in poultry nutrition.
Nevertheless, poultry models that the industry could evaluate are already available, as the reader can observe in the information presented here.
The feedback obtained in the validation of these models can help to improve their precision and accuracy.
However, adopting these new methodologies for feed formulation in the poultry industry is as critical as developing models.
Consequently, as previously indicated, more information and education are necessary on this topic, and we hope this article contributes to this knowledge.
Fowl typhoid and pullorum disease in birds are caused by the host-adapted Salmonella serovar Gallinarum (SG) biovar Gallinarum and Pullorum, respectively, resulting in high mortality rates and substantial productivity losses.
Nevertheless, due to its limited host spectrum, Salmonella serovar Gallinarum does not represent a public health risk.
Santiago Uribe-Diaz, DVM, MSc
Department of Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, U.S.
Instead, the non-adapted Salmonella, including serovars Enteritidis (SE) and Typhimurium (ST) are the most prevalent serovar-causing human salmonellosis outbreaks.
Interestingly, approximately 25% of human salmonellosis cases are derived from poultry meat and egg consumption.
Therefore, the global economic and public health risks that Salmonella possesses, as well as the need to reduce its prevalence in the poultry industry, are evident.
Worldwide efforts to control hostadapted and non-adapted Salmonella throughout the poultry production chain are intensifying.
Many pre-harvest (prophylactic and therapeutic) and post-harvest intervention methodologies have been developed to reduce Salmonellas’ impact on the poultry industry and public health.
Among the different on-farm prophylactic alternatives to control Salmonella in poultry (Table 1), vaccination can be highlighted as the chief strategy.
However, research is still needed to improve the effectiveness of current commercial vaccines.
Table 1. On-farm alternatives to control Salmonella spp. infections in Poultry.
The poultry industry and food safety organizations urge researchers to develop novel Salmonella vaccine formulations capable of enhancing the protective outcomes achieved by existing commercial vaccines and vaccination programs.
To support this goal, it is essential to understand the strengths and limitations of currently available commercial vaccines.
Sanitation and disinfection
Water decontamination
Gastrointestinal colonization
Rodents and insects’ control
Parasites control
Dietary modification
Prebiotics
Probiotics
Postbiotics
Synbiotics
Organic acids
Antimicrobial peptides
Essential oils
Plant extracts
Bacteriophages
Phage lytic enzymes
Live-attenuated vaccines
Vaccines
Inactivated (killed) vaccines
Salmonella vaccine administration in poultry intends to decrease the Salmonella loads in the birds and environment, thereby preventing disease, interrupting the transmission cycle within and between flocks, supporting sustainable financial results in poultry production, and improving food safety.
Since oral and respiratory mucosa are common infection routes for Salmonella, the next generation of Salmonella vaccines must offer effective protection specifically in mucosal surfaces.
Moreover, the ideal Salmonella vaccine must protect against systemic infection, be irreversibly attenuated for humans and animals, have high efficiency in reducing fecal excretion and egg infection, be compatible with other Salmonella control measures, and provide a costeffective bacterial control.
For a vaccine to accomplish its purpose, it must effectively interact with the bird’s innate and adaptive immune system and trigger a robust, specific, multilayered, and long-lasting protective immune response without inducing adverse effects on the health or productive parameters of the flocks.
For this aim, vaccines against Salmonella in poultry have been developed mostly using whole bacterial cells, either live-attenuated or inactivated (killed).
Though, attempts have been made to produce subunit vaccines with results showing good mucosal, cellular and humoral immune responses, as well as protection against SE and ST challenges.
Additionally, the innovative ghost vaccines have been demonstrated to be efficacious in generating humoral and cellular immune responses and eliminating systemic infection of SE and ST wild-type strains.
In the early 1800s, it was demonstrated that repeated bacterial passages could reduce their disease-causing potential through cumulative mutations, some of which decrease the expression of genes involved in bacterial virulence.
Following this discovery, various approaches have been employed to create live-attenuated Salmonella strains. By mutating genes in wild parental strains related to host survival, metabolism, and virulence factors, these strains have been constructed as candidates for liveattenuated vaccines.
On the other hand, the inactivated Salmonella vaccines’ initial work was done by Dr. Smith during the mid-50s.
From that point onward, the inactivation process of microbial cells has been done using formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, acetone, and other chemicals such as β-Propiolactone, as well as physical methods such as heat.
Recently, technologies such as electron beam or gamma radiation have been studied for bacterial inactivation.
These new technologies act quickly by damaging the double-strain and singlestrain DNA within the bacterial cell.
Thus, opposite to chemical inactivation, they protect the antigenic surface protein integrity during the inactivation process, allowing the initiation of an enhanced humoral and cellular immune response in vaccinated birds.
For example, Ji and colleagues (2021) found that SG inactivated with gamma radiation initiated a higher humoral immune response than a live-attenuated SG 9r vaccine and a higher cell-mediated immune response than a formalininactivated vaccine.
Regarding live-attenuated bacterial vaccine strain construction, novel molecular biology techniques permit researchers to better understand the virulence factors involved in Salmonella infection at the gene level and to selectively inactivate, delete and transpose virulence genes.
Then, enabling the design and construction of site-specific and scarless genetically modified live-attenuated Salmonella strains suitable for vaccine development due to their antigenicity, immunogenicity and safety. In addition, Salmonella live-attenuated strain constructions can serve as a platform to express immunogenic protein epitopes for the design of heterologous recombinant subunit vaccines.
As previously mentioned, Salmonella vaccines, either live-attenuated or inactivated, should ensure correct activation of both innate and adaptive arms of the birds’ immune system to produce protective and long-lasting immunity.
Live-attenuated Salmonella vaccines have been shown to effectively induce both cellular and humoral immune responses.
Nonetheless, the characteristics and extent of these responses depend on considerations such as the constructed strain, administration route and the use of immunostimulants.
Administering attenuated Salmonella strains through the oral route permits the pathogen-host interaction to happen in a natural path. It mimics a classic infection which has been noted as an advantageous feature of live attenuated vaccines.
However, live-attenuated Salmonella vaccines can also be parenterally administered, showing good humoral and cell-mediated responses.
Nevertheless, from a different perspective, live-attenuated Salmonella strains remain capable of reverting their virulence and pathogenicity, although researchers have been trying to ensure irreversible attenuation by different means with variable results.
Due to the inherent risks of using attenuated Salmonella vaccines, the poultry industry has been using inactivated (killed) Salmonella vaccines, and researchers are working on developing newer inactivated vaccines as safer alternatives to attenuated-live vaccines.
Opposite to attenuated live vaccine strains, inactivated Salmonella vaccine strains lack the capacity to cause an infection that initiates a robust immune response.
Therefore, inactivated vaccines must be administered parenterally and in combination with an adjuvant proven to effectively initiate and sustain a sufficiently strong activation of the innate and adaptive immune systems.
As the role of adjuvants in inactivated vaccines is crucial to accomplishing the vaccination objective, it remains an active area of research.
The immunological outcomes of using the parenteral route for vaccination with inactivated Salmonella vaccines are significantly different from those triggered by an orally administered live-attenuated vaccine capable of mimicking the Salmonella infection process.
Although inactivated vaccines have been shown to trigger a potent humoral systemic immune response, it has been demonstrated that these do not strongly stimulate IgA production.
Thus, these vaccines fail to protect the mucosal lumen and epitheliums from Salmonella colonization.
Likewise, memory cell-mediated immune responses are not stimulated by inactivated Salmonella vaccine administration, which reduces their effectiveness.
Then, although not yet commercially available, new adjuvants allowing inactivated Salmonella vaccines to be orally delivered are being developed.
For example, chitosan nanoparticles used as an adjuvant for oral delivery of inactivated Salmonella vaccine in broilers have been proven to trigger protective antigen-specific humoral systemic and mucosal immune responses, thus reducing the Salmonella loads after challenge.
In addition, an innovative technology is being tested to enhance the potential of parenteral-administered inactivated Salmonella vaccines to elicit humoral and cellular protective immune responses.
In this regard, an experimental inactivated Salmonella vaccine design based on the use of agonistic-CD40 DNA aptamers efficiently stimulated the production and release of IgA into the gastrointestinal tract of broiler chickens, significant T(CD4+ and CD8+) and B-cell responses after boost vaccination, and significantly reduced the cecal Salmonella loads in chickens following a challenge with SE (Uribe-Diaz et al., unpublished; Omolewu et al., unpublished).
Controlling host-adapted and non-adapted Salmonella serovars in poultry remains a critical public health and economic priority.
Traditional vaccine approaches, such as live-attenuated and inactivated vaccines, have played a central role in mitigating these risks.
Live-attenuated vaccines can induce strong, broad immunity by mimicking natural infection pathways but carry risks of reversion to virulence.
On the contrary, inactivated vaccines, while safer, primarily elicit humoral responses and often lack the robust mucosal and cellular immunity needed to effectively control Salmonella colonization in the gut.
Recent advances in molecular biology and immunology are transforming vaccine development for Salmonella control. These technologies enable the design of genetically stable, attenuated Salmonella strains that are highly immunogenic and with a minimized risk of virulence reversion, presenting a promising approach for safer liveattenuated vaccine constructs.
Advancements in Poultry Salmonella Vaccine Strategies: Balancing Safety and Immunogenicity DOWNLOAD PDF
Simultaneously, innovations in adjuvants and delivery systems—such as nanoparticles and agonistic-CD40 DNA aptamers— can enhance the efficacy of inactivated vaccines. These advancements can improve mucosal immunity and cellular responses, making inactivated vaccines more effective at preventing Salmonella colonization and shedding.
In developing more efficient vaccines and effective vaccination programs, understanding the immune responses triggered by Salmonella vaccines is crucial.
Research into the vaccine’s mechanisms to stimulate both mucosal and systemic immunity is essential for optimizing protective effects.
Combining live and inactivated vaccines, guided by this understanding, offers synergistic protection, exploiting the broad immune responses to live vaccines alongside the targeted, safe immunity of inactivated vaccines.
Together, these novel approaches bring the poultry industry closer to developing next-generation Salmonella vaccines and adapted vaccination programs that enhance safety and immunogenicity.
Continued research and optimization in this area may yield strategies that not only protect poultry health and productivity but also reduce the risk of Salmonella transmission to humans, supporting public health and food safety initiatives globally.
Nicolò Cinotti
Secretary General of the International Poultry Council
Food is perhaps the most essential of our primary needs, and something we are all deeply connected to.
Food is a theme woven throughout our history. Scarcity has sparked wars, hunger has driven migration, customs define our communities.
Over the years, we have learned and cultivated various tools and systems as a means of meeting our needs, but as the global population (and therefore demand) has increased, these systems have had to adapt to continue meeting those needs.
That necessity has led to the development of international trade – a vast, complex system that supports nations in balancing their resources, allowing for the movement of food to places where local production alone may not suffice.
The evolution of the food system has brought with it critical challenges and responsibilities Certainly, the rise of vegetarianism and veganism have added a layer of complexity to the debate, presenting alternative viewpoints that challenge the role of meat in a thriving, resilient and sustainable food system.
Issues like food safety, food security, animal health and welfare and sustainability have rightly emerged as focal points, considered equal in importance to production itself.
They are a given for those producing our food, but they are not always well understood by those consuming it.
As a result, food production faces a serious discrepancy: the gap between its internal efforts to stay on top of discussion and public perception, often shaped by incomplete or misleading information.
Over time, this has led to something of a paradox, one that is incredibly difficult to escape. Food production, key to providing our essential needs, has become a frequent target of criticism in the public area – and the poultry sector is no exception.
It is a complex paradox, one that our sector exemplifies particularly well, whereby there is conflict between the perception we have of ourselves, versus how we are perceived externally.
We want to make it clear that we are not telling people what they should or should not eat. We respect everybody’s choice. However, what we do not want to see are those who do not recognise the values that define the poultry sector telling our story for us.
Despite playing a crucial role in our global food security, providing nutritious, affordable and widely accessible food, the image of poultry production not kept pace with its contributions.
We must acknowledge that, as a sector, we bear some responsibility in this space. We have taken a backseat when it comes to communicating what we stand for.
But we cannot let our sector, and by extension our role in the food system, be defined by external narratives and misconceptions.
Unlike some of our biggest critics, we will not take the approach of talking about (and finding flaw in) what others do.
Our communications must be about what we do, and what we do really well.
Therefore, we must leverage our accomplishments, progress, and successes to shape our position in the broader conversation, ensuring that poultry’s contributions are recognised and valued.
On the one hand, we have made remarkable strides in ensuring global food security through:
Resource optimisation.
Innovation.
Investment in research and development.
On the other, we have failed to actively involve the public in evolution of our processes.
As a result, many consumers are unaware how much modern-day poultry production systems have changed and grown.
For instance, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data shows that greenhouse gas emissions per unit of poultry meat production have fallen by over 60% since the 1960s.
This is a remarkable accomplishment, achieved via concerted efforts across the entire production chain, from genetic improvements to optimised resource use to increased knowledgesharing.
Yet, despite all this wonderful progress, a significant gap remains between public perception and reality.
This disconnect was most evident at the recent Food System Summit, organized by the United Nations. A phrase cropping up in numerous discussions was that the food system was, quite simply, “broken.”
Net of narratives adverse to the rearing of animals for food, this raises an important question:
How can we address perception to both prevent long-term harm to our industry and the broader food system?
How can we reshape understanding of what we do, why we do it, and how we are crucial players in our global food system?
The poultry sector has long since embarked on a path of continuous improvement and greater transparency. Companies and national associations are increasingly committed to effective, open and proactive communication, understanding that this is as critical to the industry’s resilience as our technical and economic investments.
While reactive responses are necessary at times, they cannot create lasting impressions.
With the public hungry for information and for answers, we have an opportunity to position poultry as the forward-thinking, credible, and innovative industry we know it to truly be. We simply need to be braver in putting ourselves out there.
The strength of our sector lies in its ability to gather data, prioritise collaboration and, more often than not, provide a concrete answer – often before it enters the court of public opinion and ahead of regulatory mandate.
Our efforts in tackling antimicrobial use (AMU) and resistance (AMR) provides a great example, and also offers a practical model for proactive engagement.
The voluntary adoption of antimicrobial stewardship principles across our International Poultry Council (IPC) community has positioned the sector as leaders in animal health and welfare.
Early adoption combined with clear and data-driven messaging has garnered positive recognition worldwide.
This commitment to stewardship was highlighted in 2024: the USAID-led TRANSFORM project, in which the International Poultry Council (IPC) plays a key role, was included in Fortune’s ‘Change The World’ list.
This is a huge accomplishment, and one we should not shy away from talking about. It proves that co-ordinated and proactive communication holds the power and potential to shape opinion and perception.
Now, IPC’s efforts are concentrated on building on this success, ensuring continuity and coherence of intent across our membership to set more ambitious goals.
Just as we’ve led on AMU and AMR, the poultry industry is approaching challenges surrounding Avian Influenza with the same transparent and proactive nature.
It seems to us that the world forgets that the sector itself suffers the consequences of these outbreaks.
Producing safe, high quality and affordable animal protein requires a commitment to animal health and welfare, and this includes the rigorous implementation of the international standards to minimise the impact of Avian Influenza.
National guidelines and best practice then provide a clear framework within which all participants operate, ensuring each actor operates and contributes effectively to disease prevention and management.
IPC role is to advocate for a holistic approach to AI, not focusing on a single intervention, but rather taking into account all intervention tools available, and national or regional peculiarities.
Poultry has a good story to tell. But, in an information-driven world, if something is not publicly known it may as well not have happened.
Establishing trust is critical to our social license to operate in a thriving and resilient food system, and that requires us to communicate openly our values and contributions. We cannot take trust for granted.
We must continually work at it to enhance external understanding, including that of our critics. Because, whether we like it or not, building this trust is what is going to allow us to progress as an industry.
Our openness and transparency are grounded in the expertise of those working within our industry. Their knowledge, experience, and commitment to high performance are the vehicle driving poultry production forward, step by step.
We want to be able to create ways to showcase these accomplishments. As part of this process, the IPC aims to take the contributions that define our sector and share in them in global forums, advocating for poultry’s role in our wider food system.
We have an opportunity and, more importantly, a responsibility, in international settings to communicate the social, economic, and cultural value of the poultry sector. Because, if we cannot speak for ourselves, who will speak for us?
I may be biased, but I believe that we are an exciting sector, filled with great people doing incredible things all around the world.
By showcasing what we do, how we do it and why we do it, we not only can address concerns and misconceptions, but we can position poultry production as a dynamic driving force for positive change.
Committed to responsible practices and food security, we understand poultry to be key component of a resilient, global food system.
Standing firm in these commitments, I know that we can build a future where our contributions are clearly understood and valued, both within our industry and beyond.
Poultry is good, people should know it DOWNLOAD PDF
Poultry is in a unique position to demonstrate leadership within our global food system.
In our ability to produce safe, affordable, and nutritious food at scale, we offer real solutions to pressing challenges.
I believe that is our ticket to bridging the gap between perceptions of our value chain and the reality of our contributions.
Edgar O. Oviedo-Rondon Prestage Department of Poultry Science, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC
The 49th annual Incubation and Fertility Research Group meeting was held at the Limak Limra Hotel & Resort in Antalya, Türkiye, on October 3rd and 4th.
This is one of the most important meetings related to avian reproduction and incubation worldwide.
The group that organizes it is the Working Group Six (WG6) and is part of the European Federation of the World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA).
This year, 87 participants from 26 countries attended this meeting.
Thirty presentations covered topics amongst others about fertility, egg production, egg treatments during storage, incubation conditions, and data analysis. We recommend you to attend next year in Berlin.
Dr. Anais Vitorino Carvalho from INRAE presented a new strategy to diagnose sperm fertility based on proteomic methods using Intact Cell MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry (ICMMS) to an isolated cell population to describe peptides and proteins that can be better correlated to male fertility.
Dr. Carvalho also presented a new solution to remove glycerol from post-thawed chicken semen to help with the success of cryopreservation.
This new method can be processed at room temperature to restore sperm fertility, reducing 44% of the time required with the classical glycerol removal procedure.
Dr. Ophélie Bernard from INRAE discussed the value of chemerin protein as a biomarker to improve reproduction rates.
Chemerin in albumen is positively correlated (r = 0.26) with fertility rates for layer hens and negatively correlated with laying (r = -0.51), fertility (r = - 0.31), and hatchability (r = -0.29) rates for broiler hens.
Expression of this protein is higher in layer hens than in broiler hens. Chemerin was correlated with some reproductive parameters and with embryo development.
Pesticides used as fungicides (Ebuconazole), insecticides (Imidacloprid), and herbicides (glyphosate) can contaminate corn and soybeans.
The toxicity of these products is a concern in the entire animal industry.
Skarlet Napierkowska from Wroclaw University evaluated the effects of these pesticides and their mixtures below the minimum risk level for feed grains on Greenlegged Partridge rooster’s semen parameters and hormone levels during exposure and after a four-week break.
Exposure to all pesticides caused an increase in spermatocyte apoptosis and a reduction in progesterone and testosterone, but after four weeks, all parameters normalized and suggested reversible effects.
Broiler breeder stocking density
A research group from the University of Ankara led by Dr. Okan Elibol evaluated the effects of increasing 30% broiler breeder hen stocking density from 5.0 to 6.6 females/m2 during the production period between 26 and 59 weeks of age.
Increased stocking density reduced female feeder space, increased mortality (5.21% vs. 6.34%), and reduced egg production (181.5 to 177.5 eggs), hatchability, and chicks (154.1 vs. 148.3) per hen housed.
However, total egg or chick production/m2 was higher for the higher density.
Pullet hatchability and quality in Brown and Leghorn laying lines
In collaboration with Hy-Line International, our group from North Carolina State University with Edgar Oviedo presented two papers describing analyses of several databases of Hy-Line hatcheries.
This data was collected from 2013 to 2023.
Data indicated egg storage is distributed in layer lines, reaching up to 25 days.
Surface regression models were fitted to describe the effects of flock age and egg storage.
Models to predict hatchability, embryo mortality, and pullet quality were fitted for eggs with and without SPIDES per each genetic line.
A critical factor observed was the application of short periods of incubation during egg storage (SPIDES).
The positive effect of SPIDES was confirmed in all databases.
The mean Brown pullet hatchability across years and datasets remained consistently high in all three databases evaluated for eggs with six or fewer days of storage (A=41.17, B=44.49, and C=41.87, %) and Stored/SPIDES eggs (A=41.08, B=44.27, and C=42.07, %).
SPIDES and PreIncubation Warming
Profile
Orhun Tikit from Ankara University concluded that the detrimental effects of a prolonged storage period (14 days at 15 oC) might be practically ameliorated by either SPIDES (3.5 hours above 32°C eggshell temperature on day 5) during the storage period or by an extended (24 hours instead of 6 hours at 28 oC) pre-incubation warming.
The positive effect of SPIDES was more evident than the longer preincubation warming for the eggs from young breeder flocks
The SPIDES practice has been widely evaluated in broiler breeders’ eggs, with more than 35 studies published since 2011, as Dr. Dinah Nicholson from Aviagen discussed in her presentation.
However, the effects of SPIDES on hatching traits and chick quality in quails, guinea fowl, geese, and partridges have not been reported.
Dr. Kadir Erensoy from Ankara University showed the results of a test that evaluated SPIDES effects on these species and chickens.
The SPIDES significantly reduced early embryonic mortality, increased the hatchability of fertile eggs, and shortened the incubation period in all these species.
Research results related to light exposure during artificial incubation remain conflicting.
Louisa Kosin from the Roslin Institute showed data indicating benefits on body weight gain at 4 weeks post-hatch of leghorn layer chicks when eggs were exposed to full-spectrum white light for 24 hours during the entire incubation.
However, her research group did not observe effects on behavioral time budgets and activity levels as welfare parameters.
In contrast, Catharina Broekmeulen and her research team from the University of Bern detected changes in behavior due to light during incubation in a multitasking test related to latency to spot the predator and to return to pecking of laying hen chicks.
In this experiment, eggs were exposed to light continuously between 18 and 21 days of incubation.
Catharina’s team concluded that light during incubation might provide higher behavioral flexibility and better adaptation to stressful conditions and consequently could improve welfare.
However, not much emphasis was placed on performance or other health aspects.
In two presentations, Dr. Jan Wijnen from the HatchTech Group discussed a new methodology to warm slowly, eggs from 29.4 oC eggshell temperature to 37.8 oC.
The rate and duration for the transition from storage to 29.4°C eggshell temperature is of minor importance as long as condensation can be prevented.
In this experiment, it was done in five hours.
The slow warming from 29.4 oC to 37.8 oC was tested at high RH and CO2 levels for up to 8 days stepwise.
This process was compared to traditional warming, which takes 7 to 8 hours.
This new methodology increases the incubation by 3 days; consequently, it will take 24 days instead of 21 days.
However, hatchability increased between 1.2 and 21.8% by reducing early embryo mortality.
Additionally, it was shown that this methodology of slow egg warming also increases growth rate and feed intake and improves the feed conversion ratio in broilers.
Dr. Itallo Conrado Sousa de Araújo from the Federal University of Minas Gerais presented an experiment indicating that 39.5 oC eggshell temperature between days 7 and 16 for 6 hours per day was favorable to reduce chicken mortality during heat stress or post-hatch thermotolerance.
The experiment evaluated the thermal adaptation of chickens when subjected to 32 oC for 8 hours during days 21 to 28 post-hatch.
Arlette Harder from HumboldtUniversity of Berlin also discussed pre-hatching stimulation to improve broiler post-hatching performance.
The treatment consisted of increasing 1 oC of machine temperature for 2 hours daily on days 17 to 20.
This treatment improved hatchability from 87.2 to 90.4%.
However, it did not affect chick weight or quality.
But body weight gain during the first week was improved.
Dr. Barbara Tzschentke from the same research group presented the effect of this prenatal temperature training on the avian hypothalamic neurons.
These changes may explain the resistance to stressful environmental conditions such as high temperatures.
Image 1. Dr. Ampai Nangsuay, chair of WG6 since 2019, introduced the new chair, Dr. Roos Molenaar, from Wageningen University & Research.
Three young scientists received the 2024 IFRG Next Gen Funding awards this year to provide them with opportunities and nurture their future. The awardees were Arlette Harder from IASP at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Catharina Broekmeulen from the Veterinary Public Health Institute at the University of Bern, and Skarlet Napierkowsk from Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Science.
In addition, seven young scientists competed with their presentations for the Nick French Award. The 2024 Nick French Award winner was Anne Pennings from Wageningen University & Research, who presented to the group her excelllent research on “Morphological embryo development during warming of broiler eggs from storage to incubation temperature.”
The next meeting will be organized as a combined workshop from the WPSA WG6 (IFRG) and the WG12 Physiology from October 22 to 24, 2025.
The venue will be the Institute of Agricultural and Urban Ecological Projects at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (IASP), Alte Mälzerei, Seestraße 13, Berlin, Germany. You will find more information in the following months on this website:
https://ifrg.be/ GO TO WEB
A Summary of Learnings from the 49th Incubation & Fertility Research Group (IFRG) Meeting DOWNLOAD PDF
Achieve more eggs in pro table egg weight classes with Hy-Line layers. Contact your Hy-Line representative to learn more.
The circular economy bases its principles on the longer use of raw materials within a production system to make it more sustainable.
In other words, there is an efficient use of raw materials that allows them to be reused and/or recycled on a constant basis so as not to generate a large amount of waste.
According to the European Parliament, the circular economy aims to reduce waste to a minimum.
Therefore, when a product reaches the end of its life, its materials are kept within the economy whenever possible thanks to recycling. Leading to the fact that they can be productively used again and again, thus creating additional value.
In this type of economy, the following factors are related:
Raw materials.
Residual waste.
Recycling.
Collection.
Reuse/Repair of products.
Distribution.
Reprocessing.
Design.
The circular economy model is widely applied in agriculture.
However, in an industry such as the poultry industry, where chicken is the second most consumed meat in most countries and eggs are a daily food in people’s diets due to their protein content and low cost,
around 12 million tons of excrement are generated each year in countries such as Spain alone.
This translates into a problem due to the lack of storage and disposal of this waste, as well as the emission of greenhouse effect gases, which is considered a contribution of 8% by the world livestock sector.
Therefore, it is very important to apply the circular economy to make the best use of the waste generated. This allows us to be more environmentally friendly, making the industry more sustainable, generating added value to what is considered “waste”.
These excrements are accumulations of feces, feathers, food residues, litter, among others that depending on the production system of origin can be called poultry manure if it
However, if these wastes are not well handled, they become a major source of contamination due to the number of contaminating molecules they release, such as non-protein nitrogen in the form of ammonia, phosphorus, hydrogen sulfide, minerals and material not digested by the birds.
This situation affects not only the environment but also the direct workers of the farms and the surrounding communities, becoming a public health problem.
Quiñones (2017), states that processed poultry manure positively affects agricultural production and thus the supply of food to the population due to improvements in the nutritional content of crops and increased productivity.
Therefore, one of the current management of poultry manure to avoid the above is to work under the concept of circular economy in which these wastes are used either as fertilizer for crops, compost or for energy production purposes, which is considered a benefit for poultry systems, agribusiness, man and the environment.
This leads to guarantee food security thanks to the supply of products of high nutritional value for humans.
In addition, more productive crops and harvests reduce the need to increase the agricultural area and consequently there is greater soil conservation.
In conclusion, the process of transformation of poultry manure to be used in different areas of the agricultural sector is a highly effective measure that reduces pollution through its use in other production systems, as well as a reduction of waste and an economic benefit.
SECONOV is an innovative product from Zucami that is making a significant contribution to more sustainable poultry production.
Using the heat energy of the birds themselves, SECONOV - DRYING OF POULTRY MANURE offered by Zucami, allows: 24 hours to obtain a dry matter percentage of 80/85%.
Without odors, insects and gases derived from ammonia.
This product is the result of a drying process of poultry manure that allows obtaining a high-quality organic fertilizer. By using SECONOV in poultry production, a more efficient management of the waste generated by the poultry activity is promoted and, therefore, the environmental impact is reduced.
ZUCAMI has developed a treatment system that dries 85% of poultry manure and eliminates odors, insects and ammonia-derived gases: the Seconov system.
In addition, by using this product, a circular economy is encouraged, and the efficient use of natural resources is promoted, as manure becomes a valuable resource instead of being treated as waste.
SECONOV ALLOWS:
Reduction of emissions to the atmosphere.
Moisture percentage in the final product 15%-20%
Fully automated process.
Drying time 24 hours. Up to 300,000 birds per system.
Looking for a way to improve sustainability on your farm? Try Zucami’s SECONOV and turn poultry manure into a valuable resource.
References upon request to the author
Sustainability in poultry production through the efficient use of poultry manure.
DOWNLOAD PDF
AVIARY VISION for LAYERS
AVIARY GREEN WAY for LAYERS
AVIARY GREEN START for REARING-BREEDING
