Poultry Resources
-
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.
|
-
Your coop is ready. You’ve built a covered run or exercise yard to keep your chickens safe from predators and wild birds that carry diseases. Your chicks are old enough to move outside, and you’re eagerly awaiting your first fresh eggs.
In the meantime, your chickens are producing something else on a daily basis: manure. How do you handle all of that poultry poop so that your neighbors don’t complain about the smell and the flies?
One good answer is composting. Properly composted poultry litter—manure mixed with bedding material, such as pine shavings—is a valuable soil amendment. However, just as it takes care and management to get your chickens into laying condition, it takes care and management to compost the litter from poultry housing environments.
|
-
Amino acids are essential building blocks of proteins and are obtained from plant and animal products. Some amino acids can be synthesized by the chicken, while others (essential amino acids) must be supplied in the diet. In organic poultry production, the sources of these essential amino acids must be organic. This publication compares the amino acid content, digestibility, and availability of organic soybean meal with conventional soybean meal.
|
-
Biosecurity refers to procedures used to prevent the introduction and spread of disease-causing organisms in poultry flocks. Because of the concentration in size and location of poultry flocks in current commercial production operations and the inherent disease risks associated with this type of production, it is imperative that poultry producers practice daily biosecurity measures.
|
-
Research on improving broiler housing is ongoing. Energy costs are becoming more significant to the grower’s bottom line and housing construction, equipment and operation will be paramount in helping to make sure the houses are operated as efficiently as possible. As technology and equipment is redesigned and developed, researchers will continue to examine how broiler housing can be heated, cooled, and built in such a way that modern broilers continue to reach their genetic potential using the most economical and efficient methods.
|
-
White striations in broiler breast meat tend to reduce customer confidence because severe white striping means that the cooked meat will be tougher than meat with low white striping. There is also higher fat content in meat with severe white striping. Consumers will not buy broiler breast meat with high fat and moderate to severe white striping because it is inferior in quality and nutritional value. This can cost the poultry industry significantly. Research has shown that this undesirable trait is particularly prevalent in broilers that have grown to a high body weight over a short period of time. Further research is needed to develop growing and feeding regimens to produce a heavier bird without changes in muscle quality, such as white striping.
|
-
Bin composting daily mortality can be a useful, cost-effective management tool when practiced correctly. However, it can be environmentally harmful if it is not managed and monitored properly. This publication shows the necessary steps to obtain a compost product from daily poultry mortality using a bin composting method.
|
-
This module describes the role of energy in the body, how much energy is contained in our foods, and how to correctly identify the key nutrient classes that our bodies require from the foods we eat. All of these components are related to the general makeup of a commercial poultry diet. The module is designed to be one in a series of publications to supply relevant educational content related to the poultry industry to agricultural teachers, STEM teachers, and the general public.
|
-
New feed ingredients are evaluated and introduced to the feed industry every year. The evaluation process is necessary and includes feeding birds different levels of the test ingredient to estimate the maximum safe level (MSL). The MSL is usually estimated with a multiple range test, ignoring the fact that this test is inappropriate for this type of feeding trials where the independent variable is continuous. This paper describes the use of the Maximum Ingredient Optimization Workbook (MIOW) in estimating the MSL and determining the optimal combination or ingredient levels and replications for most efficient experimental design of future feeding trials. The MIOW calculates the results and the related descriptive statistics (SD, SE, Cl, and R2) based on simulation and non-linear regression models (broken-line linear and broken-line quadratic models).
|