Starch is quantitatively the most important nutrient in poultry diets and will to a large extent be present as intact starch granules due to very limited extent of gelatinization during pelleting. Although native starch is difficult to digest due to a semi-crystalline structure, even fast-growing broiler chickens appears to be able to digest this starch more or less completely during passage th...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate associations between poultry processing work and respiratory health among working Latino men and women in North Carolina. METHODS Between May 2009 and November 2010, 402 poultry processing workers and 339 workers in a comparison population completed interviewer-administered questionnaires. Of these participants, 279 poultry processing workers and 222 workers in the compa...

BACKGROUND A questionnaire survey was conducted to assess the biosecurity and other practices of backyard poultry holdings and knowledge and practices of poultry keepers following an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) virus in poultry in Thimphu city area, Bhutan. RESULTS The study identified 62 backyard poultry holdings in 12 settlement areas, and the owners were subsequent...

The challenges and targets facing the world's poultry science community in the immediate future are reviewed in the context of meeting the dietary needs for animal protein of the world population. The prior need to provide for the increasing demand for cereals, oil seeds, and grain legumes for human consumption is assessed at having a reasonable chance of success. If this need is met, the requi...

Mass culling is a strategy used inthe management of infectious disease outbreaks. The risk of disease spread due to animal transportation often precludes the use of slaughterhouses for this purpose, though they have been used on occasion. Consequently, culling takes place in the less-than-standardised environment on the farm. Regardless of where the cull occurs, the methods chosen to handle and...

The Joint FAO/IAEA Division of the International Atomic Energy Agency has initiated a coordinated research program (CRP) to improve family poultry production in Africa. The program assists 12 scientists working in National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) during a period of five years with research in the subject. Regular research coordination meetings bring together all participants involv...

Increased animal intensification presents with increasing risks of animal diseases. The Egyptian household poultry is peculiar in its management style and housing and this present with particular challenges of risk of infection to both the flock and humans. Biosecurity remains one of the most important means of reducing risks of infection in the household poultry, however not much information i...

Apart from industry, traffic and private households, the agricultural sector is a considerable contributor to emissions of particulate matter (PM). Agricultural activities such as plant and animal production on both farm sites and fields cause PM emissions. Although a reduction of PM emissions is observed for Europe, an increasing proportion of primary PM10 emissions originates from agriculture...