The effect of different doses of alpha-galactoside (RFOs) preparations from Pisum sativum L. cv. Opal, injected into eggs during embryogenesis, on maintaining a high number of bifidobacteria, selected chicken broiler traits and the lipoprotein level of blood were studied. Two independent experiments were conducted. In the first, Ringer water solution containing 1.763 mg/egg of fructooligosaccha...

While measures to control carcass contamination with Salmonella at the processing plant have been implemented with some success, on-farm interventions that reduce Salmonella prevalence in meat birds entering the processing plant have not translated well on a commercial scale. We determined the impact of Salmonella vaccination on commercial poultry operations by monitoring four vaccinated and fo...

This study aimed to assess the effect of the number of straw bales (SBs) provided on the behaviour and leg health of commercial broiler chickens. Houses containing ~23 000 broiler chickens were assigned to one of two treatments: (1) access to 30 SBs per house, '30SB' or (2) access to 45 SB per house, '45SB'. This equated to bale densities of 1 bale/44 m2 and 1 bale/29 m2 of floor space within h...

Contrary to a commonly held belief that broiler chickens need more space, there is increasing evidence that these birds are attracted to other birds. Indeed, commercially farmed birds exhibit a range of socially facilitated behaviours, such as increased feeding and preening in response to the presence of other birds. Social facilitation can generate feedback loops, whereby the adoption of a par...

This study applied a non-parametric method to analyze the efficiency of farmers, discriminate efficient farmers from inefficient ones and to identify wasteful uses of energy in order to optimize the energy inputs for broiler production. Data were collected from 44 broiler farms in six villages in Yazd province (Iran) by using a face-to-face questionnaire performed in January– February 2010 peri...

A line-scan machine vision system and multispectral inspection algorithm was developed and evaluated for differentiation of wholesome and systemically diseased chickens on a high-speed processing line. The inspection system acquires line-scan images of chicken carcasses on a 140 bird/min processing line and is able to automatically detect individual birds entering and exiting the field of view ...

Abdominal skin temperature of healthy broiler chickens was determined by thermography to estimate the normal range of between- and within-bird temperature variation. Effects of potential confounding factors, such as bird's contention duration, abdominal side, age, and time of day, were also estimated. Mean skin temperature was estimated from thermogram pictures by computer image analysis of a p...

The objective of this study was to determine if a diet supplemented simultaneously with vitamins C and E would alleviate the negative effects of heat stress, applied between 28 and 42 days of age, on performance, carcass and meat quality traits of broiler chickens. A total of 384 male broiler chickens were assigned to a completely randomized design, with a 2×3 factorial arrangement (diet with o...

Since meat from poultry colonized with Campylobacter spp. is a major cause of bacterial gastroenteritis, human exposure should be reduced by, among other things, prevention of colonization of broiler flocks. To obtain more insight into possible sources of introduction of Campylobacter into broiler flocks, it is essential to estimate the moment that the first bird in a flock is colonized. If the...

The experiment was performed with a total of 180 day-old, ROSS 308 combination, meat-type hybrid chickens that were divided according to sex into the control group (C1 and C2 with 30 and 30 , respectively) and two experimental groups: GLY-P1 and P2 with pure glycerol (30 and 30 ), and GLY-R1 and R2 with raw glycerol (30 and 30 ). The chickens received three feeding mixtures during the experimen...