Five clinically normal chickens from three farms (farm A, farm B, and farm C), for a total of 15 clinically normal chickens, were examined bacteriologically. In a similar manner, five dead chickens with lesions of peritonitis from each of the same three commercial egg-laying operations were selected for bacterial culturing. Escherichia coli were isolated from the cloaca in 14 of 15 healthy chic...

In a flock of artificially reared turkeys originally consisting of 85 birds and reduced during the summer and fall by deaths and withdrawals for experimental purposes to 42 birds, five cases of blackhead occurred. These appeared during the months of July, September, and October. In four, Heterakis was searched for and found. In 38 birds from this flock killed for food during November and Decemb...

BACKGROUND Most previous analyses of scrapie outbreaks have focused on flocks run by research institutes, which may not reflect the field situation. Within this study, we attempt to rectify this deficit by describing the epidemiological characteristics of 30 sheep flocks naturally-infected with classical scrapie, and by exploring possible underlying causes of variation in the characteristics be...

Group foragers may assess patch quality more efficiently by paying attention to the sampling behavior of group members foraging in the same patch (i.e., using ‘‘public information’’). To determine whether red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) use public information to aid their patch departure decisions, we conducted experiments that compared the sampling behavior of crossbills foraging on a two-p...

Many regulatory and diagnostic programs for the detection of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis infection in commercial poultry flocks have relied on rapid Pullorum agglutination tests to screen birds because of the shared antigens of S. enterica Enteritidis and S. enterica Pullorum and Gallinarum; however, the use of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format affords better ana...

Feed intake is the major factor that influences both the body weight gain and feed efficiency in meat-type poultry. Because so many factors can influence feed intake, it is often difficult to correct a problem of poor feed intake unless a complete review of feed and management practices is made. Management and flock health issues are usually more likely to reduce feed intake than dietary factor...

An explorative field study was carried out to determine risk factors for Salmonella infections in commercial laying hen flocks. For this purpose, 29 laying hen farms, including farms using conventional and alternative housing systems, were intensively sampled. An on-farm questionnaire was used to collect information on general management practices and specific characteristics of the sampled flo...

Pregnancy disease (pregnancy toxemia, twin lamb disease, lambing sickness, lambing paralysis or lambing ketosis) typically affects ewes during the last 2 to 4 weeks of pregnancy and is a common cause of ewe and lamb loss in Michigan flocks. Overconditioned or thin ewes, usually pregnant with multiple fetuses, are most commonly affected and clinical cases are generally limited to older ewes duri...

This study approaches the interrelation patterns between composition of milk and whey, curd yield, chromaticity, syneresis, technological quality Manchega sheep using multivariate factor analysis. In addition, effect main husbandry components (flock, prolificacy, season year, stage lactation, parity) on common latent factors that define pattern variation was assessed. For this purpose, 1,200 in...

Salmonella spp. are important food borne pathogens worldwide that frequently infect poultry flocks. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Salmonella spp. colonization in broiler flocks in Shiraz (southern Iran) and to find the possible association of infection status with some potential risk factors including vaccination program and use of antibiotics. During O...