The prevalence of Salmonella from numerous sources in 32 integrated broiler operations of high- and low-performing broiler houses was characterized from four states across four seasons. Previous studies of Salmonella in broilers have been limited in scope, offering only a snapshot of pathogen prevalence as seen on a small number of individual farms. Twenty-six different sample types were collec...

The effect of a commercial organic acid (OA) product on BW loss (BWL) during feed withdrawal and transportation, carcass yield, and meat quality was evaluated in broiler chickens. Two experiments were conducted in Brazil. Commercial houses were paired as control groups receiving regular water and treated groups receiving OA in the water. Treated birds had a reduction in BWL of 37 g in experimen...

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that valuable on-farm outcome measures of broiler (meat) chicken welfare can be derived from optical flow statistics of flock movements recorded on video or CCTV inside commercial broiler houses. ‘Optical flow’ describes the velocity of imagemotion across an eye or camera and statistical patterns can be derived automatically and continuously thro...

Atmospheric ammonia is a common problem in poultry industry. High concentrations of aerial ammonia cause great harm to broilers' health and production. For the consideration of human health, the limit exposure concentration of ammonia in houses is set at 25 ppm. Previous reports have shown that 25 ppm is still detrimental to livestock, especially the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract...

Alum used for poultry houses is sold under the commercial name of “Al+ Clear” in either liquid or dry form. Alum should not be confused with other litter treatment chemicals such as “PLT” (poultry litter treatment), as PLT is comprised mainly of sodium bisulfate (NaHSO4). Although PLT is effective at reducing ammonia levels, pathogens in house, energy costs, and potentially increasing forage yi...

Emissions data for PM10 and NH3 from commercial broiler houses in central Texas were analyzed using multiple linear regressions to develop emission factors for average bird weights and interior building temperatures. The emission factor for PM10 was 318 mg PM10 bird and the emission factor for NH3 was 19.8 g NH3 bird. These results were compared to published values found in the literature. Unde...

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of providing environmental enrichment in the form of perches and string on the behaviour and welfare of commercial broiler chickens. Houses containing ~23 000 broiler chickens were assigned to one of four treatments in a 2×2 factorial design. Treatments involved two levels of access to perches (P) (present (24/house) '+P' or absent '-P') and two le...

Viral and bacterial pathogens are a significant economic concern to the US broiler industry and the ecological epicenter for poultry pathogens is the mixture of bedding material, chicken excrement and feathers that comprises the litter of a poultry house. This study used high-throughput sequencing to assess the richness and diversity of poultry litter bacterial communities, and to look for conn...

During 2008, a study has been conducted on the potential of Alphitobius diaperinus as a reservoir of many poultry pathogenic bacteria, in twenty broiler houses in the North-East of Algeria. Many groups of bacteria have been enumerated; Salmonella and thermophilic campylobacters contaminations have been searched. Both adults and larvae carried and harbored multiple species and numbers of poultry...