Photoperiod is an important factor in stimulating broiler performance in commercial poultry practice. However, the mechanism by which photoperiod affects the performance of broiler chickens has not been adequately explored. The current study evaluated the effects of three different photoperiod regimes (short day (LD) = 8 h light, control (CTR) = 12.5 h light, and long day (SD) = 16 h light) on ...

In Malawi, just like any other country, nutrition remains one of the challenges that indigenous chickens experience under smallholder management system. The birds are dependent on scavenging feed resources which is inadequate and chickens sometimes are supplemented with maize bran and left over’s depending on the availability. This results in low productivity in indigenous chickens. Indigenous ...

In order to design a new Salmonella enterica vaccine, one needs to understand how naive and immune chickens interact differently when exposed to S. enterica. In this study we therefore determined the immune response of vaccinated and non-vaccinated chickens after intravenous infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis). Using flow cytometry we showed that 4 days post ...

The Toxoplasmatinae parasites Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum and Hammondia spp. have carnivores as definitive hosts that shed the parasite oocysts in their feces. Birds that feed directly from the soil, such as chickens, are exposed to infection and may serve as indicators of the presence of the parasite in the environment and as a source of infection for other animals. The aims of this st...

Little is known about broiler chicken ranging behaviour. Previous studies have monitored ranging behaviour at flock level but whether individual ranging behaviour varies within a flock is unknown. Using Radio Frequency Identification technology, we tracked 1200 individual ROSS 308 broiler chickens across four mixed sex flocks in two seasons on one commercial farm. Ranging behaviour was tracked ...

background: misoprostol, a prostaglandin e1 analogue compared to prostaglandin e2, has the advantage of being inexpensive and stable at room temperature, with its proven efficacy and safety. however studies on the effect of ph on the efficacy of misoprostol have yielded conflicting results. thus its use in the induction of labour in patients with premature rupture of membrane requires further i...

This study was designed to investigate the expression of spur gene and its effects on body weight linear measurements Nigerian indigenous chickens in Benue state, Nigeria. Four hundred (400) mature were used for this study. Data collected using weighing balance with accuracy 0.1 Kg; (shank length, thigh girth, toe length) taken a measuring tape, while shank thickness measured Vernier Calipers. ...

Two trials utilizing two corn diets and four wheat diets were conducted. In Trial 2, all chicks were crop-infused at 9 d of age with Eimeria acervulina. In both trials, a broth culture of Clostridium perfringens was mixed with the diets for 3 consecutive d. Necrotic enteritis lesion scores were lowest in chickens consuming the corn diet with no C. perfringens and highest in chickens fed the whe...

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) signaling pathways are the first lines in defense against Salmonella enteritidis (S. enteritidis) infection but the molecular mechanism underlying susceptibility to S. enteritidis infection in chicken remains unclear. SPF chickens injected with S. enteritidis were partitioned into two groups, one consisted of those from Salmonella-susceptible chickens (died within 5 d...