The Poultry Podcast Show

Poultry diseases can lead to significant economic losses for producers and health risks for both birds and humans. This is why biosecurity is crucial in poultry production: it is what makes maintaining healthy flocks and market access, along with preventing the spread of diseases, possible. In this episode, Dr. Jon Moyle discusses his experience with biosecurity measures and improvements in the pr...

The gut microbiome of birds plays a crucial role in maintaining their overall health and performance. Since its development is influenced by a variety of factors, including genetics, diets, and exposure to pathogens, understanding those factors is essential to promoting gut health. In this episode, Dr. Douglas Korver discusses the role of the gut as an immune organ, aspects that affect the immune...

When it comes to poultry, the physical quality of feed is a critical factor for optimizing broiler performance, because feed particle and nutrient distribution can affect growth and efficiency. Thus, we can enhance the profitability of the flock by improving the physical quality of the feed, increasing nutrient intake, and reducing feed waste. However, to achieve those goals, we need to carefully...

Mycotoxins are often present in poultry diets and can pose a significant challenge. That is because co-occurrence of mycotoxins reduces the tolerance levels of individual mycotoxins; in other words, multiple mycotoxins in poultry feed, even at subclinical levels, can exacerbate mycotoxin pathology and lead to necrotic enteritis. In this episode, Dr. Revathi Shanmugasundaram discusses her research...

Calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) play vital roles in various physiological processes in poultry, including bone and feather growth, muscle contractions, and energy metabolism. Bearing that in mind, it is important to consider that feed type and form, along with the presence of other dietary components, can alter the absorption of P and Ca from the GIT. Thus, predicting the requirements of birds for...

The focus of research on diseases lies primarily on the immune response to infection and pathogenesis. That is because pathogens often affect the metabolism of their hosts by targeting their immune systems, both of which are extensively intertwined. So to better understand disease pathogenesis and potential interventions, we need to study diseases from the perspective of immunometabolism. During t...

It is common knowledge that the US and European poultry industries are quite different. In the US poultry industry, eggs are often sent to large hatcheries. In Europe, we have seen on-farm hatching emerge. On-farm hatching is a revolutionary Dutch system developed to solve certain problems with transporting and hatching broiler chicks. In this episode, Dr. Hilde Van Meirhaeghe shares her experienc...

The overuse of antibiotics has led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in poultry production. However, there are some additives, like probiotics and prebiotics, which can be used as alternatives to reduce the need for antibiotics. In that sense, how can we determine if feed additives are helpful for birds? Simply put, maintaining a healthy gut is crucial for the overall well-being...

Do you know what poultry pathology is? It is the area that involves studying diseases that affect birds. Diagnosing those diseases is an important step in controlling and preventing outbreaks, since the environment, viruses, bacteria, and parasites can all affect poultry and, so that treatment and control are effective, obtaining an accurate diagnosis as soon as possible is critical. In this episo...

The purpose of broiler and breeder nutrition and management is to ensure that the birds receive adequate nutrition and care as to support optimal growth and production. It can include selecting appropriate feeds, formulating diets, implementing feeding and watering systems, and monitoring the health and welfare of the birds. In order to perform those processes, statistical and computational techni...

The quality of chicken meat is an important factor for the poultry industry and its consumers. In that sense, defects are a common concern, and they include white striping, woody breast, and spaghetti meat – which can affect the texture and tenderness, key aspects, and decrease the value of the product. Such defects are caused by muscle abnormalities that may occur during the growth and developmen...

Increasingly, genomics is used in poultry breeding to improve the efficiency and productivity of chickens and other poultry species. The poultry industry can benefit from genomics by identifying and selecting traits that increase growth rate, feed efficiency, and disease resistance. As a result, new poultry breeds can be developed that are better suited to the industry's needs, improving poult...

Poultry sustainability is a growing concern within the poultry industry as consumers and regulators demand more environmentally friendly and sustainable practices. There are currently several initiatives aimed at improving poultry sustainability, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, decreasing the use of antibiotics, and improving waste management. A growing global population and an increasi...

After the 2015 avian influenza outbreak, many changes needed to be implemented in our poultry farms to protect our birds. In order to avoid repeating the mistake, it becomes essential to understand what was wrong. Now we see more clearly why it is important to maintain communication between regulatory agencies, commercial producers, and backyard producers. In this episode, Dr. Abby Neu Schuft disc...

What comes to your mind when someone talks about poultry veterinary practice? Well, I know it can be a broad term. The method of poultry veterinary medicine includes all aspects of preventing, managing, diagnosing, and treating diseases, disorders, and injuries in animals. And during practice, we have to consider aspects of rearing, nutrition, reproduction, and so on. But how is it in real life? I...

Dealing with extensive housing systems for laying hens is no easy task, and changing the production system is just as hard. Lately, we’ve been seeing some movement towards conversion from conventional systems to alternative cage-free systems for laying hens, which has been driven by attempts by the industry to answer new consumer demands and behavior changes. To achieve that goal, we must consider...

The standard method for assessing fertility involves counting the sperm penetration holes in the inner perivitelline layer or measuring sperm mobility. However, little is known about the proteins involved in either assessment. Nutrition is also an important aspect of poultry reproduction, and feed restriction has been successful in improving broiler breeders' reproductive efficiency. In this e...

Collecting poultry data is essential to improve production. That’s even more important when discussing quantitative genetics and genomics of complex traits. This research allows us to apply and develop efficient statistical learning methods for analyzing genomic data. We can integrate this and sensor-generated data into machine-learning algorithms for precision poultry farming, such as feeding beh...

How does a university research feed mill work? As far as the routine goes, feed mill researchers conduct experiments, facilitate the manufacture of research diets to meet internal or external demands, and deal with day-to-day operations associated with budgeting, maintenance, and human resources, for example. All of it with the aim of advancing science in this field. However, what are some of the...

It’s always a good idea to keep an eye on what is going on in the egg world. In order to keep producing in the most efficient manner, we must understand the current economic situation. People might think understanding the egg economy is not a big priority, but we do need to know a bit about egg prices and cost fluctuations. In particular, we need to understand how the market, prices, and costs dif...

Precision poultry farming utilizes a variety of tools, technologies, and even procedures to optimize the production and the environment – including the response of birds to it. The goal here is to achieve the highest performance, welfare, and profits possible. As a matter of fact, we’ve been seeing an increasing rate of research and technologies being developed that aim to improve poultry producti...

Nutrition is a key to success in poultry production. That means that every process involved with nutrition is crucial to ensure the best outcomes – and that’s where the feed mill comes in. Understanding and improving feed mill processes and regulations, feed milling operations, ingredient and feed quality, and feed safety are essential for supporting the poultry industry. In this episode, I talk t...

As we discuss the future of poultry production, animal welfare always comes up as a hot topic – but what do we really know about it? Is it possible to understand what and how a chicken feels? Measuring emotion and affective state in chickens is quite a novel and complex field of study in poultry welfare. And that’s the central theme of this episode: the nuances and difficulties in evaluating the e...

It is possible to work in a variety of areas related to poultry production, but the goal is always the same - achieve the best possible outcome for the animals, producers, and consumers. Our role as technical support for poultry production requires us to be adept at these aspects and find a balance between them. In this episode, Dr. Bruce Stewart-Brown and I discuss aspects of animal care practice...

Poultry production includes more than just one species. Each one of them has its own characteristics, so production for each species is conducted differently. There are many differences between turkeys and chickens when it comes to nutrition, general management, facilities, and behavior, so the more you know about the particularities, the more effective your production will be. In this episode, Dr...