Crossbreeding has been the breeding method of choice for several species in plants and livestock. In plants, the main reason for crossbreeding is to exploit heterosis effects which can be maximized via the use of highly inbred parental strains. In livestock, notably in poultry and swine, positional effects of pure-bred parents of crosses are well known and hence crossbreeding systems are set up...

Demand for livestock products, including poultry, is expanding in West Africa as a result of population growth, increased urbanization, and rising incomes. Trade liberalization has had differing effects on poultry markets in the region, with some countries experiencing large import flows of frozen poultry from the European Union and others receiving very little. A 2005 analysis from the Pro-Poo...

Although strategic thinking on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) has prioritized reducing exposure to human feces in order to limit diarrheal infections, recent research suggests that elevated exposure to livestock-particularly poultry and poultry feces-may be an important risk factor for diarrhea, environmental enteric disorder (EED) and respiratory infections, all of which may seriously re...

Certain synthetic and naturally occurring chemicals, particularly those found in some range plants, may interact with livestock and poultry in the presence of activating light to produce photosensitization. Such photosensitization may have serious implications for livestock producers as a result of causing reduced performance of and even death of affected animals. The mechanisms producing photo...

Why is Poultry Welfare in develoPing countries a concern? The poultry sector is one of the most rapidly growing livestock sectors worldwide: between 1961 and 2001 the number of poultry slaughtered annually increased by 621 percent. Although industrialized countries have much higher average per capita consumption of most poultry products, production in developing countries is increasing rapidly....

(2) (3) These are not presented in the form of practical allowances. Hence, in practice, safety margins will be allowed to take account of such factors as variations in availability of nutrients in different samples of feeding-stuffs, possible losses during manufacture and storage of food, breed and individuality of animals, environmental circumstances and standards of husbandry. livestock has ...

Many studies tested different feed additives, among these additives, humic substances (HS) have been used in livestock and poultry diets. Humic substances commonly present in nature as they are created from the organic matter decomposition, and are normally found in the soil and natural water. Active components of HS consist of humic acid (HA), humus, ulmic acid, fulvic acid, humin and certain ...

Any deficiency in trace element content of commercial poultry diets will decrease their performance. To prevent this situation it is necessary to supplement trace minerals in poultry diets to allow the modern birds to reach their genetic potential. The NRC publication as the most famous reference for livestock and poultry nutrients requirement has no recommendation for some less needed trace mi...

Livestock represent a fundamental economic and nutritional resource for many households in the developing world; however, a high burden of infectious disease limits their production potential. Here we present an ecological framework for estimating the burden of poultry disease based on coupled models of infectious disease and economics. The framework is novel, as it values humans and livestock ...