Animal Production
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This Excel workbook will allow you to fit data from nutritional experiments to several models. It includes a PowerPoint presentation that shows you how to use the Excel workbook to fit several regression models to experimental data. The models may be used to estimate nutritional requirements or the most economical feeding levels of critical nutrients. All you need is Microsoft Excel (with macros enabled), the downloadable Excel file, and some input/output data.
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In recent years, global climate change has been one of the most frequently discussed scientific ideas in the popular press. Terms like “global warming” and “greenhouse gas” have been politicized with little discussion of what they really mean, shedding more heat than light on scientific discussions of changing climate. Concerns about the relative contributions of greenhouse gases from different industries have caused much finger pointing without making it clear how the gases are produced and what options are available for management of the gas emissions. In particular, agriculture has been identified as one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, and this has caused consumers to question the production practices used in modern agricultural systems. Specific focus has been placed on cattle production because these animals digest feed by a process called “enteric fermentation,” which produces methane as a by-product. The purpose of this bulletin is to explain the basic debate surrounding methane production from livestock, in particular how it is produced in the rumen.
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This publication gives a procedure to calculate the value of broiler litter based on prevailing retail selling prices of commercial fertilizers containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
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Disposal of dead birds can be a problem for poultry growers. Typical methods of mortality disposal include burial, incineration, rendering, and composting. Many states have banned the use of burial pits that historically have been used to dispose of dead birds. Incineration can be costly and raise air quality concerns, and the decreasing number of renderers further complicates disposal. Composting is considered a positive alternative method of processing dead birds in an environmentally sound manner. This relatively inexpensive method of using dead birds has gained wide acceptance throughout the poultry industry.
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Poultry farming is the number one agricultural enterprise in Georgia. It is important to protect this vital industry by developing prudently-devised and factually-based zoning ordinances. This publication discusses components and terminology when drafting ordinances related to poultry production.
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In commercial poultry houses, bird density and distribution in drinking, feeding, and
resting zones are critical factors for evaluating flock productivity, bird health, and well-being. Proper distribution of chickens in the house greatly influences animal well-being and house environmental management. Currently, routine daily inspection of broiler flock distribution in commercial grow-out houses is done manually, which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. UGA poultry science researchers currently are developing an automated imaging system for monitoring floor distribution of chickens.Ongoing studies are focusing on detection of individual chickens with different gait scores in the research facility. It’s challenging to track individual birds with early health or welfare concerns using a computer vison-based method, but it is necessary and critical for producers to identify birds with well-being concerns and address those issues quickly.
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Georgia poultry farmers are among the best in the world at growing chickens using state of the art technology, housing systems, and best management practices. To protect this vital business for Georgia farmers, it is important that agricultural zoning ordinances be prudently devised and factually based.
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One of the most important components of a zoning ordinance for poultry farms relates to the set-back distance required for the location of poultry production houses. It is important that set-back requirements for poultry houses be based on facts rather than emotions.
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Cattle producers commonly evaluate reproductive performance by determining how many cows became pregnant during the breeding season. Although pregnancy rates are important, when the females become pregnant within the breeding season is a major component of cow-calf profitability. Cows that become pregnant early in the breeding season calve earlier in the calving season. Consequently, they have more time to recover before the next breeding season, which increases their chances of becoming pregnant and staying longer in the herd. Estrus synchronization programs have the ability of inducing estrus and can be combined with natural service to increase the percentage of cows and heifers that become pregnant early in the season. This publication describe different synchronization protocols that can be incorporated by cow-calf producers utilizing only natural service.
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