PHT GLOBAL Archives - Poultry Health Today: Recent Episodes
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The post Managing protozoal diseases in turkeys: There’s a lot we need to learn appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The frequency of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreaks is on the increase in the US with 6 of the past 8 years experiencing some form of HPAI.
Unfortunately, increased frequency paired with an unusually wide range of hosts creates a difficult combination for the US poultry industry, reported Erica Spackman, DVM, US National Poultry Research Center, USDA-Agricultural Research Service.
“Avian influenza is a virus that keeps changing, and variants emerge with different genetic and biological properties that cross to different animals,” Spackman said.
“If influenza has a mission statement, it’s here to reproduce,” she added. “It wants to propagate its genetic material. Survival of the fittest fits it well. Influenzas have been around forever, and it’s one of the first viruses described in the 1930s.”
How variants developOne of the most important mechanisms used by a virus to generate genetic diversity is reassortment, which requires two different viruses to infect a cell at the same time. As a result, the progeny virus can have genetic characteristics of either parent, Spackman explained.
“In the current H5 outbreak internationally, the virus is reassorting and just trading out different N genes,” she said.
“There will be some that are not viable and will die out. Then there are the super flus, which are better adapting to the host.”
Another method that creates variants is the mutation process.
“What happens is the de novo generation of mutants where they pop into existence just out of errors in virus replicating,” Spackman said.
“If you pair that with selection for a new host or immunity, you almost get a filter effect where you have a narrowing of the genes, but they work better in the new system. That’s how selection occurs in tandem with the de novo.”
A third method that creates variants occurs when two genes splice together. “H7 has the most recombination and becomes highly pathogenic,” she added.
What’s happening in natural host species?“The selection pressures are really quite limited, but they have vast genetic diversity and have occurred over time by the virus replicating for years and years in ducks,” Spackman explained.
“The virus has become adapted to the host and environment. Genetic changes do occur, but it is relatively slow and mostly random.
“All our genetic variation comes from wild waterfowl,” she added. “Those are birds carrying all the genetic diversity for flu. That even includes poultry and chickens not being natural hosts.”
There’s not a lot of data about host adaptation to influenza, but one adaption was noted from data in 2014 to 2015. The infectious dose for chickens, turkeys and ducks was lower for the high-pathogenic strain than for the low-pathogenic strain.
“The other selection pressure, natural immunity, will not be a concern for chickens and turkeys with HPAI because it will kill them,” Spackman said.
Environmental pressures on HPAIThe Achilles heel for the virus, however, is it is easily killed by environmental pressures like temperature, different substrates where it’s found and disinfectants.
“Viruses have a limited repertoire to avoid being inactivated,” Spackman said.
“Viruses don’t have the same ability to avoid things that are a problem like bacteria does. We will probably never see it evolve to get around our treatments.”
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The US egg industry is in the process of transitioning to cage-free egg production, but many questions remain about the best practices and facilities for these types of production systems. Researchers like Janice Swanson, PhD, Michigan State University, are working with the egg industry to find the answers.
“Scientists often walk this tightrope,” Swanson said. “New technologies develop at faster rates than we can do the science. Therefore, it is very important to have connections with industry and the producers…so we can work at a faster pace and get information that’s coming in from the ground level.”
Based on questions received from the egg producers, Swanson and her colleagues compiled a list of research needs to find the answers. While it is not a complete list, it provides a snapshot of what producers are currently concerned about.
Nesting spaces“Nesting space comes up all the time,” Swanson explained. “We hear there’s quite a bit of work looking at nest design and curtains.
“We know hens desire a darker place to lay. If curtains don’t extend down far enough to block the hen’s view, the hens won’t settle into laying as well.”
Nest substrate is another unanswered question. Some guidelines discourage straight wire and plastic-coated wire, Swanson said. Astro turf used to be recommended but is quickly soiled. Another option is expanded plastic flooring that allows manure to pass through.
Then there’s the question of floor space versus nest space and why it isn’t all considered living space, she said. Also, strains of hens will use space differently.
“When we ask producers about what kind of systems they are using, we see a lot of different [ones],” Swanson said. “I’m beginning to think one size does not fit all.
“Identifying and validating outcomes-based measures to assess whether a nest design and the provision of floor space is working well together could be helpful to egg producers and auditors of hen welfare.”
Lighting optionsNew technologies like pulse-alternating lighting are reported to have a calming effect on laying hens, but research to verify it is still underway, Swanson said. These lights also are easily increased or decreased for crews to work.
“The other part is placement of lights so hens can navigate the system,” she said. “It is important to place lights in certain places like feeders, waterers and so on. But there is a learning component to it.”
Lights should gradually be brought up in the morning and gradually dimmed at night, but some research indicates there’s a higher rate of injury during those times, she added. Some people speculate the lights are too low when hens are searching for a place to roost.
Litter area requirements“We get asked if litter area is 15% or 30%,” Swanson said. “We don’t know. Broilers have great literature on litter use, but here we have different questions because it’s a different configuration.”
In addition, there are hen differences. White hens get in the litter, synchronize and do dusting together, and tolerate large numbers of hens around them. But brown hens don’t tolerate having many other hens near them when dusting, Swanson said — a difference that has implications for litter requirements.
“There is still much to learn about strains of hens and their adaptability to different cage-free system designs,” she said. In addition, producers may find the best hen strains for cage-free production do not have the egg-quality attributes their customer requires. More research is needed in this area.
For more information, read, “What we do and don’t know related to cage free egg production research,” by Janice C. Swanson, PhD.
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Listen to or download the podcast A disease commonly seen in turkey and broiler flocks can also affect layers, meaning that producers should look out for its distinctive signs.
Clostridium septicum dermatitis was recently found across multiple sites of a single company, Michaela Olson, DVM, of Wilson Veterinary Care, told Poultry Health Today. The diagnosis began with a mortality spike and unusual feedback when dead birds were sent for further analysis.
“The farm sent in whole birds to the lab, and they came back with the lab saying ‘these birds are just too decomposed to even look at; please send in fresh birds.’ So they sent in more birds, and it just kept repeating itself,” Olsen said.
“Finally, there was a diagnostician at the lab that said, ‘hey, wait a minute, this kind of looks like what we see in broilers and turkeys — gangrenous dermatitis. So let’s look into this further.’ And so he did, and took some samples. Sure enough, it came back as Clostridium septicum.”
A caged-system issue only?To date, disease has only arisen in caged systems, with Olsen speculating that the bacteria may be entering birds via skin damaged on their housing or a condition such as coccidiosis causing dysbacteriosis of the gut.
“Clostridium is a ubiquitous bacterium on the skin of chickens and in poultry houses, and it’s usually not harmful. But if something like cocci is causing that dysbacteriosis, then that can take over and become a ‘bad bacteria,’” she continued.
The outbreak in question was brought under control by reintroducing probiotics into birds’ diets, which had previously been removed for cost reasons. The farms are using a probiotic mix which worked well against C. septicum isolates recovered from sites, while water sanitation and acidification have also been introduced across all farms.
Looking beyond E. coli for bacterial issuesLayer producers and their veterinarians should be mindful of the possibility of the disease when seeing mortality increase, particularly when coupled with a “decomposed look” when birds are opened up. While bacterial conditions in layers are often “shrugged off” as Escherichia coli, she noted, digging a little deeper can bring rewards.
“If you think [the birds] have that decomposed look to them, it might not just be E. coli…it’s worth taking a look at,” she added.
“It’s not something that’s going to cost a lot of money, so if it happens to not be [C. septicum dermatitis], then so what? You’ve checked it off your list and done your due diligence.”
The post Distinctive condition affects layers as well as turkeys, broilers appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Listen to or download the podcast Producers should play close attention to insect control in their poultry houses to avoid cases of turkey coronavirus enteritis (TCE).
That’s the view of Eric Orozco, DVM, a veterinarian at Butterball in North Carolina, based on his recent experiences with the disease.
The most recent outbreak he dealt with began in June 2021, with previous breaks in 2018-19, he told Poultry Health Today. The disease was detected in 8-week-old finishers on two farms through routine polymerase chain reaction testing.
“This is a first break for me in this company, but from what other vets have told me, it kind of comes in waves,” he said. “The last break was 3 years ago and then…maybe 3 years before.
“It’s commonly in the summer. I don’t know if maybe the weather plays a role — with the humidity in North Carolina, especially with increasing populations of flies — and also the condition of the litter.”
A tricky disease to controlAny age of birds can be susceptible to TCE, he said, although younger birds tend to suffer the most. Clinical signs include flushing, poor weight gain and low feed conversion. However, in the most recent case, there was also high mortality with severe dehydration and birds that were not eating.
The disease can “jump” between houses and even to farms a number of miles away, Orozco continued. This led to his belief that flies are the most important vector of the coronavirus, which causes the condition — although darkling beetles are another potential insect source of the spread.
Minimizing risksWith no treatment for TCE, the only recourse for producers is to treat the main symptoms of diarrhea and dehydration, while doubling-down on biosecurity.
At Butterball, every flock got new litter, and equipment was sanitized. The human side of biosecurity was also prioritized in response to the outbreak, with staff assigned to either breeders or finishers and with designated routes to keep them apart.
“As long as we can keep the breeder house clean or negative of TCE, then the number of positive farms will start to decrease,” he said.
In advice to producers, Orozco returned to the issue of probable vectors. Fly control is “maybe the most important” factor to consider, he said, alongside management of the beetles and controlling movements between farms. Increased downtime for the growers is also something to consider, he added.
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Listen to or download the podcast Consistent surveillance and analysis of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) at poultry production facilities can guard against “overvaccination” — where too much vaccine virus in the environment causes a rolling reaction in flocks.
That’s the view of Rodrigo Gallardo, DVM, PhD, professor of poultry medicine at the University of California–Davis.
Gallardo told Poultry Health Today he recommends surveillance of birds throughout the year for both broilers and layers in order to catch different age groups, with 30 samples the “magic number” in terms of being able to make accurate conclusions about the epidemiology of IBV on sites.
Dealing with excess circulating virusWhile surveillance using analysis methods such as quantitative and qualitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and sequencing technologies can help in understanding how the virus is changing, it can also show when vaccination has been applied beyond its usefulness, Gallardo said.
If producers find that birds have not developed an immune response to clear out the virus, it may be the result of a rolling reaction due to an excess of virus in the environment, he explained.
When virus serotypes are similar to the vaccine applied, it is particularly likely that overvaccination is the issue, and at this point adding more vaccines may not be the best approach.
“Whenever you do surveillance and you start getting results that are similar to the vaccine that you applied…that might be telling you that you’re overvaccinating,” he said.
“And according to that, you need to start pulling vaccines one by one, and then try to check what happens clinically.
“Unfortunately, there’s no way of pulling out the vaccine and knowing that it won’t cause a clinical problem, so you need to be really careful and make decisions that are informed by your surveillance in order to address vaccination problems.”
Increasing tools’ effectivenessOn the US West Coast, different vaccine programs are used in summer and winter, Gallardo said, which allows producers to keep IBV in check, with low variation and low amounts of virus in the environment.
“Vaccines are tools. So you use them whenever you need them, and it’s very common to see in producers all over the world that they have an IBV problem, and they add a vaccine to their vaccination program, usually a different genotype…to generate cross-protection,” he continued.
“They elevate clinical signs, but then they never do surveillance in order to pull that vaccine out.
“That’s something that we need to emphasize. If we want to keep the tools that we have right now available and useful for the future, we probably need to use that
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Listen to or download the podcast Using key welfare indicators (KWIs) can help fill a communication gap around welfare progress in the US poultry industry.
That’s the view of Ken Opengart, DVM, PhD, vice president, animal welfare and international sustainability for Tyson Foods.
“Historically, we haven’t really shared a lot of information as an industry with our customers about what we’re working on relative to animal welfare and the types of metrics we’re using to measure improvement,” he told Poultry Health Today.
“That gap has facilitated an opportunity for us that we should take advantage of, and that is to use key welfare indicators or measures of outcomes.”
Specific KWIs vary according to what part of the production process is being looked at and include aspects such as injury rates and stunning efficacy.
Data over emotion in welfare debateThe main advantage of KWIs is that they are objective and measurable, allowing the industry to move away from “emotive arguments” about welfare, he suggested, with poultry veterinarians having a key role in sharing progress with those outside the industry.
“Without telling the story, it’s left to the imagination. They don’t know what we’re doing; they don’t know if we’re doing anything,” he continued.
“To be able to communicate with facts and figures…and focus on continuous improvement, the customers that we speak with walk away just feeling reassured that the industry has their back and that we’re working on the right things.”
Welfare is crucial for poultry businesses, with welfare outcomes closely linked to overall performance.
“We as the industry look at this really holistically: Welfare, economics and food availability all intertwine very closely together,” he noted.
Technology will increase indicator impactTyson Foods is part of the International Poultry Welfare Alliance, a multi-stakeholder organization which has been working to agree on shared KWIs for the industry. The guidelines should be available later this year.
A focus on continuous improvement, rooted in such agreed upon guidelines, is a better approach than fixed performance standards, Opengart suggested.
“The difficulty with performance standards is that everybody typically tends to be in a different place. What we worry about is setting a standard that may be too low for some and too high for others, and in that way may stifle any activity,” he said.
“We’re more interested in letting the individual companies set their own standards. And that way, when they achieve a goal, they can move the goal…we’re not going to be happy until animal welfare’s no longer an issue…there’s a long journey there.”
Technology will aid the drive toward improvements, he noted, with artificial intelligence and machine learning involved in monitoring KWIs.
“We’ll move from sampling flocks, birds within flocks…to being able to capture all the birds in a house or all the birds at the processing plant from a farm, which will really improve the quality of the information that we’re able to use,” he added.
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Inexpensive game cameras installed on turkey farms can reveal important biosecurity information, but it comes with some caveats, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota.
In a study initially designed to investigate Salmonella outbreaks, the results gave scientists interesting insights about movement on and off the farm.
After reviewing hours of round-the-clock images, they discovered wild animals and birds regularly visited the farm, while visitor logs rarely matched the number of people coming to the farm — issues that could potentially lead to biosecurity breaks if appropriate measures weren’t in place.
Capturing movementThe project involved six Minnesota turkey farms, including three breeder and three grow-finish sites. One camera was used on each farm to capture bird movements during migration in fall 2018, spring 2019 and fall 2019.
The motion-sensing cameras were on 24 hours a day, and researchers moved cameras around to capture birds from different angles.
During the review and documentation of some 9,000 images collected throughout the study, the project revealed helpful information about the use of the cameras, said biosystems engineer Erin Cortus, PhD, who was involved in the study.
The researchers saw 73 images of mammals across the farms, with 80% occurring outside the farms’ work hours. Deer were most common, but they also saw house cats, racoons and coyotes.
“[But] those mammals were nothing compared to the birds captured in pictures,” Cortus said. “There were 1,200 images with [wild] birds in them. And there could be more than one bird in an image.”
In addition to animals, the scientists also logged human activity around the site, noting maintenance workers as well as visitors.
Human-activity issuesWhat the researchers did see was a disconnect between visitor logs and what actually occurred. “When we had visitor-log activities, it rarely coincided with when we saw images of humans,” Cortus said. This happened on all the farms but was also related to the camera angle at the time.
“We do feel cameras are a tool for biosecurity and are complementary to practices like visitor logs,” she added.
How to use camerasIf growers want to use cameras, Cortus suggested first deciding what they want to capture. For wild-bird activity, cameras pointed at the roof ridge where they roost will suffice. But if the farm wants to capture other animal and human activity, cameras should be focused on the areas around buildings and roads.
While the research cameras ran 24 hours a day during the monitoring periods, growers may not need that much coverage, according to Cortus. Half of the images were trashed because cameras were triggered by moving branches, snow and blowing grass.
If growers want to check on bird traffic, Cortus suggested using a set frequency, such as every 10 to 15 minutes and taking images only during the daytime. But motion triggering may still be best for monitoring human behavior.
“Even putting out cameras for a short period of time can provide a lot of valuable information,” Cortus added. “Cameras are one way to maintain biosecurity of the farm. But there’s also privacy and making sure people know the cameras are in use.”
Her last suggestion is to review the images quickly to get the most value out of them.
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The US has a long history of effective disease control and has eradicated or remained free of many pests and agents even as they remain endemic in other parts of the world, said Carol Cardona, DVM, with the Secure Food System team at the University of Minnesota.
This record of success can easily lull an industry into a false sense of security, however. Once an exotic pest or pathogen is introduced in the US, it can rapidly devastate agricultural populations that lack resistance, Cardona said. It can also negatively impact business models based on effective disease prevention and control.
“With highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), the industry learned that practices and strategies that work during normal times can be dangerous during an outbreak because they can contribute to disease spread,” she said.
Challenging control measuresAccording to Cardona, the impact of disease control can be just as costly as the disease itself.
For example, movement restrictions during the Newcastle disease outbreak in the early 1970s resulted in the end of the turkey industry in California because producers were not allowed to move chicks and hatching eggs, she reported during a presentation at the North Central Avian Disease Conference earlier this year.
During the 1983-84 HPAI outbreak in Pennsylvania, holding and movement limits for breeder and hatchery operations resulted in no way to move product nor restock farms. “These farms suffered huge losses, with some going completely out of business,” Cardona said.
“In 2004, the outbreak of HPAI H5N1 in Southeast Asia resulted in more than $10 million in losses for companies that were uninfected in the outbreak,” she added. “Movement restrictions on commodities can even present risk to industries quite distant from the outbreak if agricultural- and food-supply chains are linked nationally.”
Communication practicesIn normal times, poultry companies don’t share sensitive company information with each other or with regulatory agencies. But during an outbreak, transparency is absolutely necessary, Cardona said.
As an example, she explained that by the first week of April 2015, there was a perpetuated outbreak of HPAI in Minnesota — “the details of which were not known by the people who needed to know. State-to-state communications took place about the outbreak, but states were not always talking to their industries. In addition, industry-to-industry communication was not happening, and that prevented detailed knowledge from being shared.”
This lack of transparency can lead to misinformation that prevents people from taking the right steps to protect their farms. In addition, barriers between states and industries prevented real-time communication in the 2015 outbreak, Cardona said. And because poultry operations are very large, biosecurity can be difficult.
“Increasing size has created systems that are vulnerable to HPAI,” Cardona said.
Stop movement“After detection of HPAI in the US, one of the first outbreak-control steps was to stop the movements of all susceptible species, and this usually means trade restrictions as well,” Cardona said. Blanket state-to-state movement restrictions were enforced.
According to Cardona, detection of a low-pathogenic H5/H7 virus resulted in immediate trade restrictions that far exceeded the transmission potential of the virus. In her opinion, low-pathogenicity avian influenza viruses should not be reportable to the world community.
“The inclusion of H5/H7 detections in the undeclared war of trade has not helped us,” she said.
SFS programThe Secure Food Supply (SFS) plans were first and most extensively used in the 2015 H5N2 HPAI outbreak primarily in Minnesota and Iowa, Cardona noted.
“The 2015 HPAI outbreak was the largest in US history, and it demonstrated the need to make the SFS operational. SFS approaches are again being used to mitigate the risks of [getting] products and animals to market in 2022 H5N1 HPAI outbreaks.”
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Listen to or download the podcast Producers need to be alert to the dangers of drinking-water toxicity issues, according to a senior industry veterinarian.
Speaking to Poultry Health Today, Kurt Dobson, DVM, director of veterinary services for George’s, Inc. in Arkansas, said that a recent case of salt toxicity at an eight-house broiler farm underlined the need to not dismiss water on the list of vital components affecting bird health.
Issues on the site began to arise when birds were around 3 and a half weeks of age when birds exhibited flushing responses, alongside a mortality spike, he said. Both mycotoxins and sodium toxicity are known to cause such signs.
Necropsy showed kidney lesions, swelling under the skin, fluid both in birds’ abdomens and around their hearts — observations consistent with salt toxicosis, he explained. Feed was tested, showing no abnormalities, so a decision was made to test the water supply. Analysis came back revealing that both the wells on the farm had very high levels of sodium and chloride.
Making sure all is wellProducers tend to use well water for birds, although some use a rural water supply. Awareness around the importance of testing well water varies, Dobson said, stressing the need to prioritize checks.
“The biggest thing is for people to realize that if they’re on a well, they should be testing their water when they first make those wells,” he said.
“There are some companies that will have a water-quality person, and they’ll spend time checking the water quality across the complex. But not very many complexes have that, so it’s up to the grower.”
There are a number of labs available to carry out testing of water samples, he continued, and this should happen before the supply is used by the birds and annually after that.
For producers facing problems with water mineral content, carbon filters can deal with certain minerals. In the case of sodium, the only solution is a reverse osmosis system, he added, although this is a technology that can require significant investment.
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The University of Minnesota offers a training program to help poultry companies understand and prepare for avian influenza outbreaks.
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The University of Minnesota’s Secure Food Systems team develops and publishes science-based risk assessments for the movement of poultry products from monitored (uninfected) premises in control areas during HPAI.
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Integrated broiler producers in Europe pose a risk of transmitting and maintaining clones of Salmonella throughout the production chain, according to researchers in Spain.
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Poultry veterinarians should not get hung up on the level of plaque-forming units (PFUs) to determine the strength of recombinant Marek’s vaccines, according to Isabel M. Gimeno, DVM, PhD, professor, North Carolina State University.
The post Vaccinating for Marek’s? Don’t be thrown off by PFU levels appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Daniel Wilson, DVM, Founder and Lead veterinarian, Wilson Veterinary Company, Indianapolis, IN
The post Vaccine strategy in cage-free layers requires new mindset appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The US broiler industry is seeing a re-emergence of inclusion body hepatitis, a deadly disease that can strike with little warning. Take a look at our special report.
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Reusing poultry litter can help boost bird health and may help prevent the transfer of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella, scientists have discovered.
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In a special video from Poultry Health Today, experts from across the industry discuss the challenges facing producers who make the change from conventional systems to cage-free.
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Vaccines are powerful, widely used tools for managing poultry diseases. How can the industry keep pace with variant viruses and other challenges?
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US egg and turkey supplies took a hit from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) this spring as the wild-bird migration exposed domestic flocks to the virus.
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Nearly 35% of laying hens in the US are now raised in cage-free environments, but while these environments offer more space and bigger colonies, the systems are more complex.
The post Monitoring hen movement in cage-free aviaries provides valuable feedback appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) remains a nagging issue for broiler flocks, and it isn’t going away anytime soon.
The post Long-term control for IBH includes vaccines, management protocols appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
With many poultry operations switching to no-antibiotics-ever (NAE) production, management and disease control have become even more critical components.
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With the ever-increasing shift to “no-antibiotics-ever” (NAE) production, probiotics have become more common in poultry diets, said Elizabeth Bobeck, PhD, a nutritional immunology expert and associate professor at Iowa State University.
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Inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) is not a new disease of poultry, but it’s quietly spreading to broiler flocks — initially with few clinical signs, followed by death in some flocks.
The post IBH gaining more attention in broiler flocks as incidence, mortalities rise appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 35: An interview with Dale Gambrill, Senior account manager, Zoetis
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Vegetative buffers offer aesthetic, poultry-management and disease-control benefits to producers, in addition to showing the farm’s commitment to environmental stewardship.
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Inclusion body hepatitis can be a challenging disease, as the clinical signs are non-specific and there is no direct treatment. Consequently, producers rely on interventions such vaccinations.
The post Vaccines, biosecurity, management keys to keeping IBH in check appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) infections may not offer clear-cut clinical symptoms, but there are on-farm diagnostic measures that can yield early warnings.
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Despite industry advances, coccidiosis remains the leading intestinal health challenge in broilers. Poultry Health Today asked experts to share their latest insights and recommendations for managing this costly parasitic disease.
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Poultry Health Today has introduced a new editorial feature called PHT Perspectives, which provides quick-read highlights of recent webinars and roundtables organized by the editors.
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Labor shortages in hatcheries mean that to ensure appropriate levels of sanitation in “no antibiotics ever” production, wholesale automation is likely to be required.
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The use of recombinant vaccines can prove a valuable strategy against coccidiosis in poultry, but better understanding of host-parasite interactions and gut microbiology is needed.
The post Greater understanding needed before new coccidiosis vaccines come to fore appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Footpad dermatitis causes significant foot problems for broilers, which adversely affects bird welfare and the market for broiler paws, according to research from the University of Maryland.
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Poultry producers with cage-free pullet systems should go back to the basics of bird management to keep their flocks healthy and productive.
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Environmental enrichments in broiler houses may improve bird welfare by increasing natural behaviors, according to a University of Maryland study.
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Proper vaccine handling, dosage and administration are key to ensuring thorough and effective coverage. That statement is particularly true when talking about recombinant-vector vaccines.
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Poultry veterinarians throughout the US broiler industry are reporting a re-emergence of inclusion body hepatitis (IBH). The disease, caused by fowl adenovirus (FAdV), often strikes with little warning and can result in high mortality and significant economic losses for producers.
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Almost 25% of US foodborne illnesses continue to be linked to poultry products. To get an accurate measure of product contamination, USDA is evaluating the poultry supply chain.
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Management techniques adopted to cope with COVID-19 production challenges led to improvements in bird health and welfare for many poultry producers.
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Extended day length during the brooding period is thought to benefit broilers’ long-term performance and well-being. However, a University of Georgia study has re-evaluated that idea.
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Getting the correct lighting is important in poultry houses to help maximize the birds’ genetic potential; however, too often there’s a disconnect between the LED lamps and the dimmers in service.
The post Shedding light on LED lamps and dimmers: They’re not all a match appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A higher risk of bacterial challenges in cage-free egg production means a live-vaccination program against Escherichia coli is a “must-have minimum” for flocks reared in alternative systems.
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Coccidiosis in broiler houses remains a nagging challenge. While clinical manifestations are rare, it’s the subclinical condition that impacts the flock through poor feed efficiency and reduced growth rates.
The post Coccidiosis: An old problem with some new challenges appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Next year marks a big change for the AAAP. It will hold its first independent meeting, according to current president Louise Dufour-Zavala, DVM, executive director of the Georgia Poultry Laboratory Network.
The post Changes ahead for 2023 AAAP annual meeting appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
After years of being an afterthought in many broiler-production schemes, coccidiosis vaccines have become the cornerstone for many control programs.
The post Survey shows US poultry industry’s evolving yet flexible approach to coccidiosis management appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Poultry health professionals from throughout the world will gather in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 29 to Aug. 2, to discuss the latest research, innovations and insights on poultry health.
The post Poultry health experts will gather in person for 2022 AAAP meeting appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Birds can move out of the reach of the workers’ hands in a multi-tier aviary system, so employees have to climb into the system to get to them. Researchers from Michigan State studied light variation to see if it could help move hens onto the floor area.
The post Light impacts behavior in cage-free aviaries appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Research at the University of Arkansas suggests broiler breed could affect birds’ immune response to Salmonella exposure, according to Shawna Weimer, PhD, director of the Center for Food Animal Wellbeing.
The post Breed may impact broiler response to Salmonella infection appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, MS, ACPV, Corporate Veterinarian, Sanderson Farms, Inc.
The post Anticoccidial sensitivity tests: Useful or not? appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Despite industry advances, coccidiosis remains the leading intestinal health disease of broilers. Poultry Health Today asked experts to share latest insights and recommendations for managing this costly parasitic disease.
The post Special Report: New insights for managing coccidiosis in broilers appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A whole-complex study of broiler breeders in Georgia found underwhelming infectious bronchitis vaccine performance – but with better surveillance and protocols, outcomes could be improved.
The post Poor IBV vaccine performance in broiler study underlines need for surveillance appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The Southern Poultry Research Group created a challenge model to show how S. Enteritidis, can spread among birds when feed is contaminated and to help evaluate products that can eliminate or reduce the risk.
The post Salmonella Enteritidis in feed can be a source for broiler flocks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A steady shift to in ovo vaccination in the Asia-Pacific region is encouraging many hatcheries there to improve practices and management in preparation for the switch.
The post Five key points to consider when preparing to switch to in ovo vaccination appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A technology called CRISPR-SeroSeq, which amplifies a section of the Salmonella genome, is helping paint a clearer picture of the serotypes circulating in breeder flocks.
The post Genomic technology sheds light on Salmonella serotypes in breeder flocks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Biosecurity is not sufficient to control avian coronaviruses like infectious bronchitis in commercial poultry, no matter how good it is, said Mark Jackwood, PhD, a molecular virologist and professor of avian medicine at the University of Georgia.
The post Poultry industry can learn from COVID-19 appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Immune responses to Salmonella infection are complex, but vaccination has become a key component of multi-step control programs. A new review of evidence to date suggests that live vaccines have several advantages over killed vaccines.
The post Live vaccines are key to Salmonella-control programs — here’s why appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Feed conversion takes a bigger hit in birds with higher Salmonella exposure, while Salmonella Reading outlasts other serotypes through the grow-out period, suggests new work from the University of Georgia.
The post Study highlights risk of high Salmonella exposure, more persistent serotypes appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Genotypes of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) found in California between 2012 and 2020 have seen a “major shift,” according to a study investigating patterns of IBV in the state.
The post California surveillance reveals genetic and seasonal changes in infectious bronchitis virus appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
It’s imperative for poultry producers and companies to know what strains of Salmonella may be circulating in their flocks, said Chuck Hofacre, president of the Southern Poultry Research Group in Georgia.
The post Salmonella serotypes are changing — monitor which ones are in your flock appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Live vaccines for Salmonella have been found to start offering protection within a few days of administration, acting “almost as a [form of] competitive exclusion,” said Chuck Hofacre, president of the Southern Poultry Research Group.
The post ‘Competitive exclusion’ is potential benefit of live Salmonella vaccines in young birds appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Researchers at The Pirbright Institute in the UK report that a recent study provides evidence that mutations in the genetic code for non-structural proteins “offer a promising way” to make vaccines against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) safer.
The post ‘Reverse genetics’ may offer new IBV vaccine targets appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 30: An interview with Alberto Giner, DVM, poultry technical manager, Zoetis on in ovo administration of recombinant HVT vector vaccines.
The post In ovo administration of recombinant HVT vector vaccines ‘perfect combination’ of microbiology and engineering appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Making use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing on chicken farms can help tackle the problem of antibiotic overuse against mycoplasmosis in countries where this treatment approach is prevalent.
The post On-site PCR testing could aid smart antibiotic use in mycoplasmosis treatment appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX: An interview with Henrik Christensen, PhD, DVSc, University of Copenhagen, on the effect of Poulvac E. coli on bird health, laying performance and hatching results.
The post Limiting E. coli transmission from hen to offspring appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Improper heat treatment of soybean meal affects the intestinal integrity of broiler chickens and flock performance, according to a study by researchers at the University of Georgia.
The post Overheating soybean meal hurts gut integrity, broiler growth appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Research studying Salmonella across one turkey producer’s farms found Salmonella Infantis to be by far the dominant serotype.
The post Turkey-farm study finds Salmonella Infantis prevalent appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
According to research led by The Pirbright Institute, UK, infection with two strains of avian flu virus could lead to the emergence of a new strain with the potential to jump from birds to humans.
The post UK researchers: Watch for emerging, more infectious strains of avian flu virus appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Emerging and re-emerging diseases can cause sudden, potentially catastrophic illness and death in commercial poultry flocks, said R.M. “Mick” Fulton, DVM, PhD, Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory.
The post Use ‘tools of discovery’ and all your senses to identify emerging poultry diseases appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
E.coli may be largely responsible for focal duodenel necrosis (FDN) in layer chickens, according to research presented at the 2022 International Poultry Scientific Forum (IPSF).
The post E. coli implicated in layer gut disease appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
DISCOVERIES: Marek’s disease (MD) vaccination programs for breeders and layers can vary significantly in the replication and coverage they provide, a finding that should be considered when planning an MD-control strategy for long-lived birds
The post Replication, coverage vary among MD vaccination programs for long-lived birds appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The US egg supply is under pressure, first from the impact of Covid-19 and now due to outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
The post With avian flu outbreaks, even the Easter bunny is hunting for eggs appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Adding a modified-live vaccine (MLV) to recombinant vaccine programs against three important viral pathogens in poultry production can have a positive impact on outcomes, according to field work by Sanderson Farms veterinarians.
The post Interaction of modified-live and recombinant vaccines shows potential against viral diseases appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The number of birds in the US broiler industry raised without antibiotics slipped six points to 52% in 2020, according to the latest industry figures, exclusive to Poultry Health Today.
The post US poultry producers commit to limiting antibiotics despite production slip appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Reused litter from a previous NE challenge led to more severe subclinical performance impacts but fewer clinical signs of disease than in birds raised on fresh litter.
The post Comparing necrotic enteritis litter models highlights performance impacts appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
New research shows that using a modified-live Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) vaccine helps protect broilers against Salmonella Infantis, the most commonly-isolated serotype in chicken parts and comminuted chicken over the last few years.
The post Study shows modified-live vaccine can aid fight against Salmonella Infantis appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 27: An interview with Daniel Bautista, DVM, senior technical services, Zoetis on managing the recent resurgence of inclusion body hepatitis in broilers.
The post Tips for managing inclusion body hepatitis appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Biosecurity in feed mills and on-farm feed storage should not be overlooked when it comes to managing the risk of Salmonella in poultry flocks, according to a turkey-health expert.
The post Don’t overlook feed biosecurity in efforts to manage Salmonella appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The only option for poultry farms to prevent an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is 100% adherence to biosecurity rules.
The post HPAI prevention requires ‘buckle-up’ mentality to biosecurity appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Bioshuttle programs are a valuable tool for managing coccidiosis, according to Greg Mathis, PhD, Southern Poultry Research.
The post Bioshuttle programs valuable tool for managing coccidiosis appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Chick quality is crucial in the laying-hen business, and for Ian Rubinoff, DVM, director of global technical services for Hy-Line International, the first 7 days “have an outsized importance.”
The post First seven days are crucial in ensuring layer chick quality appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Paul McMullin, MVB, MSc, DPMP, DiplECPVS, FRCVS, Consultant Veterinarian, Poultry Health International
The post Colibacillosis control in egg-laying chickens: A new tool in our toolbox appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A warning to tighten up biosecurity and reduce movement in and out of poultry houses was issued by Terry Conger, DVM, poultry health epidemiologist with USDA’s APHIS.
The post Lockdown mode urged with avian flu outbreaks in Mississippi and Central Flyways appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
New research has given scientists a greater understanding of the Marek’s disease virus (MDV) that could lead to new strategies for managing the widespread, immunosuppressive disease in poultry.
The post Marek’s study could lead to new management strategies in poultry appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Daral J. Jackwood, PhD, Professor, The Ohio State University
The post Monitoring field strains key to successful vaccination against IBDV appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
With continued wild-type ILT challenges in the field, we are faced with a choice of two vaccine options with proven results — with different priorities affecting the final decision.
The post ILT vaccine choices: A closer look appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 34: An interview with Eduardo Muniz, DVM, Zoetis on research comparing conventional vaccine programs versus new protocols with vectored vaccines.
The post Conventional, recombinant MD vaccination protocols compared in long-lived birds appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The US poultry industry is on high alert following reports of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in both wild birds and commercial flocks in poultry-dense regions of the US market.
The post Avian flu strain behind recent outbreaks related but not identical to 2014-15 strain appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A modified-live E. coli vaccine helps reduce E. coli counts in broiler chickens and turkeys and can significantly increase susceptibility to commonly used antibiotics, according to new field research.
The post E. coli vaccination reduces bacteria populations, increases antibiotic susceptibility appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 28: An interview with Andy McRee, DVM, senior technical services veterinarian, Zoetis on correcting problems in layer vaccination.
The post Catching problems in layer vaccination — and making them right appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
While many vaccines and vaccination programs effectively protect against the highly contagious infectious bronchitis virus in poultry, outbreaks of the disease still occur in vaccinated flocks.
The post Why ‘vaccinated’ chickens still get infected with IBV — and what to do about it appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Elle Chadwick, PhD, Consultant, Ag Health Consulting, LLC, LaGrange, Georgia
The post Limiting transmission of parasite currently best option for controlling histomoniasis appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Extreme weather can pose a serious challenge for poultry producers — and with weather conditions proving ever-more volatile in some of the US’s key poultry production regions, improved planning and communication are essential.
The post What lessons can poultry producers learn from extreme weather events? appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Vaccinating turkeys against colibacillosis with the modified-live E. coli vaccine has economic and animal welfare benefits, according to a retrospective, 4-year study conducted on 37 French turkey farms.
The post Four-year study highlights value of vaccinating turkeys against E.coli appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Planning to devour a few chicken wings on Super Bowl Sunday? Remember to raise a glass to the poultry producers and veterinarians who raised those healthy birds.
The post ‘Winging it’ on Super Bowl Sunday? Remember who made it possible appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
USDA's APHIS has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza in a commercial turkey flock in Dubois County, IN, the first confirmed case in commercial poultry in the US since 2020.
The post Highly pathogenic avian influenza found in Indiana commercial turkey flock appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Douglas L. Fulnechek, DVM, Senior Public Health Veterinarian, Zoetis
The post Effective Salmonella control requires involvement of entire production chain appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
SOUND SCIENCE: Removal or reduction of ionophores for the control of coccidiosis in poultry could lead to increased antibiotic use, higher production costs and negative impacts on climate-change mitigation efforts.
The post Cutting ionophore use could do more harm than good, veterinarians warn appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Successful contract poultry farmers are hard workers, detail oriented and must literally serve as the gatekeepers of biosecurity, several experts and industry insiders say.
The post What does it take to be a successful poultry grower? Experts share their views appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Sharing and analyzing data at farm level and beyond can offer new insights that improve bird health and profitability on layer farms.
The post Sharing data can help manage layer-farm disease and increase production appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 10: AL2 variants now account for more than half of the infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) field isolates in broilers, according to the results of a 5-year survey.
The post AL2 variants now account for more than half of IBDV field isolates in broilers appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Exposure to IBV has been linked with cases of false-layer syndrome, where large cysts in the oviduct prevent birds from laying eggs.
The post Early infectious bronchitis virus infection causes more severe false layer syndrome appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, ACPV, Corporate Veterinarian, Sanderson Farms, Inc.
The post Keeping up with coccidiosis remains challenging appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Botulism might not be a common occurrence in poultry production, but when it infects a flock, mortalities can be high. That was the situation Sara Throne, DVM, senior director of veterinary services for Simmons Foods, recently faced in Arkansas.
The post Tackling a botulism outbreak in a breeder flock appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
In ovo vaccination is on the rise across the Asia-Pacific as producers recognize its benefits, but proper training and support are essential.
The post How to ensure successful installation of in ovo technology appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Lowering the load of Salmonella going into the processing plant requires a company-wide effort initiated from the top, panelists advised at a roundtable on food safety.
The post Lowering Salmonella load at processing requires company-wide effort initiated from the top appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A few essential adjustments in the way infectious bronchitis vaccines are handled and administered at the hatchery can improve vaccine efficacy.
The post Essential adjustments that improve IB vaccine efficacy in broilers appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
There is no need to recategorize ionophores, used as feed additives against coccidiosis, as veterinary medicines, says UK poultry veterinarian Daniel Parker — and doing so could have severe knock-on effects.
The post Ionophore status change would threaten bird health, sustainability, veterinarian warns appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Attention to detail is vital when it comes to ensuring that spray vaccinations against respiratory diseases such as infectious bronchitis are as effective as they can possibly be, according to poultry health expert, Brian Jordan, University of Georgia.
The post Going with the flow: How to maximize the effectiveness of spray vaccination appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Use of thermal imaging cameras to measure facial temperatures may offer a non-invasive option for assessing heat stress in commercial broilers, according to research from the University of Arkansas.
The post Measuring temperature of birds’ faces could help identify heat stress in flocks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Vaccination might be effective in controlling ILT in broilers, but recombinant vaccines might not always provide an adequate immune response, according to scientists at North Caroline State University.
The post Targeted adjuvants may improve recombinant ILT vaccination immune response appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Selecting pure avian reovirus (ARV) cultures is extremely important in pathogenicity and antigenicity studies, as well as in the creation of autogenous vaccines. But in reality, many samples don’t stand up to close scrutiny, according to researchers.
The post Study questioning purity of avian reovirus samples has lab and field implications appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Supporting the mental health and well-being of people working in poultry science and research has become a focus of the AAAP, according to one of the organization’s newly elected leaders.
The post AAAP networks offer mental health support to members appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Vaccinations and other preventative health measures are more critical than ever as the US egg industry shifts toward cage-free and no-antibiotics-ever production.
The post Shift to cage-free egg production prompts need to revise health and management plans appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
High-profile Salmonella outbreaks in turkeys in recent years have shown the need for improved surveillance in the turkey industry.
The post Improving Salmonella surveillance in turkeys appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Toxicity is a relatively rare affliction for hens, and tracking down the source can prove challenging, as one case study outlined by a poultry diagnostics expert revealed.
The post Tips for uncovering toxicity in poultry flocks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Broiler chickens exposed to infectious bursal disease virus are likely to develop more severe cases of the bacterial disease, necrotic enteritis, researchers in Canada have found.
The post IBDV linked to severe necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The timing of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) challenge in layers can impact the development of cysts associated with false layer syndrome, scientists at the University of Georgia have discovered.
The post Early IBV infections in layers can increase cysts associated with false layer syndrome appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Some direct-fed microbial additives with live cultures have been found to impact the efficacy of modified-live vaccines.
The post Direct-fed microbials can impact Salmonella vaccine efficacy appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 17: An interview with Tim Cummings, DVM, Senior Technical Services Veterinarian, Zoetis
The post Pullet vaccination: There’s always room for improvement appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Daral J. Jackwood, PhD, Professor, The Ohio State University
The post IBD control in egg layers has unique challenges appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The feed additive sodium bisulfate administered to broilers during a coccidial challenge appeared to benefit gut integrity.
The post Feed additive appears to benefit gut integrity in broilers with coccidiosis appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Preventing birds from getting sick is perhaps the biggest challenge encountered when transitioning from conventional to “no antibiotics ever” (NAE) production.
The post Hatchery tips for successful transition to NAE production appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Complexes should regularly evaluate the infectious bronchitis viruses (IBV) prevalent on their farms to help determine which vaccines can provide the best protection possible.
The post Periodic IBV PCR testing is key to ensuring vaccination efficacy appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Reducing the prevalence of foodborne Salmonella is essential if poultry companies are to improve food safety and pass muster with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service performance standards.
The post Free food safety booklet showcases poultry industry ideas for tackling Salmonella appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A genetic technique which could help improve predictions about the virulence of infectious bursal disease (IBDV) has identified pathogenicity in seven new strains of the virus which causes an immunosuppressive condition.
The post Molecular test helps identify pathogenicity in new strains of infectious bursal disease virus appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Publication of USDA performance standards prompted some poultry company customers to refuse product from processing plants in Category 3, according to participants at a food safety roundtable.
The post Reaction of poultry company customers to FSIS performance standards varied appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Opinions about the poultry industry’s future success in controlling Salmonella differ widely, judging by comments from panelists at a food-safety roundtable.
The post No consensus on future success of Salmonella control for poultry industry appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
False layer syndrome due to the Delmarva 1639 (DMV/1639) variant of the infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is leading to huge economic losses in the Canadian egg industry.
The post False layer syndrome in Canada due to DMV/1639 appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Interventions for Salmonella control throughout the production process are essential, but special attention at the hatchery and during second processing at the plant are critical to success, panelists advised at a food safety roundtable.
The post Salmonella control in hatchery, second processing require special attention appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Highly contagious and constantly evolving, infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is notoriously difficult to control.
The post Three keys to successful IBV control appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Novel, science-based technologies will allow the poultry industry to get ahead of issues coming towards it.
The post 5 ways research aims to tackle poultry-sector challenges appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Hatcheries providing chicks for no antibiotics ever (NAE) production need to be meticulous with cleanliness and good husbandry practices in order for the program to succeed.
The post Hatcheries in NAE production systems can’t cut corners on cleaning, husbandry appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Large-scale collection of samples from producers across the southern US is helping shed new light on infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) in chicken flocks — including uncovering a new serotype of the pathogen.
The post Two years of IBV sampling underlines importance of surveillance work appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Douglas L. Fulnechek, DVM
Senior Public Health Veterinarian
Zoetis
The post Making sense of broiler-feed withdrawal — with the help of a few aphorisms appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 13: A recent study found that administering a live Escherichia coli vaccine by spray produced marked, consistent changes in the intestinal microbiota of broilers.
The post Gut microbiota changes linked to E. coli vaccination may support gut health, broiler immune response appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Starter feed of larger particles consumed by young chicks is associated with better performance during the lifetime of broiler birds, according to a study conducted at Mississippi State University.
The post Study: Larger particles in starter feed lead to better performance appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Optimizing hatchery conditions throughout the year is crucial to limiting chick mortality and maintaining long-term bird viability, according to a poultry health expert.
The post Seasonal management in hatchery critical to improving chick viability appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
In a new Special Report, Poultry Health Today taps the industry pulse on the latest efforts to minimize risks in live production and processing, with expert insight on the present and future of Salmonella management.
The post Special Report: Reducing Salmonella, ensuring food safety in poultry production appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
New research has suggested that Salmonella levels in no-antibiotics-ever (NAE) poultry systems could be lower than those on conventional broiler farms.
The post Better management, biosecurity could mean lower Salmonella levels in NAE farms appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Tom Tabler, PhD, Extension Professor, Mississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science Department, Mississippi State, MS
The post Litter problems persist appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Ongoing studies to find ways of managing Salmonella Heidelberg loads in poultry litter have suggested that downtime is key to reducing the pathogen’s rates.
The post Litter management can help control Salmonella Heidelberg appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The 2015 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Minnesota was the worst the US has ever seen. What has the poultry industry learned from this and other outbreaks?
The post Lessons from the Midwest’s 2015 avian flu outbreak appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Producers making the switch to cage-free egg production need to ensure they are properly prepared for managing potential increases in Salmonella and other health challenges.
The post Right skills critical to managing increases in Salmonella, coccidiosis associated with cage-free egg production appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Avian mycoplasmosis is a problem for poultry producers worldwide, but according to an expert, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” approach to managing it.
The post Diagnostics key to effective mycoplasma control appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, MS, ACPV,
Corporate Veterinarian,
Sanderson Farms, Inc.
The post Population diagnostics challenging for poultry veterinarians appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By John Brown, DVM,
Senior Technical Services Veterinarian
Zoetis
The post 5 steps to preventing heat stress in layers appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Poultry companies are using a variety of interventions to curb Salmonella and improve food safety, even though it’s not always easy to justify the cost of each, panelists said at a food-safety roundtable.
The post Poultry companies using variety of interventions to improve food safety appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Michael Czarick, Engineering Specialist, University of Georgia Department of Poultry Science
The post Temperature and air flow critical to broiler performance year-round appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Research shows many strains of E. coli are capable of causing disease directly. And with antibiotic resistance on the rise, control and prevention are essential.
The post Control key to protecting flocks from more virulent, resistant E. coli appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Pressure to reduce poultry production’s carbon footprint presents multiple hurdles, but the industry is up to the challenge, said Joseph Giambrone, PhD, professor, Auburn University.
The post Management of birds and environment reduce industry’s carbon footprint appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Limiting stress in broiler flocks is key to preventing birds from succumbing to an infectious respiratory disease which is showing a resurgence in some areas of the US, according to a poultry expert.
The post Tackling stress key to protecting birds from coryza resurgence, says expert appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Getting back to basics with bird and house management is key to overcoming coccidiosis and other health issues affecting producers using NAE systems.
The post Good management and biosecurity vital to overcoming disease challenges in NAE systems appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, MS, ACPV, Corporate Veterinarian, Sanderson Farms, Inc.
The post Infectious bronchitis DMV 1639: More questions than answers appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Guillermo Zavala, DVM, MAM, MSc, PhD, Dipl. ACPV
Adjunct Professor, University of Georgia
President, Avian Health International, LLC
Flowery Branch, Georgia (USA)
The post Marek’s disease vaccination needed now more than ever appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Using a range of testing methods for Salmonella Infantis can help broiler companies build a better picture of how effective interventions against the pathogen are performing.
The post Utilizing on-farm testing key to helping processors understand S. Infantis loads appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
According to recent studies, E. coli vaccination may actually help broiler producers boost their bottom lines.
The post E. coli vaccination in broilers: Is it worth the cost? appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, MS, ACPV, Corporate Veterinarian, Sanderson Farms, Inc.
The post Calcium toxicity cases underscore value of networking for knowledge appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Research is increasingly linking false layer syndrome to early exposure to infectious bronchitis virus. The condition prevents laying hens from producing eggs, but birds display few outward signs of ill health and develop ordinary combs.
The post False layer syndrome linked to early infectious bronchitis exposure appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The AAAP has announced that its 2021 conference — originally scheduled for July 30-August 1 in Minneapolis — will be a virtual event to ensure the safety of its members and other attendees.
The post AAAP shifts 2021 conference to a virtual event, expects record attendance from more countries appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The scorching days of summer are almost here. In this special report, Poultry Health Today looks at the impact of heat stress and ways to prevent it.In this special report, Poultry Health Today looks at the impact of heat stress and ways to prevent it.
The post Special report: Helping broiler chickens keep their cool appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Combining serotype vaccines might be a popular approach to protecting flocks against evolving strains of infectious bronchitis virus, such as DMV/1639, but not all combinations work equally well.
The post Cross-protection vaccine protocols key to limiting DMV/1639 spread in US flocks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Commercial broiler farms often employ a multi-faceted approach in tackling Salmonella, but testing different combinations of control options together on a small scale before they are rolled out across entire production facilities is a valuable method of ensuring successful disease control.
The post Testing mixed control approaches important in controlling Salmonella in broilers appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Broiler operations want to provide the best disease protection for the least cost, but deciding which vaccines to use and when can be a daunting task.
The post Pathways to protection: How one vaccine decision can affect options for managing other diseases in broilers appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A back-to-basics approach toward managing, handling and storing eggs can help maximize the quality and hatchability of chicks being produced for broiler flocks, according to an industry expert.
The post Hatchery details key to maximizing chick performance, expert says appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Managing heat and humidity in hatcheries is key to reducing costly leg problems in turkey poults.
The post Incubation key to preventing leg problems in turkey poults appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 25: An interview with John Brown, DVM, senior technical services veterinarian and layer specialist, Zoetis on early pullet protection from IBDV.
The post New vaccine simplifies IBDV vaccination; provides effective early pullet protection appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
To establish good gut health, measures to promote a healthy microbiome can’t begin soon enough, an expert reports.
The post Good gut health starts before hatch, expert says appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Veterinarians specializing in diagnosing disease in animal tissue are spending more time in processing plants helping minimize costly carcass condemnations while maintaining high food quality standards.
The post Histopathology helping poultry plants use science to defend carcasses, minimize condemnations appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The evolution of Marek’s disease virus (MDV) has increased the pathogen’s virulence. Besides the tumors MDV is known for producing, the virus can lead to a multitude of other problems.
The post Marek’s disease control takes careful attention to detail appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 23: An interview with Kalen Cookson, DVM, MAM, Director of Clinical Research, Zoetis about Poulvac Maternavac 4 and Poulvac Procerta HVT-IBD.
The post Latest breeder, broiler vaccines provide consistent IBDV immunity appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Immunosuppressive diseases such as IBDV, Marek's and reovirus can compromise a bird's ability to fight off secondary infections. Keeping them in check becomes even more critical as poultry companies reduce or eliminate antibiotics. Poultry Health Today talked with disease experts about the importance of managing immunosuppression in broiler flocks.
The post SPECIAL REPORT: Don’t let immunosuppressive diseases compromise broiler performance appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The 2021 virtual International Poultry Scientific Forum (IPSF) meeting is underway. Our editors are covering sessions and capturing interviews for future posts. Here's a look back at our 2020 coverage.
The post SPECIAL REPORT, Day 2: News reports and interviews from IPSF appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The 2021 virtual International Poultry Scientific Forum (IPSF) meeting is underway. Our editors are covering sessions and capturing interviews for future posts. Here's a look back at our 2020 coverage.
The post SPECIAL REPORT, Day 1: News reports and interviews from IPSF appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 12: A new recombinant vector vaccine provides early protection against variant, classic and very virulent infectious bursal disease viruses, robust challenge studies demonstrate.
The post Robust challenge studies demonstrate efficacy of new recombinant vector vaccine for IBDVs appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 11: Two recent studies assessed the prevalence of various IBV strains in Europe in recent years, with QX and 793b proving the most common causes of virulent disease in chickens.
The post QX, 793b found to be most prevalent IBV field strains in Europe appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
More than one serotype has been the cause of inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) in broilers, which has presented differently in large- and small-bird complexes.
The post Serotype, presentation of IBH differ in large and small birds appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 14: An interview with Manuel Da Costa, DVM, PhD, Associate Director, Outcomes Research, Zoetis
The post Good gut health can help minimize Salmonella in broilers appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A shift in microbiology could be responsible for a surge in coccidiosis problems being seen in conventional US broiler and pullets flocks, according to Pilgrim's DVM Suzanne Dougherty.
The post Coccidiosis in conventional flocks presenting a significant challenge appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 6: An interview with Marc Howerton, Customer Analytical Services Supervisor, Zoetis
The post Z-CAS helping feed mills, producers get the most from medicated feed additives appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The American Association of Avian Pathologists is urging members and other poultry health professionals to access a new scientific report, “Antimicrobial Use Data Collection and Reporting,” published by Zoonoses and Public Health.
The post AAAP urges members to review new report on antimicrobial use data collection and reporting appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Referred to as “the bible of poultry disease,” the 14th edition of Diseases of Poultry has been updated to reflect evolving health and management challenges facing producers today.
The post Emerging disease trends come under focus in latest version of industry ‘bible’ appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 22: An interview with Kalen Cookson, DVM, MAM, Director of Clinical Research, Zoetis
The post Now more than ever, vaccination is critical for managing Salmonella in layer flocks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 9: Chicks that received acidified water for the first 2 weeks of life had a significantly reduced load of Salmonella Heidelberg, a challenge study demonstrates.
The post S. Heidelberg load reduced in chicks treated with acidified water the first 2 weeks of life appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Researchers from North Carolina State University have found that when a particular strain of Enterococcus is found alongside E. coli in cases of avian colibacillosis, there is a higher rate of fatality than when the infection is caused by E. coli alone.
The post NCSU: Enterococcus co-infection makes colibacillosis deadlier in poultry appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The AL-2 family of variants is the predominant strain of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) circulating among US broiler flocks, according to a recent survey.
The post Consider predominance of AL-2 variants when planning IBDV vaccination program appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Poulvac®️ Procerta™️ HVT-ND provides producers with all the advantages of a recombinant vectored vaccine while protecting chickens against Newcastle and Marek’s diseases as early as 19 days of age.
The post Poulvac® Procerta™ HVT-ND provides advantages of a recombinant plus 19-day onset of immunity appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Supplementing poultry diets with glutamine could help reduce the severity of necrotic enteritis (NE), according to researchers.
The post Glutamine supplement shows promise in reducing necrotic enteritis appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 8: In studies conducted in more than 32 million broiler chickens in Italy and the US, vaccination with Poulvac® E. coli yielded a positive return on investment.
The post Studies in 32 million birds show returns on vaccinating broilers for E. coli appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
New research from Austria provides key regional insights into Salmonella Infantis, a foodborne pathogen that is closely linked with broiler farms and often resistant to antibiotics.
The post Researchers decode clues to Salmonella Infantis control appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 20: An interview with Kalen Cookson, DVM, MAM, Director of Clinical Research, Zoetis
The post New four-way broiler breeder vaccine builds on success of Maternavac name appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, MS, ACPV, Corporate Veterinarian, Sanderson Farms, Inc.
The post Sleuthing to pinpoint source of commercial flock pathogens appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A colorful 28-page booklet recapping highlights of a roundtable discussion on infectious bronchitis virus is now available. The event featured experts and practitioners who shared their practical experiences managing the costly coronavirus in poultry.
The post Free booklet recaps highlights of infectious bronchitis roundtable appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Blending two commonly used antibacterial treatments could help processing facilities take better control of Campylobacter and reduce the risk of food-borne illnesses, according to scientists.
The post Treatment blend offers ‘exciting potential’ for Campylobacter control at processing appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The poultry industry’s gradual switch to cage-free egg production has underscored the need to rethink disease-control programs.
The post Veterinarian: Rethink layer health programs with move to cage-free appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Free-range egg production will bring major challenges to the way birds are produced, but it will also mean big shifts in the ways bird health and welfare need to be managed.
The post Managing the health challenges of moving to free-range egg production appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Training chicks and pullets so they are prepared for life in cage-free egg systems is critical to ensuring they meet their full productive potential.
The post Training and management critical for cage-free egg production appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 19: An interview with Abigail Reith, DVM, MAM, DACPV, Technical Services Veterinarian, Zoetis
The post State-of-the-art recombinant Poulvac® Procerta™ HVT-ND protects against Newcastle and Marek’s diseases appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Focusing on chick quality from the moment eggs enter the incubator is critical to ensuring birds have the best chance of being healthy and productive in no-antibiotics-ever (NAE) systems.
The post Chick quality vital to no-antibiotics-ever success, consultant says appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Acceptance of a petition designating avian leukosis lesions on poultry carcasses as a trimmable condition is expected to reduce waste and improve efficiency at processing plants while allowing meat inspectors to focus more on food safety.
The post New avian leukosis rule expected to reduce waste, improve efficiency for processing plants and FSIS appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Tom Tabler, PhD, Extension Professor, Mississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science Department, Mississippi State, Mississippi
The post NAE production uncovers water quality challenges appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Tom Tabler, PhD, Extension Professor, Mississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science Department, Mississippi State, Mississippi
The post Intestinal health in the era of NAE appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Jess Campbell, Jeremiah Davis and Kelly Griggs, National Poultry Technology Center, Auburn University
The post Check equipment now to help birds withstand summer heat appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Nearly 6 in 10 broiler chickens in the US are now raised without antibiotics. Is this all-or-nothing strategy necessarily a good trend? And what precautions need to be taken?
The post Antibiotics and the Poultry Industry: What’s Next? appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Producers need to take more care in matching Salmonella vaccines for broiler breeders to the strain of the pathogen challenging their flocks.
The post Tailoring control measures key to managing Salmonella appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Day 3 of the 2020 American Association of Avian Pathologists' virtual conference is under way. Our editors are capturing interviews for future posts. Here's a look back at our 2019 coverage.
The post SPECIAL REPORT, Day 3: News reports and interviews from AAAP appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Day 2 of the 2020 American Association of Avian Pathologists' virtual conference is under way. Our editors are capturing interviews for future posts. Here's a look back at our 2019 coverage.
The post SPECIAL REPORT, Day 2: News reports and interviews from AAAP appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Day 1 of the 2020 American Association of Avian Pathologists' virtual conference is under way. Our editors are capturing interviews for future posts. Here's a look back at our 2019 coverage.
The post SPECIAL REPORT, Day 1: News reports and interviews from AAAP appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 6: The rapid growth in reduced and “no antibiotics ever” production was the driving force behind development of a new vaccine to protect chickens against four costly diseases.
The post New Poulvac Maternavac® 4 vaccine formulated to address contemporary field challenge appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, MS, ACPV, Corporate Veterinarian, Sanderson Farms, Inc.
The post Live Salmonella vaccines, some DFMs may not mix appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Newcastle disease throughout most of the US remains stable, but the industry needs to be on guard for changes in the virus that may require adaption of ND vaccines.
The post ND is stable in US but poultry industry should be on lookout for evolving strains appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 7: Vaccinating broilers against Escherichia coli yielded a favorable return on investment in a recent trial
The post Vaccination with Poulvac® E. coli yields economic benefits in broilers appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Surveillance aimed at pinpointing the type of infectious bronchitis virus that’s circulating in poultry flocks is essential to control of the disease.
The post Surveillance of circulating IBV types essential for disease control appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Greater flexibility is needed in official Salmonella and Campylobacter testing regimes in order to support poultry producers and processors who are trialing new interventions to tackle both pathogens.
The post USDA urged to give producers time to trial Campylobacter and Salmonella interventions appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Tom Tabler, PhD
Extension Professor
Mississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science Department
Mississippi State, MS
The post Stress is nothing to mess with, folks: 5 steps for connecting with each other in troubled times appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
DISCOVERIES, Issue 5: Rigorous research and the application of cutting-edge technology by Zoetis scientists were behind the development of the newest recombinant vaccine to protect broilers from Newcastle and Marek’s disease viruses.
The post Poulvac® Procerta™ HVT-ND fully protects against Newcastle disease by 19 days of age appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Tom Tabler, PhD, Extension Professor, Mississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science Department
Mississippi State, Mississippi
The post NAE production: Helping contract growers navigate maze of new challenges appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Investing in vaccination programs to develop cross-protection against some of the most common strains of Salmonella could help limit the number of foodborne outbreaks of the pathogen.
The post Study: Live S. Typhimurium vaccine reduces S. Infantis colonization appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Mountaire Farms is the first animal protein company to carry the One Health Certified label, demonstrating its commitment to animal production standards established by the program.
The post Mountaire Farms is first company to carry the One Health Certified label appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Tom Tabler, PhD, Extension Professor, Mississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science Department, Mississippi State, Mississippi
The post Poultry biosecurity has lessons for coping with COVID-19 appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Larry Rueff, DVM, Swine Vet Services, Greensburg, Indiana
The post Moving animal health to the back burner — if only for a moment appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The CDC has urged more vaccination to control Salmonella in poultry flocks after latest figures revealed illnesses linked to certain strains of the pathogen were stalling or in decline.
The post CDC report urges more vaccination against Salmonella appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Tom Tabler, PhD, Extension Professor, Mississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science Department, Mississippi State, Mississippi
The post Prepare now for summer heat, humidity appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Nearly six in 10 US broilers were raised without antibiotics of any type in 2019 — but that number may have peaked.
The post Nearly 60% of US broilers now raised without antibiotics, but that number may have peaked appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
New, variant strains of infectious bronchitis virus in poultry will continue to emerge, but their control may depend primarily on strategic vaccination protocols that provide cross-protection from available IBV vaccines.
The post Poultry experts cite frustration with infectious bronchitis variants appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Common pitfalls that can occur while vaccinating broilers against infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) could derail vaccine effectiveness, panelists cautioned during an industry roundtable.
The post Caution: Simple errors can derail IBV vaccine effectiveness appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Scientists in Germany have confirmed that pigs and chickens are not susceptible to COVID-19.
The post German researchers: Poultry, pigs not susceptible to COVID-19 appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 21: An interview with David Rives, DVM, Technical Services Veterinarian, Zoetis
The post Return of RofenAid® 40 gives turkey industry dependable tool for managing coccidiosis, fowl cholera appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Variants of infectious bronchitis virus affecting broiler flocks differ regionally, but the strain causing the most concern lately appears to be Delmarva/1639.
The post DMV/1639 now the focus of many IBV control programs in US flocks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A commercial turkey flock in South Carolina has tested positive for highly pathogenic H7N3 avian influenza (HPAI).
The post Highly pathogenic H7N3 avian influenza confirmed in US commercial turkey flock appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Tackling endemic poultry diseases as a community rather than as individual producers can play an important role in controlling and limiting their spread.
The post Foster Farms: Community approach key to managing coryza spread in poultry appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Protocols vary widely, but vaccinating broiler breeders against infectious bronchitis virus remains an important strategy for protecting broiler progeny against the virus.
The post Controlling infectious bronchitis in broilers starts with breeder vaccination appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Broiler producers need to take a fresh look at housing conditions and bird management to help counter the resurgence of Mycoplasma synoviae linked to an increase in raised without antibiotics (RWA) production.
The post Good flock management key to managing Mycoplasma synoviae resurgence appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Understanding the impact specific on-farm interventions can have on Salmonella is critical to helping the US poultry industry meet government standards around the disease, according to a leading veterinarian.
The post Measuring effectiveness of on-farm interventions key to Salmonella control appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Coronavirus infections are nothing new to the poultry industry, but the common IB viruses in poultry flocks are not associated with the COVID-19 virus at the root of the global pandemic
The post Coronavirus causing global pandemic not related to those commonly seen in poultry, other food animals appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Developing good relationships across the processing chain can be critical in helping to identify and overcome issues on farm and in the processing plant.
The post Prestage Farms veterinarian: Processing chain communication critical to identify health issues early, reduce turkey condemnations appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Poor uniformity, lameness and reduced water consumption are tip-offs that broilers may be infected with variant reovirus.
The post Sanderson vet: Keeping up with variant reovirus strains remains challenging appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Excellent systems of communication between farm staff and veterinarians are critical when it comes to managing disease outbreaks and reducing their potential spread.
The post Swift communication key to limiting the risk of poultry disease outbreaks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
As the poultry industry moves to limit antibiotic use, alternative measures to support gut health are now common practice, but more guidance is needed with respect to which strategies to use under which circumstances.
The post Decisions, decisions: Which gut health strategies should be used when? appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
New studies in broiler chicks show that maternal antibodies to Escherichia coli do not prevent infection.
The post Failure of maternal antibodies to protect against E. coli infection highlights need for early protection appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Virulent Newcastle disease resurged in Southern California as people broke quarantines by moving birds and farming equipment, according to a report by JAVMA.
The post JAVMA report: Newcastle reemerges, spreads in California appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The 2020 International Production & Processing Expo is under way in Atlanta. Our editors are onsite, covering sessions and capturing interviews for future posts. Here's a look back at our 2019 coverage.
The post Day 4 SPECIAL REPORT: News reports and interviews from IPPE appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The 2020 International Production & Processing Expo is under way in Atlanta. Our editors are onsite, covering sessions and capturing interviews for future posts. Here's a look back at our 2019 coverage.
The post Day 3 SPECIAL REPORT: News reports and interviews from IPPE appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The 2020 International Production & Processing Expo is under way in Atlanta. Our editors are onsite, covering sessions and capturing interviews for future posts. Here's a look back at our 2019 coverage.
The post Day 2 SPECIAL REPORT: News reports and interviews from IPPE appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
More than 35 poultry-health experts and trend watchers will be interviewed on camera over 3 days as part of Poultry Health Today’s news coverage of the 2020 IPPE and IPSF.
The post More than 35 poultry-health experts at IPPE to be interviewed on camera by Poultry Health Today appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The 2020 International Production & Processing Expo is under way in Atlanta. Our editors are onsite, covering sessions and capturing interviews for future posts. Here's a look back at our 2019 coverage.
The post Day 1 SPECIAL REPORT: News reports and interviews from IPPE appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Researchers in Canada are looking to human hospitals as inspiration for developing next-generation techniques to improve biosecurity on poultry farms.
The post Hospitals offer inspiration for next-generation poultry biosecurity tools appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Use of a simple “causal” pie chart is proving to be a helpful tool for controlling necrotic enteritis (NE).
The post ‘Causal’ pie chart can help manage necrotic enteritis appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 13: An interview with Kalen Cookson, DVM, MAM, Director of Clinical Research, Zoetis
The post Tuning up live-vaccine priming for infectious bursal disease and reovirus appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Successful Salmonella control throughout live poultry production requires an integrated effort, attention to detail and careful follow-through to help processing plants meet more stringent USDA standards.
The post What more can live production do to reduce Salmonella in poultry? appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Coccidiosis takes a toll of around $3 billion on global poultry production each year, making it one of the industry’s most economically significant diseases worldwide.
The post Managing anticoccidials: ‘It’s how you use them that’s important’ appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A new label under development for meat and poultry products will represent production that seeks a balanced approach to poultry production and marketing.
The post One Health Certified label seeks balanced approach to poultry production, marketing appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Poultry Health Today has introduced the Zoetis News Center — a special section of the popular news website that features insights from Zoetis’ poultry health experts, plus updates on company-sponsored research and new tools for managing flock health.
The post Poultry Health Today launches Zoetis News Center appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
New research from South Africa shows that vaccinating broilers against Escherichia coli is good not just for birds, but also for bottom lines.
The post E. coli vaccination yields bottom-line benefits on South African broiler farms appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
More young people need to be encouraged to take up careers in poultry science if the sector is to properly tackle disease challenges which have plagued it for decades.
The post Industry needs more poultry scientists to tackle disease challenges appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Food safety challenges linked to Salmonella could be tackled more effectively by better understanding the sex life of bacteria, according to a leading US government veterinarian.
The post Salmonella’s sex life key to mitigating food safety risks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The AAAP has released the eighth edition of its venerable Avian Diseases Manual, widely regarded in the poultry industry as the essential guide for diagnosing and managing diseases.
The post AAAP publishes eighth edition of Avian Disease Manual appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Surveys carried out by the AAAP found veterinarians working across the broiler, egg and turkey sectors believe food safety should be a high-priority area for future research, alongside vaccine and pharmaceutical development.
The post US poultry vets: Disease control and food safety identified as future research priorities appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Producers raising broilers with no or fewer antibiotics need to pay more attention to diseases that can compromise flock immunity and make birds more susceptible to primary and secondary infections.
The post Ensuring strong immunity key to successful ‘no antibiotics ever’ broiler production appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, MS, ACPV,
Corporate Veterinarian,
Sanderson Farms, Inc.
The post Virulent ND outbreaks underscore need to rethink vaccination program appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
An unusual presentation of bacterial septicemia in broilers underscores the importance of obtaining a good history and input from bird caretakers, according to David French, DVM, a staff veterinarian with Sanderson Farms.
The post Unusual presentation of bacterial septicemia in broilers tied to breeders appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Taking a closer look at why incidence of Salmonella and Campylobacter varied widely on farms in the same production system helped to demonstrate the importance of management and communication with growers.
The post Perdue veterinarian seeks answers to inconsistent foodborne pathogen load appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Poultry shed humidity should be monitored as regularly as shed temperature and ventilation to ensure bird health and productivity is as high as it can be.
The post Moisture monitoring critical to improving bird health and welfare appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Resistance is unlikely to be a problem in coccidiosis bioshuttle programs, Greg Mathis, PhD, Southern Poultry Research, told Poultry Health Today.
The post Coccidiosis control: Keys to success with a bioshuttle program appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Feeding higher levels of copper and zinc in the diet, managing litter moisture and controlling coccidiosis are keys to stopping necrotic enteritis (NE) in poultry raised without antibiotics (RWA), Dan Moore, PhD, president, Colorado Quality Research, told Poultry Health Today.
The post Necrotic enteritis control requires multi-pronged approach in RWA systems appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The bacterium E. coli has re-emerged in broiler operations, which seems to coincide with poultry companies’ switch to ‘no antibiotics ever’ (NAE) programs.
The post Avian pathogenic E. coli: Difficult to prevent and control appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
How do you look for new serotypes of a virus that might be circulating in an area? Sentinel birds are a good place to start, according to Abigail Reith, DVM, a technical services veterinarian for Zoetis.
The post Sentinel broilers, PCR testing help isolate, identify evolving IBV populations in Arkansas appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Reductions in the use of medically important antimicrobials demonstrate the poultry industry’s commitment to stewardship of these valuable medications, Randall Singer, DVM, MPVM, PhD, told Poultry Health Today.
The post Reductions in medically important antimicrobials reflect industry stewardship appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Successful transition from conventional to no-antibiotics-ever (NAE) broiler production requires awareness of all the changes needed and lots of advance planning.
The post Helping contract growers’ transition to no-antibiotics-ever broiler production appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 15: An interview with Jon Schaeffer, DVM, PhD, Senior Director, Technical Services, US Poultry, Zoetis
The post ‘Let’s keep it up’: Maintaining the efficacy of Zoamix® appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Increasing air circulation coupled with moderate reductions in humidity can dramatically improve paw quality, Michael Czarick and Connie Mou, University of Georgia, told Poultry Health Today.
The post Better air circulation, moderately lower humidity improve paw quality appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The US poultry industry needs to revisit Campylobacter-control strategies in preparation for new performance standards coming from USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, Ashley Peterson, PhD, National Chicken Council, told Poultry Health Today.
The post US poultry industry shifting focus to Campylobacter, Salmonella Infantis appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 12: An interview with Lloyd Keck, DVM, ACPV, Senior Technical Service Veterinarian, Zoetis
The post Tips for ensuring best field vaccination results with Poulvac® ST or Poulvac® E. coli appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Sprinkler systems used in conjunction with cool cells during hot summer weather can not only benefit animal welfare, they can dramatically reduce water use.
The post Sprinkler systems benefit animal welfare, reduce water use appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Wet-bulb reservoirs in hatchery incubators should be included in the bacterial-monitoring program to ensure they aren’t the source of egg-shell contamination.
The post Wet bulb reservoirs can be source of bacterial contamination for hatching eggs appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Don Waldrip, DVM, Senior Technical Service Veterinarian, Zoetis
The post NAE producers need to focus on Eimeria oocysts for more effective control of coccidiosis, necrotic enteritis appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Broilers vaccinated against Salmonella showed reduced levels of the pathogen at processing in a recent study, according to Charles Hofacre, PhD, president, Southern Poultry Research Group. Inc.
The post Vaccinated birds shown to have lower incidence of Salmonella at processing appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Poultry veterinarians and production managers are all too familiar with coccidiosis and its impact on gut health, nutrient absorption, feed conversion and growth rate.
The post Coccidiosis vaccination impedes nutrient digestibility appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Rather than adopt costly production practices that don’t necessarily benefit the health or welfare of poultry, veterinarians should work to educate non-farm audiences about a bird’s inherent needs and preferences.
The post What makes a chick tick: Help non-farm audiences understand poultry’s needs appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Litter topped the list of environmental factors most consistently positive for Mycoplasma synoviae (MS), Naola Ferguson, DVM, associate professor at the University of Georgia, told Poultry Health Today.
The post Poultry litter management key to MS control appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Abhinav Upadhyay, DVM, PhD, postdoctoral associate and Dan J. Donoghue, PhD, professor, University of Arkansas
The post Preharvest reduction of Salmonella, Campylobacter key to better control efforts appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Turkey producers will need to rely on preventive measures including biosecurity, good gut health and genetic selection to combat three key flagellated protozoan parasites that can affect their flocks.
The post Preventive measures are only option for combatting key parasites in turkeys appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Research on infectious bronchitis virus remains a top priority for the poultry industry. Not only is it widespread, but new serotypes also continue to emerge due to mutations and recombination events in the viral genome.
The post Zinc can help combat infectious bronchitis in poultry appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Tom Tabler, PhD, Extension Professor, Mississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science Department, Mississippi State, Mississippi
The post Water quality: No room for error in NAE flocks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Robert O’Connor, DVM, MAM,
Senior vice president,
Foster Farms
The post Reducing salmonellosis: Let’s try teaching ‘aseptic technique’ in the home kitchen appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
US poultry producers dramatically decreased their use of medically important antimicrobials over a 5-year period ending in 2017, according to a new report released by Randall Singer, DVM, PhD, Mindwalk Consulting Group, LLC.
The post Report: US poultry producers slash use of medically important antimicrobials while shifting focus to disease prevention appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The increase in 7-day chick mortality that has come along with the elimination of antibiotics requires a focus on containing bacteria that start in the layer house.
The post Ensuring chick quality in NAE production appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Broiler breeders are an ideal carrier for Histomonas — the cause of blackhead disease — but unlike turkeys that often die from the infection, broiler breeders survive.
The post Studies in chickens could lead to blackhead control in turkeys appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Faultless management in the first few days of a chick’s life is critical to ensuring birds remain healthy and productive for the rest of the crop.
The post Focus on these 4 areas to ensure broiler chick success appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
A new group within the AAAP aims to provide a forum for the growing number of women who are joining the avian veterinary profession.
The post New AAAP Women’s Network opening doors in poultry industry appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Avoidance of wet litter and well-timed feed withdrawal are two of several management steps that will help control the load of Salmonella going into the processing plant.
The post Live-production management practices that help contain Salmonella appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Focal duodenal necrosis in table-egg layers can be an easily overlooked cause of drops in egg production and egg-case weight loss.
The post Focal duodenal necrosis in table-egg layers easily overlooked appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Vaccinating broilers is a big investment and may not be needed on all farms, but it can be a worthwhile move if there are high loads of Salmonella coming into the processing plant.
The post When vaccinating broilers against Salmonella may be worthwhile appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
With the increase in no-antibiotic-ever production, glutamine may serve as a helpful nutrient asset, particularly when birds are under stress.
The post Trial shows glutamine aids gut health in broilers raised without antibiotics appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
NE remains a formidable challenge in broilers raised without antibiotics, and preventing the disease means steering clear of predisposing factors and implementing a rigid coccidiosis-control plan.
The post World poultry industry still struggling with necrotic enteritis appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Zoetis has reintroduced the vaccine Poulvac® Coryza ABC IC3 to help U.S. poultry producers combat outbreaks of avian coryza, an acute respiratory infection.
The post Zoetis Fast Tracking Relaunch of Avian Coryza Vaccine to Aid U.S. Disease Outbreaks appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, MS, ACPV, Corporate Veterinarian, Sanderson Farms, Inc.
The post Maslow’s Pyramid: Self-actualization for chickens? appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Most of Poultry Health Today’s video interviews with leading health experts and other opinion leaders can be downloaded as podcasts and listened to on mobile devices or through audio systems of most vehicles.
The post On the road again? Don’t forget Poultry Health Today podcasts appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Poultry companies struggling to meet higher USDA standards for Salmonella need to increase control efforts in live production to help avoid the dreaded Category 3.
The post Integrated plan with live production needed to meet new Salmonella standards appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Preparation, meticulous attention to sanitation and improved communication with hatchery staff and growers are critical for NAE production.
The post Pilgrim’s veterinarian shares experiences with NAE production appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Tom Tabler, PhD, Extension Professor, Mississippi State University, Extension Service, Poultry Science Department, Mississippi State, Mississippi
The post Cooling chickens with sprinklers has multiple benefits appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Diligent attention to four areas of hatchery management — egg-pack quality, incubation, sanitation and in ovo vaccination — can go a long way.
The post Four areas of hatchery management to help achieve better biosecurity appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Reg Smith, Vice President, Operations, Atlantic Poultry, Nova Scotia, Canada, Formerly Chair, British Poultry Council’s Antibiotic Stewardship strategy
The post A few tools to improve brooding, not antibiotic alternatives, are key to NE prevention appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Poultry producers can expect to jump higher hurdles as USDA continues to raise the bar for food safety.
The post Poultry producers facing higher hurdles with USDA food-safety standards appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Vaccinating broilers against Salmonella could be an effective live-side intervention for obtaining higher ratings in the Salmonella categorizations established by the USDA’s FSIS
The post Moving up: Vaccinating broilers may help poultry companies improve Salmonella ratings appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Outbreaks of virulent Newcastle disease (vND) that have spread from backyard to commercial flocks in California are providing a wake-up call to the entire US poultry industry.
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Broilers raised without antibiotics accounted for 51% of total US production in 2018 — an 11-point jump from the previous year and, more significantly, up from 3% in 2014.
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Administration of an in-feed anticoccidial after coccidiosis vaccination has helped alleviate outbreaks of Eimeria tenella in broiler breeder replacement stock.
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Disinfecting eggs and improving overall hygiene in the hatchery could dramatically reduce the risk of mortality linked to E. coli infections, scientists say.
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Aggressive vaccination of broiler breeders for reovirus using live and inactivated vaccines has been one of the most important steps the US poultry industry has taken to maintain good protection against the disease.
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Producers need to think long and hard before jumping into “no antibiotics ever” (NAE) poultry production.
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Dirty chick boxes at hatcheries can be a source of Salmonella, but the risk was still lower than expected in a study conducted at one US hatchery.
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The AVMA has published its first ever Guidelines for the Depopulation of Animals to help veterinarians support animal welfare in situations where the difficult decision to depopulate has been made.
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The QX strain of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) remains the most common variant of IBV in Europe, but the prevalence of the variant 02 strain appears to be on the increase
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Molecular virology is already leading to discoveries that will improve management of ILT, according to Stephen Spatz, PhD, molecular virologist with USDA’s Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, Athens, Georgia.
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The effectiveness of antibiotic alternatives is going to vary among “no antibiotics ever” production systems, and it’s up to the producers to figure out which alternatives will work.
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Legislators need to know some basics about raising chickens in response to an upsurge in the “urban chicken” trend, Nat Tablante, DVM, told Poultry Health Today.
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Effective biosecurity on poultry farms requires developing the kind of culture that motivates everyone in the company to adhere to the procedures that protect flocks from infectious disease.
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Despite decades of vaccination, the world poultry industry’s ongoing battle with infectious bronchitis (IB) continues to rage and points to the need for novel technologies to combat the disease.
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TOOLBOX, Issue 11: An interview with Jon Schaeffer, DVM, Director of Poultry Veterinary Services, Zoetis
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Raising broilers without antibiotics appears to be affecting the gizzard in ways that aren’t yet fully appreciated, and it’s not clear if the changes observed are true gizzard erosions, Jessica Hockaday, DVM, told Poultry Health Today.
The post Gizzard changes seen in NAE flocks but diagnosis is murky appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Biosecurity on commercial poultry farms has come a long way but still has far to go, Joseph Giambrone, PhD, professor of poultry science, Auburn University, told Poultry Health Today.
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By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, MS, ACPV
Corporate Veterinarian
Sanderson Farms, Inc.
The post USDA poultry inspections can help improve live production, processing appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Autogenous vaccines used in a reovirus vaccination program need to be updated relatively often to keep up with changes in the pathogen
The post Sanderson vet shares thoughts on managing elusive reovirus, other gut diseases appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Improved Salmonella control requires fixing weak links in live production that allow the pathogen to get into a flock, poultry experts advised during an industry roundtable.
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Emerging, variant strains of Mycoplasma synoviae are causing eggshell apex abnormalities as well as production drops in both layer and breeding flocks worldwide, Anneke Feberwee, DVM, PhD, from GD Animal Health, the Netherlands, told Poultry Health Today.
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Lameness in poultry is often associated with bird weight, bacterial infections or the condition of the litter, but it actually begins much earlier in the bird’s life — often in the hatchery.
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Early exposure to Clostridium perfringens in used litter may be a way to minimize the impact of necrotic enteritis (NE) in broilers, Steve Davis, DVM, told Poultry Health Today.
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By Tom Tabler, PhD, Extension Professor, Mississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science Department, Mississippi State, Mississippi
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While statistics show the US poultry industry has made great strides reducing foodborne pathogens, USDA’s new standards for Salmonella and Campylobacter in chicken parts have made poultry companies up their game.
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Poultry Health Today, the world’s only news website focused on poultry health, is marking its 5th anniversary by covering technical sessions and conducting more than two dozen interviews with poultry-health experts and trend watchers at the 2019 IPPE.
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TOOLBOX, Issue 9: An interview with Andy McRee, DVM, Senior Technical Services Veterinarian, Zoetis
The post Exploring the connection between hemorrhagic hepatopathy and inactivated vaccines used in broiler breeders appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The 2019 International Poultry Scientific Forum is under way in Atlanta. Our editors are onsite, covering sessions and capturing interviews for future posts. Here's a look back at our 2018 coverage. (Part 1 of 4)
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Maintaining good intestinal health in broilers is essential for minimizing the presence of Salmonella in birds sent for processing, Manuel Da Costa, DVM, PhD, associate director for Outcomes Research at Zoetis told Poultry Health Today.
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A rise in the prevalence of Salmonella on whole chicken carcasses since USDA changed the testing medium used could indicate the prevalence of the pathogen was previously underestimated.
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By Mark W. Jackwood, PhD, Department Head, JR Glisson Professor of Avian Medicine, University of Georgia
The post Infectious bronchitis control: Understanding why it’s so difficult appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The key to successful “no antibiotics ever” (NAE) broiler production is cleanliness throughout every step of production, including a pristine hatchery.
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TOOLBOX, Issue 4: An interview with Marco Quiroz, DVM, Zoetis
The post ‘Take a holistic approach’ to get the most from Salmonella vaccination appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
The National Chicken Council projects that football-crazed (and undoubtedly thirsty) Americans will scarf down 1.38 billion wings on Super Bowl Sunday.
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Poultry “raised without antibiotics” now account for more than 50% of the broilers in US production, but those reductions in antibiotics usage have consequences.
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Vaccination of broilers against Salmonella may be the best and most expedient option for producers struggling to meet USDA performance standards at the processing plant, said Chuck Hofacre, DVM, PhD, president of the Southern Poultry Research Group Inc., Athens, Georgia.
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Higher government standards for Salmonella control have put more pressure on poultry companies to reduce incidence on broiler farms and lower the pathogen load going into processing.
The post Refined carbs show promise as ‘sentinel’ for Salmonella control appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Conventional wisdom dictates that infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) field strains should determine the vaccine strategy. However, a recent study from Brazil indicates the reverse is also true.
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Field experience with infectious bronchitis in broilers during a harsh winter demonstrated that vaccination for secondary Escherichia coli infection helped stem losses
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Improved communication between poultry company veterinarians and backyard chicken growers could help improve biosecurity and reduce disease spread for all flocks.
The post Commercial poultry vets can help backyard growers, and themselves, by sharing tips on biosecurity appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Good coccidiosis control and litter management are the two most important steps producers can take to prevent necrotic enteritis (NE) in flocks raised without antibiotics.
The post Coccidiosis control, litter management key to NE prevention in broilers raised without antibiotics appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
As bird density increases, broiler producers need to be “more aggressive” with house ventilation to prevent heat stress in flocks, Brian Fairchild, PhD, professor, and Ming Lin Teo, graduate research assistant, University of Georgia, told Poultry Health Today.
The post Heat-stress study shows need to increase ventilation with stocking density appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Lameness in some poultry flocks has researchers searching for the cause, Suzanne Dougherty, DVM, a consulting poultry veterinarian based in Alabama, told Poultry Health Today.
The post Chicks may hold clues to lameness in older birds appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Coccidiosis vaccination was effective in broilers challenged with Eimeria tenella but only after vaccinal oocysts cycled twice, Laura Tensa, DVM, told Poultry Health Today.
The post It takes two: Coccidiosis vaccines effective against E. tenella after adequate cycling appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Between sinking unemployment rates, the challenge of retaining good labor to conduct repetitive tasks and the increasing need to optimize biosecurity, more and more poultry companies are turning to robotics to improve efficiency and production.
The post New US turkey hatchery shows industry’s focus on automation, biosecurity appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
TOOLBOX, Issue 10: An interview with Kalen Cookson, DVM, MAM, Director of Clinical Research, Zoetis
The post Selection of IBV GA 08 vaccine, proper administration can minimize reactions appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
By Philip A. Stayer, DVM, MS, ACPVCorporate VeterinarianSanderson Farms, Inc.
Back in 2005, our grow-out operations in Mississippi weathered the “storm of the century” when Hurricane Katrina made landfall near Waveland and carved a northeasterly path. Sanderson Farms applied what was learned from that natural disaster by updating its crisis-management plan. Then in September 2018, Hurricane Florence brought a “thousand-year flood” to our growers in North Carolina. That hurricane took waters to places and levels that couldn’t possibly be anticipated.
With Katrina, a lot of our contract farmers had structural damage due to wind, but with Florence, almost all the damage was due to flooding. After Florence blew through, we used private helicopters and drones to view flooded facilities. If we couldn’t see the propane tanks, we knew the fate of the feathered inhabitants was grave and that the houses were completely flooded. As it turned out, many of the tanks had floated away.
Our hatcheries, processing plants and feed mill in North Carolina were spared, but Florence flooded 70 of 880 broiler houses on our growers’ farms. Approximately 2.1 million chickens in those houses drowned. Approximately 1.35 million were in the St. Pauls, North Carolina, big-bird deboning division, and about 755,000 birds were associated with the Kinston, North Carolina, tray-pack division.
It was a huge relief that all Sanderson Farm employees and contract family farmers made it through the storm alive, but many of them suffered huge losses — primarily their homes — due to flooding.
In preparation for the storm, Sanderson distributed as much feed and fuel as feasible to its contract growers. No farms ran out of feed, but some rationing was necessary until more supplies could be delivered, so for a time, broilers couldn’t eat ad libitum as usual.
Post-storm Deliveries resumed after our folks made sure roads were safe. Boats may have been more helpful than trucks, but trucks were all that were available.
Processing plants were idled for several days — not only because of closed roads but also to give workers time to tend to personal matters. Unlike Katrina, when some farms were without power for up to 4 weeks, electric power service was restored quickly throughout eastern North Carolina after Florence. Only the St. Pauls hatchery had to operate on generator power for several days. The Kinston hatchery never lost power, nor did the Kinston feed mill, although the feed mill has a large generator on site that could have kept the facility working if need be.
Many growers with flocks that didn’t drown had generators to use during the electric outage, but they weren’t big enough to power all the equipment. Flocks therefore couldn’t be kept as cool as desirable during the late-summer heat, when daytime temperatures maxed out over 90° F (32° C). Thankfully, these flocks suffered no lasting ill effects and otherwise were managed appropriately and according to Sanderson’s animal-welfare policy.
The only post-storm health problem among surviving birds was Staphylococcus infection in replacement breeders and breeder chickens, which we attributed largely to the stress caused by changes in the daily routine.
Clean-up Clean-up efforts after Florence consisted primarily of helping family farmers remove mortalities from their houses so they could get back to the business of tending flocks. Sanderson arranged for third-party contractors to deliver materials and run heavy machinery when needed by farmers. Biosecurity programs were maintained as much as feasible, but there was less concern than usual about people coming onto farms that had flooded since there were no live chickens left to protect.
Burial wasn’t an option due to the shallow depth of eastern North Carolina’s water table, and landfills won’t accept the volume of organic material associated with ground-reared poultry. Even without a flood, catastrophic mortality events are handled by above-ground composting, which starts inside the poultry house. First chicken house floors are covered with several loads of carbon material, like pine shavings, until the house contents are dry enough to turn in place. That takes about 2 weeks.
Once the house contents are moved outside, more carbon source is added and composting is finished. North Carolina’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services helped with this task, which helped locate materials and the expertise needed to compost drowned flocks. All told, North Carolina spent between US $11million and $13 million — primarily for sawdust — to compost the estimated 4 million chickens and turkeys lost in the flood. It sounds like a lot, but the state reportedly remained well under its budget of US $20 million, and it’s expected that most of the expense will be reimbursed by the federal government.1
Once houses were emptied, they were washed down, disinfected and new litter was brought in. Flooded houses had to replace at least some feeding-equipment components. Fortunately, wiring, computers and drinker systems were functional after dry-out and cleaning. It took over 1 month to get those houses back to normal production.
Lessons learned The interruption in business due to Hurricane Florence meant some broiler flocks intended for processing at 59 days grew up to 70 days. Both the Kinston and St. Pauls processing plants were forced to operate additional days to catch up.
Our company is still dealing with the effects of operational interruptions associated with Florence, but we are diligently working toward getting back to business as usual. Based on our experience, I would advise all poultry producers large and small to have a disaster-response plan in place that includes contact names and numbers for anyone who can help when a natural disaster hits. Help might include routine supplies as well as equipment such as generators, generator parts, heavy equipment, etc. When a storm is brewing, it’s a good idea to talk to those contacts well before landfall and have arrangements in place for whatever help may be needed before and after the storm.
We’ve learned that while it’s essential to have a crisis-management plan, it’s also important to maintain flexibility so the plan can be adjusted to meet the unique situations that each natural disaster brings. We’ve also learned that there’s nothing like enduring a stressful event to strengthen a team and indelibly mark those who survive.
- High cost to compost poultry after Hurricane Florence. November 14, 2018. WATTAgNet.com. https://www.wattagnet.com/articles/36164-high-cost-to-compost-poultry-after-hurricane-florence. Accessed November 14, 2018.
Editor’s note: The opinions and advice presented in this article belong to the author and, as such, are presented here as points of view, not specific recommendations by Poultry Health Today.
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Feed withdrawal before moving broilers to the processing plant appears to increase their susceptibility to Salmonella, indicates research from the University of Georgia.
When feed is withdrawn, a decrease in lactic acid production occurs, causing the pH to become more neutral. The result is an environment favorable for bacteria like Salmonella to flourish in the crop, Caitlin Harris, graduate research assistant at the university, told Poultry Health Today.
Harris undertook a study to see if there were any on-farm interventions that would help decrease the prevalence of Salmonella. Because feed is always withdrawn before water, her research evaluated water treatment interventions to maintain the bird’s intestinal pH balance.
There were two hydrogen peroxide treatments (50 ppm) pH adjusted to 5.0 or 6.2 with citric acid, as well as a sodium bisulfate treatment (pH 3.2).
The study evaluated the crop and ceca after three withdrawal schedules: no feed or water withdrawal; 6-hour feed withdrawal with no water withdrawal; and 12-hour feed withdrawal with 6-hour water withdrawal.
Birds with no feed withdrawal had much less Salmonella compared to birds in the 12-hour and 6-hour feed withdrawal treatment groups. The results also indicated that the acidic water treatments did not affect feed consumption, water usage or Salmonella recovery.
The take-away from this research, Harris said, is that it’s very difficult to control Salmonella during the withdrawal period. Salmonella control needs to start on the farm as early as possible instead of waiting until the birds are about to go to the processing plant.
The post Can water treatments help reduce Salmonella levels before processing? appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
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Manipulating the immune response may be one way infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is controlled in the future, predict researchers studying genetic lines of poultry.
Rodrigo Gallardo, DVM, PhD, associate professor of poultry medicine at the University of California—Davis, told Poultry Health Today that a study was initiated more than 3 years ago to search for new preventive IBV strategies.
The objective isn’t to develop a new genetic line of birds, however. The researchers are looking for molecules or cells that provide IBV resistance when stimulated, he said.
The research started by challenging more than 10 different genetic lines of leghorn chickens with IBV. That process, which itself took more than 2 years, resulted in identifying one line that is relatively resistant to IBV and one that is susceptible to the virus. With the focus narrowed to two genetic lines, the researchers are now studying chickens’ innate and adaptive immune responses, Gallardo said.
Innate immunity — a host’s first line of defense against infection — is “nonspecific” and difficult to measure. Adaptive immunity is easier to measure since it produces a local antibody response to a challenge, he explained.
The resistant line has shown a strong adaptive immune response by producing a large quantity of IgA and IgG antibodies. Chickens in the IBV-resistant line don’t have many respiratory signs during an IBV challenge and have less inflammation in the trachea than birds in the susceptible line, he noted.
The post Is genetics the key for lasting IBV immunity? appeared first on Poultry Health Today.
Changes in the behavior of one of the most important coccidial pathogens means poultry producers should take a fresh look at how they deal with the parasite.
Eimeria maxima — one of the three main Eimeria parasites that cause coccidiosis in broiler chickens — has traditionally peaked in birds at around 35 days of age (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Traditional development of Eimeria species challenges through a broiler grow out
However, intestinal-health sessions carried out for five different broiler integrators in the UK over a 4-year period have shown that many broiler flocks are becoming infected by E. maxima earlier.
The shift in timing means that E. maxima — widely considered the most economically significant coccidial pathogen in broilers — rears its ugly head at the same time as other infections, such as E. acervulina.
According to Stuart Andrews, PhD, former technical manager at Zoetis UK, this increased infection pressure could result in increased intestinal damage in some flocks.
‘Mixed challenge’ “About 20 years ago, E. maxima typically peaked in broilers at around 35 days of age, but evidence from the field indicates that it has advanced, and with careful microscopic analysis we are now seeing it peak much earlier — any time between 19 and 29 days of age,” Andrews says (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Photo of a high level of E. maxima infection (too many parasite stages to accurately count) in a 19-day-old broiler. This level of infection caused significant damage to the bird’s intestine.
The data collected suggests that the challenge curve of E. maxima has shifted to the left, with the peak challenges affecting birds at earlier ages.
“It often means that in this period, birds are now facing a significant mixed challenge from different Eimeria species in the same part of the mid-intestine, which has implications for bird health, welfare and productivity.”
The change in timing was initially identified during a 2-year-long period (2014-2015) in which Zoetis scientists took scrapings from the mucosa of the mid-intestine of birds across more than 80 broiler farms (many visited on more than one occasion) located in different geographical regions of the UK.
It is uncertain exactly why E. maxima infections are occurring earlier, Andrews says. However, it may partly be due to an evolution in the parasite or changes in its relationship with birds — as well as a change in the genetic make-up of the birds themselves.
Growing resistance But another significant factor is likely to be growing resistance to some coccidiosis treatments used for extended periods, underscoring the need for producers to reassess how they treat their flocks.
“A lot of broiler farmers are relying on ionophores in their programs, and there’s often a reluctance to rotate,” he adds. “There’s a real possibility that we are seeing resistance build-up.”
One of the solutions, Andrews says, is to try to rotate products more frequently to reduce the risk of resistance developing.
“Simplistically, if you are using an ionophore, I believe we need to restrict its duration of use to about 6 months, after which it — and any other ionophore from the same class — should be rested for at least 6 months. And when you’re deciding what to switch to, make sure you select a product from a different anticoccidial class (Figure 3).”
Figure 3. Switch between anticoccidial classes to minimize chances of cross-resistance. The wider the arrow between products, the greater the chance of developing resistance.1-5
“In other words, if you are using a monovalent ionophore, then switch to either a divalent ionophore or to a synthetic (also referred to as chemical) which will have a different method of action against the coccidia. Use of an anticoccidial vaccine may also be considered for inclusion in such a rotation program,” he adds.
Diagnosis challenge Regardless of treatment options, however, Andrews concedes that one of the biggest challenges facing producers is identifying the presence of E. maxima in the first place.
Diagnosis is traditionally made by post-mortem examination, where lesions are scored from 0-4 using the Johnson and Reid system.
However, signs of infection, which include small red petechiae on the serosal surface of the mid-intestine, are not always easy to see, and in some cases may not even be present.
What’s more, signs of dysbacteriosis are very similar to E. maxima infections, meaning mild to moderate E. maxima infections can be overlooked.
Coupled with a general lack of awareness about E. maxima among producers, it means the issue is significantly under-reported, Andrews says.
E. maxima surprise “Although we are seeing an increase in gut damage, by and large birds are performing reasonably well, so farmers are often surprised when we identify an E. maxima problem.
“But the condition can have significant impacts on weight gain and feed conversion, not to mention causing longer-term health issues which then require antibiotics to treat, so it’s important it’s not left untreated.
“The challenge is to get them to understand that if they can control E. maxima more effectively, then birds will perform even better,” Andrews says.
To improve diagnosis, and help producers step in with treatments sooner, Zoetis has traditionally used a modified Johnson and Reid system — and Andrews and his team have used the modified system intensively, with revealing results.
Traditionally, six birds from an individual shed on a farm are culled and scored depending on the number of lesions on the serosal surface of the mid-intestine. Scores of 3 or 4 are clear-cut, but the modification is that with scores of 1 or 2, gut scrapings are examined under a microscope to confirm the presence of E. maxima endogenous stages.
Increased testing With the modified technique, mucosal scrapings are taken from the mid-intestine region of every bird with significant fluid or orange or pinkish mucus in the intestinal lumen, regardless of whether petechiae are present, and are checked under a microscope for E. maxima oocysts and gametocytes.
In initial tests of 108 birds across 18 UK farms, just 1.9% of birds examined would have scored positive for E. maxima with the traditional scoring system, Andrews says. But with the new increased testing technique, 39% of the total sample tested positive.
“We have now seen similar results from tests on a total of 87 different company and contract broiler farms (representing more than 174 different poultry sheds) — many farms visited on more than two occasions — in the UK since 2014 up until early 2018,” he adds.
The message for producers, Andrews says, is to reassess how often they take intestinal scrapings so that they get a clearer understanding of their farm’s health challenges and can plan appropriate strategies.
“Taking scrapings is time-consuming, and if producers don’t think they have a problem they are reluctant to do it. But getting into that habit — and training and educating staff to think about it too — is important,” He adds.
Welfare implications In the long-term, Andrews says additional basic research is urgently needed to help the industry understand what is going on in poultry sheds and what the implications could be for wider animal health and welfare.
“Welfare is rarely mentioned in relation to coccidiosis, but it has to be considered alongside the longer-term health implications,” he says.
“Once you get significant damage you can see bacteria getting into the gut, which then often require antibiotic treatment.
“As the industry is continuing to search for ways to limit antibiotics use, this is an area we really need to look at more seriously.”
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Bedrník P, Jurkovi P, Kuera J, Firmanová A. Cross Resistance to the Ionophorous Polyether Anticoccidial Drugs in Eimeria tenella Isolates from Czechoslovakia. Poult Sci 1989 Jan.1;68(1):89-93, https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.0680089
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Chapman HD. Biochemical, genetic and applied aspects of drug resistance in Eimeria parasites of the fowl. Avian Pathol. 1997;26(2):221-244. DOI: 10.1080/03079459708419208
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Chapman HD, Jeffers TK, Williams RB. Forty years of monensin for the control of coccidiosis in poultry. Poult Sci. 2010 Sep. 1;89(9):1788-1801. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2010-00931
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De Gussem M. Coccidiosis in poultry: review on diagnosis, control, prevention and interaction with overall gut health.” in Proceedings of the 16th European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition, Strasbourg, France, 2007. 253-261.
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Another year, another survey and more long faces on US turkey producers frustrated by the lack of approved, efficacious medications — a problem they rated as the top health issue threatening production.
The dearth of approved medications continues to exacerbate the prevalence of several diseases in turkeys, said Steven Clark, DVM, a poultry veterinarian with Devenish Nutrition who has conducted the survey for the past 18 years.
“The turkey industry needs diagnostics, effective and approved treatments and therapeutics, and nutritional alternative research to address turkey-disease challenges,” Clark told Poultry Health Today.
Colibacillosis, a disease causing both respiratory and enteric infections, ranked as the second leading health concern for turkey producers, behind the lack of approved drugs.
The withdrawal of the New Animal Drug Application for enrofloxacin leaves the industry vulnerable to colibacillosis as well as to other diseases like fowl cholera, Clark said. Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT), coccidiosis and clostridial dermatitis (CD) rounded out the top-five list of issues (see the accompanying list).
ORT, coccoidiosis see increase in rankings as cellulitis falls For the second consecutive year, ORT, a highly contagious respiratory disease, ranked No. 3. It’s risen on the list in recent years; it ranked No. 7 in 2015 and No. 4 in 2016. More research is needed to better understand this disease and options to control it, Clark said.
In 2016, coccidiosis ranked No. 13. It rocketed to No. 6 the following year and moved up two additional spots this year. This jump in coccidiosis likely reflects the growth of no-antibiotics-ever (NAE) production schemes, which further limits the number of medications available.
In these programs, producers cannot use ionophores, a class of animal-specific antibiotics used for many years to manage the parasitic disease. Instead, NAE producers must rely on non-ionophore anticoccidials and live vaccines to help prevent the costly disease. Phytonutrients and other alternatives have been used to improve immunity and intestinal health and some have purported activity against coccidia, but they are generally not as consistent or as efficacious.
CD or cellulitis, which affects turkeys in all geographic regions and is commonly seen in male market-age commercial birds, dropped one spot to number No. 5 this year. It was number No. 3 on the list in 2016 and No. 2 from 2008-2015.
Clinical signs of cellulitis include vesicles on the skin, especially on the breast area, and moist, dark and wrinkled skin near the breast area and also around the tail. Researchers have varying opinions about the cause and risk factors of cellulitis. Methods of control include early recognition, medicating affected birds with antimicrobials, prompt removal of mortality, quickly managing all water spills and wet litter and not composting litter within 200 feet of the poultry barn.
Steep rises in number of some reported ailments Several ailments saw big jumps in the numbers reported. For example, respondents reported 183 cases of turkey coronavirus, which is a highly infectious gastrointestinal disease, up from 12 cases in 2017 and six the previous year. In contrast, there were 119 cases reported in 2015, 43 in 2014 and 420 in 2013.
Turkey reovirus digital flexor tendon rupture (TD-DFTR), which was recognized as a newly emerging disease in 2011, also saw a spike, from 182 cases in 2017 to 234 this year. There were 31 cases in 2016. Clinical signs of TD-DFTR in older birds could include lameness and abnormal gait. Incidents of aortic rupture and poor flock performance are also common. Interestingly, TD-DFTR ranked No. 17 in 2018 and No. 11 in 2017 despite the rise in numbers.
And the number of reported cases of blackhead, also known as histomoniasis, rose from 109 the previous year to 127. But blackhead, which results in significant mortality in turkeys, fell from No. 8 the previous year to No. 11. Nitarsone, a medication for blackhead, was withdrawn from the market in December 2015, leaving the industry with no approved medication to fight the disease, the report says. The industry encourages more research on blackhead disease.
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A recent study corroborates previous findings that broilers properly vaccinated for infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) are protected from IBV challenge despite exposure to moderate levels of ammonia.
Since higher ammonia levels coincide with an elevated incidence of respiratory disease in broilers and condemnations, especially in winter, researchers at the University of Georgia have been conducting studies to determine if ammonia exposure impairs the response to IBV vaccination, Emily Aston, DVM, one of the researchers, told Poultry Health Today.
In one of their studies, day-old broilers that received an IBV Massachusetts-type vaccine were completely protected against challenge with a similar type of IBV whether they were exposed to ammonia or not, based on viral load, clinical signs, ciliostasis and airsacculitis.
In their most recent study, Aston and colleagues vaccinated day-old broilers against IBV, challenged them at 28 days of age, then examined them for markers of immune response. For example, they measured IBV-specific antibodies in serum and lacrimal fluid, and they used flow cytometry technology to characterize immune cells in respiratory and systemic tissues.
Vaccinated, challenged birds saw what amounted to “an almost complete lack of immune activation in these cells,” Aston said. In contrast, unvaccinated, challenged birds exposed to ammonia had “robust” immune-cell proliferation and activation, and 90 % of them developed airsacculitis, compared to 40% to 50% that were not exposed to ammonia, Aston reported at the 2018 International Avian Respiratory Disease Conference.
“What this would indicate or suggest…is that these birds were able to effectively neutralize the virus before it even had a chance to establish infection,” she said. “And that’s ideally what we want to see.”
Even though the results indicate ammonia exposure does not adversely affect IBV vaccination, Aston emphasized the importance of proper vaccination. She also encouraged producers to continue efforts to reduce ammonia levels by increasing ventilation in their poultry houses.
“We want to make sure that all the birds, as many as we can possibly vaccinate, are properly vaccinated,” which will increase the chances of success and of reducing the incidence of airsacculitis, Aston said.
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By Tom Tabler, Ph.D.
Extension Professor
Mississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science Department
Mississippi State, MS
Mortality disposal is critical to every poultry farm’s biosecurity program. Composting is a safe, biosecure and efficient way of managing everyday losses. However, it must be done correctly or issues can arise.
Composting is the biological decomposition and stabilization of organic matter under controlled conditions. It’s an aerobic process, meaning it requires oxygen. Microorganisms such as bacteria and fungi use organic waste — in this case, poultry mortality — as an energy source and the waste is transformed into compost, which has value as a soil amendment.
Composting daily mortality on-farm has several advantages. It helps avert the potential for groundwater pollution that, in the past, was associated with burial or disposal pit use. It avoids high fuel costs and potential air pollution associated with incineration, and it prevents potential disease spread that can occur if poultry carcasses are moved off the farm. Composting mortality is cost effective, environmentally sound and biosecure.
Bigger houses, more mortality The importance of composting has taken on added significance due to changes in the poultry industry. Over the last 20 to 30 years, the number of poultry farms has continued to decrease, but the farms that remain have more houses and the houses are bigger.
In the early 1980s, when I was a broiler service technician in Arkansas, a farm with just four houses was considered huge. At that time, 40 feet by 400 feet (about 12 meters by 120 meters) was a typical size for a broiler house. Today, I work with numerous growers who have anywhere from six to 12 broiler houses on their farm. Largely due to economies of scale, bigger is considered better. A 50 foot by 500 foot (50 meters by 152 meters) house is more common, and I’ve been in houses as large as 66 feet by 600 feet (18 meters by 183 meters).
This increase in farm and house size potentially means more mortality to deal with in a smaller geographic area. In most cases, there isn’t that much mortality, but it’s continuous throughout the flock. Mortality disposal needs to be a daily management chore.
Follow the recipe For composting to be successful, the microorganisms that do all the work need the right ingredients in the right amounts to perform properly. Any elements that are lacking or in excess will cause inadequate heat production, and you’ll be left with a poor composting environment.
The fact is, making good compost is a lot like baking a cake. You have to follow the recipe. The composting process is directly affected by several factors, particularly temperature, oxygen and moisture.
The moisture level is very important and maybe most important to successful composting. Moisture in the 50% to 60% range seems to work best. The process slows down if moisture is less than 40%. If moisture is greater than 70%, the compost becomes anaerobic — lacks oxygen — and the progress slows even more dramatically. That’s when flies and odors become a problem. The temperature will also drop, and if it gets lower than 130° F (54° C), disease organisms may remain viable, which threatens your biosecurity program.
Check the temperature If you are using a bin or alleyway composter, it’s helpful to have a compost thermometer, which has a 3-foot probe on the end you can stick into your compost material to monitor temperature (similar to a soil moisture meter). Checking the temperature a couple of times a week gives you a pretty good idea of what’s going on.
Even though they make moisture meters, I’ve never known anyone that used one on their composter. Most growers just develop a “feel” for how much moisture is in their compost material by monitoring the temperature. Generally if the temperature is right, the moisture level is right, and if the temperature is too low, the moisture level is too high.
One thing I’ve learned about composting is that it’s pretty forgiving. If you mess up, you can fix it. If it’s too wet, you can add extra bulking material like shavings, sawdust, litter, etc., and if it’s too dry, just add water to get the moisture up to 50% to 60%. Your compost pile will start working again.
Theoretically, it’s possible to get compost too dry, but in my experience, it’s unlikely. Everyone I’ve ever known that had problems failed by getting the material too wet. It gets too wet because it’s not managed correctly — it’s that simple. I can say that because I’ve composted a lot of mortality over the years, and it didn’t always go the way I’d hoped.
Compost in layers For instance, you can’t just dump a front-end loader bucket full of mortality into your compost bin, cover it with just enough material to keep mortality out of sight and call that composting. Birds need to be layered, and each layer needs to be covered with bulking material thick enough to soak up all the moisture in that layer as birds decompose.
In addition, if you’re using a bin or alleyway composter, keep birds at least 6 inches from the composter wall on all sides as you fill the bin. Compost temperatures near outside walls don’t get hot enough for successful composting to occur.
Adjust bulk material amount To layer properly, you must constantly adjust the amount of bulking material used as the flock ages. There’s not much water in a 2-day-old chick, so the bulking layer doesn’t need to be as thick as it should be for a market-ready, 63-day-old broiler that weighs 9 pounds or more. If you aren’t increasing the thickness of your bulking layer as birds get bigger, the compost material will be too wet, regardless of whether it’s a bin or in-vessel system.
Composting is not difficult to master if you know what to do. Properly done, temperatures will easily reach 130° F to 140° F (54° C to 60° C), which will kill most disease-causing organisms that may be present. This is important and explains why a properly functioning composter is critical to every farm’s biosecurity program.
Growers have all the necessary ingredients on their farm to compost correctly. But again, you have to follow the recipe! If your cake recipe calls for 3 cups of sugar and a teaspoon of salt and you add 3 cups of salt and a teaspoon of sugar, you’ve got problems.
It’s the same with composting. If you need 50% moisture and you have 85% instead and your compost bin is leaking black goo onto your concrete slab, you’ve got problems. If this is the case, I can guarantee you are going to have odors and flies and could end up with a visit from your state’s Department of Environmental Quality if someone calls in and complains. Keeping the proper moisture content solves fly, odor and neighbor-relations issues.
Educate growers In late 2016 and early 2017, our Extension program conducted compost training sessions in conjunction with Mississippi Board of Animal Health personnel. We initiated the sessions for all six broiler integrators in Mississippi because we were seeing a few poorly managed composters that were leading to problems.
After nearly all of these training sessions, there would always be one or two folks that hung around afterward to tell me “I didn’t know you needed to add extra bulking material when the chickens got big” or “I didn’t know you couldn’t dump a front-end loader full in all at once.”
This is something we all need to take note of. It’s my opinion that those of us who have been around the chicken business for a while may assume growers know more than they do. I can tell you there are a lot of contract growers out there who bought farms and built chicken houses even though they’d never grown a chicken before and certainly never composted one.
Therefore, it’s important those of us with experience help growers understand the principles of mortality composting before we turn them loose with a million-dollar (or more) farming operation and expect them to know what to do. Some growers are knowledgeable, but others are going to struggle and need assistance. Fortunately, there’s help available from poultry company service technicians and veterinarians, state agencies that oversee nutrient management plans, Extension service personnel as well as friends and family who raise commercial chickens.
Keeping biosecurity practices in mind, let’s utilize that assistance to help growers master the composting process and make every poultry operation successful and biosecure. Protection of both the commercial and backyard poultry world depends on everyone’s biosecurity program, and a key ingredient of good biosecurity is proper mortality disposal.
Editor’s note: The opinions and advice presented in this article belong to the author and, as such, are presented here as points of view, not specific recommendations by Poultry Health Today.
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Heat stress in broilers induced lesions of lymphoid tissues, indicating immune system impairment, but it’s not yet known if heat stress affects the vulnerability or severity of coccidiosis, Bryan Aguanta, a graduate student at the University of Georgia, told Poultry Health Today.
Aguanta and colleagues investigated the histological changes in broilers subjected to heat stress and coccidial infection. In their study, 14-day-old birds were randomly assigned to receive heat stress and some were not. Within each group, half of the birds were infected with Eimeria and some were not. The heat-stressed birds were exposed to a temperature of 95° F (35° C) from 15 to 28 days of age.
Sampling of birds from each group demonstrated that birds subjected to higher temperatures had more severe lymphoid depletion of the bursa and thymus at 28 days of age, indicating immune system impairment and therefore a handicap in the ability of handle disease, he said.
Aguanta and colleagues next plan to explore the immunological implications of heat stress as it relates to coccidiosis.
Interestingly, he noted, a student colleague has noted decreased coccidial-oocyst shedding in heat-stressed birds, indicating heat might actually induce protection against coccidiosis. It’s an interesting theory, though no one would want to intentionally expose broilers to high temperatures since heat has other negative production consequences, Aguanta added.
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Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) is a “moving target” and trying to keep ahead of it requires consistency and follow-up, Sjaak de Wit, DVM, PhD, of GD Animal Health, the Netherlands, told Poultry Health Today.
While all strains of the virus can cause respiratory signs, many strains also cause kidney or gut problems in broilers as well as drops in egg production in breeders, de Wit explained.
Vaccines are critical for control, but much of the vaccinal virus can be lost when vaccines are not properly administered.
There is no one perfect vaccination solution, de Wit said, but a good place to start is the hatchery. If producers opt to use two IBV vaccines, hatchery vaccination should be followed with a field boost at 2 weeks of age. Giving a second vaccine earlier or later than 14 days of age will usually not be as effective.
Obtain a baseline A chicken needs to have a certain amount of vaccine to induce a strong level of protection. Because IBV vaccines are applied by mass application via spray or drinking water — which is fast and easy — it’s impossible to tell if all birds get enough of the vaccine at the time of administration.
Therefore, checking on vaccination results is critical. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test should be performed several days after vaccine application to check on vaccine take, he said, and noted that PCR can also determine the different strains of IBV affecting a flock.
De Wit advised producers to first obtain baseline IBV titers with serology at processing so they can see if titers in subsequent flocks are going up or down. This helps determine how well the vaccination program is working.
Although PCR should be done soon after vaccination, it’s most effective when the virus is replicating. PCR also needs to be performed during the acute phase of a problem, when the birds are showing signs of respiratory or kidney problems or when there are drops in egg production, he commented.
De Wit strongly recommended checking for other infections, such as Mycoplasma or avian influenza, along with IBV. If other infectious disease problems are ignored and go unchecked, even the best IBV vaccination program won’t help. Without looking at the flock’s overall health status, producers can overestimate the relevance of IBV.
Even though IBV mutates often, it can be controlled if producers use the industry’s knowledge of the disease, he said.
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Strict biosecurity is the best defense against infectious laryngotracheitis (ILT) in broiler flocks, advises Maricarmen García, PhD, a professor at the University of Georgia.
Although breeders and commercial layers are usually vaccinated against ILT, broilers are not unless there’s an outbreak in the area.
The leading way broiler flocks become infected with the ILT virus is due to contamination by farm personnel, and that’s why strict biosecurity is required to protect flocks from this highly contagious disease, García told Poultry Health Today.
There are recorded cases involving farm workers who brought ILT to commercial flocks after contact with backyard flocks. The reverse has also occurred — farm workers have transmitted ILT from infected commercial flocks to backyard flocks, she said.
García emphasized that extra biosecurity measures are also needed if farm workers are in contact with flocks that have and have not been vaccinated against ILT, especially if the vaccinated birds received a live attenuated vaccine, she said. Poultry producers have learned over the years that birds vaccinated with a live vaccine are a source of the virus for unvaccinated birds.
Don’t neglect cleaning, disinfection Thorough cleaning and disinfection of poultry houses during downtime between flocks is critical to prevent ILT. When market prices are good, producers want to produce more meat and may reduce downtime between flocks. The result can be less attention paid to cleaning and disinfection, she explained.
On farms vaccinated for ILT due to a local outbreak, there will be remnants of ILT in buildings that housed ILT-vaccinated broilers, and in this case, thorough cleaning and disinfection are particularly important, García noted.
In broiler-producing areas endemic for ILT, the local guidelines usually advise at least 14 days of downtime and composting litter between flocks. Composting, in addition to cleaning and disinfecting the broiler house, works well to get rid of the virus, she said.
García recommended cleaning water lines with a bleach product during downtime between flocks. While this adds to the producer’s already heavy workload, it pays off by helping stop the spread of disease.
Researchers are still trying to identify weak points in biosecurity that enable ILT to get into a flock and where the virus resides once it’s in the broiler house. The current thinking is that the virus can spread throughout the broiler house more than poultry producers realize, she said.
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Salmonella Infantis can become a persistent problem in broilers and exacerbate mortality when combined with infectious bronchitis, experience indicates at an integrated South American poultry company.
The company reported high day-old chick mortality and was excessively culling birds by 2 weeks of age in 2013. The birds that survived suffered from poor weight gain and feed conversion, Martha Pulido-Landinez, DVM, PhD, associate clinical professor, Avian Medicine, Mississippi State University, reported at the 2018 International Poultry Scientific Forum.1
Infectious bronchitis was identified as the primary pathogen causing the problem, but laboratory samples also identified the presence of S. Infantis throughout the integration, she noted.
Poor biosecurity An evaluation of the 2013 outbreak at this particular operation demonstrated that poor biosecurity on the breeder farms resulted in low-quality hatching eggs. Bad hatchery practices, such as excess fluff in the vaccination area, were also identified. Add high density on broiler farms to the mix and the results were disastrous, she reported.
By 2017, the company had implemented better biosecurity practices and controlled infectious bronchitis through vaccination changes, which lowered mortality to under 5%.
In 2013, testing for Salmonella serotypes demonstrated the most predominant type was S. Infantis. Retesting was conducted in 2016-2017 to determine if S. Infantis was still prevalent at this company and was found in multiple places including litter, in chickens of different ages and in feces collected from the transportation cages. Most often, it was found at the processing plant during the post-chiller stage.
72% prevalence of S. Infantis Baby chicks were healthy, despite a 72% prevalence of S. Infantis in broilers between 16 and 21 days of age. Broiler-house overcrowding and wet litter led to footpad dermatitis and dirty feathers, resulting in S. Infantis-positive birds entering the processing plant, she said.
At processing, scalding wasn’t effective in reducing the bacteria and led to accumulation of fat and S. Infantis in the chiller. Pulido-Landinez emphasized that post-chiller interventions are critical to reducing S. Infantis, which can be a cause of illness in humans.
1 Pulido-Landinez M. Salmonella Infantis biomapping in broiler chicken farms and processing plant: Identification and persistence of an emerging serotype in a broiler vertical integration. 2018 International Poultry Scientific Forum
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Higher 7-day mortality from bacterial infections in the hatchery is no reason to stop in ovo vaccination for Marek’s and other diseases, according to a consulting poultry veterinarian.
Punching a hole into an egg to deliver a vaccine at a time when most poultry companies have stopped using antibiotics in the hatchery increases the risk for bacterial infection, conceded Guillermo Zavala, DVM, PhD, formerly of the University of Georgia and founder of the consulting firm Avian Health International, LLC.
However, live production needs to consider the big picture. “We always have to keep in mind that the only profit center for this industry…is the processing plant,” Zavala told Poultry Health Today.
Producers not using antibiotics in the hatchery might see a slight benefit in 7-day livability if they stop in ovo vaccination against Marek’s. “But then the end result is really what counts — and that’s the economic mission of the company. It’s not 7-day livability. That’s not what we sell,” he said.
Remember immunosuppression It’s also important to remember that Marek’s disease is not only a disease that causes tumors, it can lead to severe immunosuppression, he continued.
“If you don’t vaccinate your birds against Marek’s disease, you’re automatically opening the door for immunosuppression and complications with bacteria and viruses, and making it difficult for your [other] vaccines to operate the way they should,” Zavala said.
Producers raising broilers without antibiotics especially need to vaccinate against Marek’s disease, he continued, because they are more susceptible to a variety of diseases.
From a practical standpoint, the efficiency of in ovo vaccination is difficult to ignore when vaccinating millions of broilers a week for Marek’s disease. “We have to operate with mass-application systems,” he added.
“Again, I think the right strategy is not to abandon Marek’s vaccinations,” he said. The better alternative is to go back to basics. Work with very clean eggs and have good hatchery sanitation and proper incubation conditions.
“Everything starts at the breeder level, not necessarily at the broiler level as many people think it would. It’s a very comprehensive process,” Zavala noted.
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Properly vaccinated commercial broilers are protected from an infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) challenge despite exposure to moderate ammonia levels, according to a study that surprised researchers.
Ammonia remains a persistent problem for the broiler industry because higher levels coincide with an increase in airsacculitis and condemnations, especially in winter when ventilation tends to be less than ideal, Emily Aston, DVM, of the University of Georgia, told Poultry Health Today.
Aston and colleagues sought to determine the impact of ammonia on the immune response to IBV vaccination. For their study, they administered an IBV Massachusetts-type vaccine to 1-day-old chicks. They placed the chicks in a climate-controlled room and exposed them to 30 to 60 parts per million of ammonia. Other birds in the study were not vaccinated and exposed to the same levels of ammonia, and some birds were vaccinated but were not exposed to ammonia.
At 28 days of age, birds in the study were challenged with IBV M41, a strain of the virus similar to the vaccine.
‘Completely protected’ “IBV-vaccinated birds in both ammonia and no-ammonia groups were completely protected from challenge and showed significantly reduced viral load, clinical signs, no ciliostasis and no airsacculitis,” Aston reported at the International Poultry Scientific Forum.
Among the unvaccinated, challenged birds, 90% exposed to ammonia had airsacculitis compared to 40% to 50% of those that weren’t exposed to ammonia.
The results surprised the investigators because past research indicates that ammonia exposure would negatively affect the immune response to IBV vaccination and protection against challenge, Aston said.
Aston noted that although ammonia’s contribution to poor air quality remains one of the biggest issues confronting the poultry industry, other factors are involved such as humidity levels, temperature, dust and carbon dioxide.
Still unknown is whether exposure to higher ammonia levels, coupled with factors such as insufficient vaccination and environmental stressors, can increase the risk for respiratory disease, all questions Aston said she and colleagues plan to study in the future
Aston said ammonia levels also rise when the temperatures drop — usually at night — and spike during the winter months because of cooler temperatures.
Increase ventilation Ventilation is key to fighting respiratory infection from ammonia. She noted that many producers worry about their gas bills and reduce ventilation, inadvertently triggering a rise in ammonia levels in the house.
Because ventilation controls humidity, it controls ammonia, she said. The benefits of increasing ventilation to reach acceptable ammonia levels far outweigh the costs of saving on energy bills, she said.
“So, even if you don’t…have an ammonia sensor — those are very expensive — you can measure relative humidity in the house and there are target ranges,” Aston said. “What we recommend is anywhere from 50% to 70% humidity in the house for baby chicks. And then, as they get older, the natural humidity will increase, and you want to make sure you don’t go above that 70%.”
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Are you working on new science-based solutions to further improve poultry health, welfare, efficiency or performance?
And what about food safety? Are you involved with developing new strategies or technologies to reduce foodborne pathogens?
The American Association of Avian Pathologists (AAAP) is now accepting abstract submissions for its 2019 conference, Aug. 2-6, Washington, DC. The deadline is Dec. 3, 2018.
AAAP’s 2018 conference featured more than 250 scientific sessions and posters on enteric and respiratory diseases, immunity management, food safety, parasitology, bacteriology virology and vaccinology.
The AAAP conference, with attracts poultry health professionals for more than 25 countries, will be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
For more information on the 2019 conference, go to aaap.info.
To submit an abstract: https://s1.goeshow.com/avma/annual/2019/abstract_submission.cfm
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By Douglas L. Fulnechek, DVM
Senior Technical Services Veterinarian, Zoetis
Unnecessary condemnations can cost poultry producers a fortune. In some cases, poultry companies don’t monitor carefully enough to recognize off-target condemnations. In other cases, producers know their condemnation rate is high, but what to do about it presents a conundrum. They don’t know how to go about challenging unsupportable inspector decisions or hesitate to do so because they fear retaliation.
As a former supervisory veterinary medical officer with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), I can tell you that conducting regular condemnation reviews and taking action to reduce unnecessary condemnations is worthwhile.
The FSIS inspector’s job is to follow the criteria for condemning a carcass, but there’s a lot of judgment and subjectivity that goes into inspecting chickens and it can be difficult to make a quick decision about whether or not a carcass should be condemned.
Drawing on my hands-on experience in many poultry-slaughter establishments, I have seen off-target condemnation rates as high as 75%. In other words, three of four condemned poultry carcasses probably could have been salvaged or allowed to remain on the evisceration line.
For a facility processing 1.3 million 6.35-pound broilers weekly, the difference in loss between a 0.15% and 0.25% condemnation rate is staggering. If we factor in annual costs to maintain live-production volume, higher fixed costs at the plant for processing carcasses that are later condemned and, of course, the lost sales revenue, total annual losses from unnecessary condemnations can easily exceed $700,000.
Candid conversations The first step toward reducing condemnations should be a candid conversation among live-production management, processing-plant management and FSIS veterinary supervisors. There has to be acknowledgement that post-mortem inspection is a process involving human judgment and the goal is to minimize errors, which to some extent are going to be inevitable from time to time.
Everyone involved needs to commit to routine weekly and monthly condemnation monitoring. To help maintain awareness of condemnations and keep everyone on their toes, I recommend having a processing-plant employee — perhaps a shift manager — discuss one or two whole-carcass condemnations with the FSIS veterinary supervisor weekly. Then, at the regularly scheduled monthly review, managers from live production, processing and FSIS can look at a significant number of condemned carcasses — about 10 condemned carcasses from each inspector. The live-production manager’s presence makes these sessions even more meaningful because it’s an opportunity to talk about flock-health programs.
Gather data FSIS personnel record condemnations on a Lot Talley sheet and then summarize the information on a Poultry Condemnation Certification form, which is given to processing-plant management. The information on these forms can help producers track condemnations and, sometimes, leads to the cause of condemnation discrepancies.
Figure 1 shows how condemnation data can be applied. It compares day- and night-shift condemnations for septicemia at a large, young-chicken processing facility. The data are aggregated by week over a 6-month period, so individual flock variation is negligible. Total carcasses inspected are about 17.5 million on each shift.
In this case, the difference between the day- and night-shift inspections is 0.08198%. That seems small, but considering the annual cost to maintain live-production volume, higher fixed plant costs and annual lost sales, it adds up to over $500,000. This information makes it clear the cause of condemnations wasn’t a live-production problem because, if it were, it would affect both shifts.
It appears instead the night shift was condemning carcasses that could have been salvaged — or perhaps there’s something going on during processing that’s causing too many carcasses to be condemned. These are clearly findings that warrant further investigation by the poultry company.
Figure 1. Comparison of carcasses condemned for septicemia during the day and night shift over a 6-month period
In a case of inappropriate condemnations I investigated, I found that one inspector condemned 80% of cadavers. The other seven inspectors accounted for the remaining 20%. As noted earlier, evaluating carcasses can be highly subjective.
Challenging inspector decisions Poultry companies and FSIS personnel need to build mutually respectful relationships —and that, of course, takes time. When a poultry company believes there are off-target condemnations, the first step should be a talk with the FSIS veterinary supervisor. FSIS encourages processing plants to submit appeals in writing, when possible, because it establishes a paper trail, but written appeals are not required and I think it’s better to start off with an informal chat.1
During this talk, be prepared with charts, facts, data and even an example carcass. FSIS inspectors must be able to describe their observations and explain their decisions to the veterinary supervisor. It’s not acceptable for inspectors to only say a carcass is septic and needs to be condemned.
Basic relationship principles should be kept in mind when questioning inspector decisions. In addition to mutual respect, FSIS defines these principles as maintaining open, honest and straightforward communication, being issue-oriented with no personalizing, maintaining a work environment that’s absent from fear of retaliation and intimidation, and understanding each other’s roles and responsibilities.2
Formal appeal If an informal talk doesn’t correct the situation, a formal appeal should be filed in writing to the next level, which is the frontline supervisor, who may or may not be a veterinarian. The appeal should include previous attempts to resolve condemnations. Attempts at resolution should be discussed during the weekly meetings between management, FSIS and live production. This approach won’t lead to salvage of carcasses already condemned but could change the pattern for the future.
Remember that inspectors and FSIS veterinary supervisors are human, so not all have the ability to suppress their emotions when condemnation challenges are raised. The retaliatory measures that poultry companies fear — vague threats of regulatory-control actions, issuance of frivolous Noncompliance Records, stopping an evisceration line for dubious reasons or performing pre-operational sanitation inspection at a pace so leisurely that it causes the production line to start late — are rare but have, unfortunately, been known to occur.
I’m aware of an FSIS manager who withheld inspection and caused 1 hour of lost slaughter time because his parking spot was inadvertently taken by someone else. This is very unusual, but it’s an example of behavior that should be documented and reported to the district manager. Witness statements and any other evidence should be included.
Another option is reporting such incidents to the USDA’s Office of the Inspector General, but it could take longer for a resolution. If there’s a fear of retaliation when submitting a formal appeal, note it in writing. FSIS doesn’t tolerate retaliation or intimidation by their employees, and legitimate complaints with supporting evidence are investigated and often result in disciplinary action.
You’re most likely to find, however, that FSIS inspectors as well as their veterinary supervisors approach their job in a professional manner and do their best to adhere to the established criteria for condemnations. When approached respectfully, they make a concerted effort to address problems.
If you’re not convinced that working with FSIS is worthwhile, check out Figure 2. It shows the results of monitoring and addressing off-target condemnations. Routine reviews can pay off.
Figure 2. Reduction in condemnations during a 7-week period when routine reviews were implemented
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FSIS Compliance Guideline for Small and Very Small Plants Appealing Inspection Decisions.
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FSIS Directive 4735.7 Attachment 1. Relationship Principles.
POU-00050
Editor’s note: The opinions and advice presented in this article belong to the author and, as such, are presented here as points of view, not specific recommendations by Poultry Health Today.
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Poultry producers know the importance of developing a long-term strategy for maintaining the efficacy of anticoccidials, but sometimes unexpected backorders of feed medications in high demand force poultry companies to resort to plan B or C.
In some instances, that can lead to less than optimal flock welfare and performance, Phil Stayer, DVM, Sanderson Farms, told Poultry Health Today. It all depends of what medications were used recently — either earlier in the flock’s life or in previous production cycles — and what other options remain in that poultry company’s production system.
Stayer said he’s fortunate because he generally has more options to consider than some other poultry veterinarians. For example, because none of Sanderson Farms’ birds are deliberately raised in “no antibiotics ever” (NAE) production systems, he and his veterinary colleagues can lean on a full spectrum of FDA-approved medications for necessary preventive medicine — such as coccidiosis and other enteric diseases. Veterinarians working in NAE production schemes have fewer options.
Involuntary NAE But even with greater flexibility, Stayer is worried about consistent product availability for the 11 million birds Sanderson Farms sends to market each week. In some cases, he added, they’ve had to raise flocks without antibiotics — usually a non-ionophore anticoccidial or vaccine — if the ionophore they wanted was not immediately available.
It can work the other way, too, he said. Sometimes the rotation program calls for a non-ionophore anticoccidial or vaccine, but those products also get backordered.
When backorders happen, Stayer said, “We can get by but it’s not going to be best.” He’s also concerned that in some situations, flocks could suffer when disease-control options are compromised.
Stayer acknowledged that the surge in NAE production has probably made it more difficult for animal health companies to keep pace with the changing needs of the industry. At the same time, he expressed concern that the industry’s move away from antibiotics could cause supplies of some feed medications to become even less stable in the future.
“Someday, I’ve got to wonder, if there’re going to be any of these conventional [production] products available, and then we’re going to have to go antibiotic-free — not because we want to but because that’s all that’s available,” he said.
Saturation point Stayer predicted that eventually, the US market for poultry meat from NAE production systems is going to reach a saturation point — much in the way cage-free eggs did following a surge in production.
“In terms of meat, more [poultry raised without antibiotics] is being produced than is being sold…” and if producers can’t command a premium for NAE birds, which generally cost more to produce, they could return to conventional production that allows the use of FDA-approved poultry medications under the supervision of a veterinarian.
Considering current trends, “The question is: Are there going to be conventional medicines to come back to?” Stayer asked.
Editor’s note: The opinions and recommendation presented in this news article and accompanying video are Dr. Stayer’s and not necessarily shared by the editors of Poultry Health Today or its sponsor.
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By Tarsicio Villalobos, DVMZoetis
For decades, vaccination has provided effective control of Marek’s disease (MD). Since the first MD vaccines were introduced in 1970, broiler condemnation losses due to MD have decreased more than 99%.1
However, the emergence of new and more virulent MD serotypes over the years has required vaccination strategies to evolve as well. In the past, for example, turkey herpesvirus (HVT) and bivalent vaccines (a combination of serotype-3 HVT and serotype-2 SB-1) provided adequate protection. Now they are both still necessary, but not always sufficient, depending on the MD virus (MDV) strain.
Unfortunately, MD remains one of the most significant viral diseases of poultry worldwide, causing an estimated $1-2 billion in losses each year.2 The good news, however, is that vaccination remains a highly effective method of controlling it, even as vaccination strategies continue to evolve. Following are three research-proven tips for keeping your flocks protected against this potentially devastating disease:
Include CV988 strain in your MD vaccination program Like virulent MD strains, MD vaccine strains are grouped under three different serotypes: serotype 1 (CVI988), serotype 2 (SB-1) and serotype 3 (HVT). Currently, the serotype-1 MDV strain CVI988 offers the greatest protection against virulent MD, especially when used in combination with other vaccines. In a 2015 study, vaccine protocols that included CVI988 were found to provide numerically better protection against the highly virulent MDV strain 648A than protocols that used only vaccines of serotypes 2 (SB-1) and 3 (rHVT) (Figure 1).3
Figure 1. Protocols with CVI988 and/or in ovo provide best protection against early challenge
Thus, including CVI988 in your vaccination program is one important way to ensure adequate MD protection. However, the same study reveals that disease control is linked not only to the type of vaccine, but also to the method of administration: protocols that included in ovo vaccination consistently provided better protection than ones in which the vaccines were administered at hatch.
Vaccinate in ovo These findings are consistent with previous studies showing that all commercially available MD vaccines offer better protection when administered in ovo compared to subcutaneous vaccination at hatch.4
In a 2001 study, a CVI988 vaccine was tested to determine if it induces early post-hatch protection against MD. In one group of chickens, the vaccine was injected in ovo on embryonation day (ED) 17, and in a second group, it was administered subcutaneously at hatch. At 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 days of age, chickens from each group were exposed intra-abdominally to MDV RB1B, a virulent serotype-1 MDV variant, and sampled to determine MDV lesions. Results indicate that in the first 4 days after hatch, the in ovo-vaccinated chickens were significantly better protected against virulent MDV than those vaccinated at hatch (P < 0.001) — an important benefit in view of the very young age at which chicks are first exposed to the virus (Figure 2).5
Figure 2. In ovo vaccination provides better MD protection
Another study on the optimization of double vaccination protocols produced similar findings more than a decade later — a significant finding in view of MD’s evolutionary tendency towards greater virulence.
In this study, broiler chickens were given the same CVI988 and bivalent (HVT+SB1) vaccine combinations either in ovo at ED 18 or subcutaneously at hatch, and then challenged at 2 days of age with highly virulent MDV 648A. Once again, in ovo vaccine application was found to induce significantly higher levels of MD protection than subcutaneous injection (P < 0.05) (Figure 3).6
Figure 3. In ovo vaccination at ED 18 (IO) vs. subcutaneous (SC) vaccination at hatch, with MDV challenge at day 2
Use HVT vaccines to promote immune development While CVI988 offers the greatest protection against virulent MD, HVT vaccines remain important tools for MD management. For more than 40 years, they have been used successfully to control MD, both alone and in combination with other vaccines, but recent research shows that they may also contribute to the embryonic chicken’s immune development.
A study was conducted to determine the effect of in ovo administration of a commercially available HVT vaccine on the maturation of the embryonic immune system. Following vaccination on ED 18, researchers evaluated splenic cell phenotypes at 1 day of age and the ability of the day-old chickens to respond to various antigens compared with older birds.
Results demonstrate that day-old chickens that had received HVT in ovo had higher percentages of several lymphocyte lineages in the spleen than day-old sham-inoculated chickens (1-day sham) (Figure 4). Furthermore, in ovo administration of HVT rendered chicks at hatch more responsive to unrelated antigens, such as concavalin A and keyhole limpet hemocyanin. These findings suggest that it is possible to accelerate the maturation of the embryonic immune system by administering HVT in ovo.
Figure 4. Immunophenotypes in spleen
Summary Vaccination remains the best defense against the potentially devastating effects of MD, but as new and more virulent serotypes have emerged, vaccination strategies have had to keep pace. Several studies show that in ovo vaccination with any of the commercially available MD vaccines has a positive impact on vaccine performance, with protocols including CVI988 vaccines offering the greatest MD protection. Furthermore, in ovo administration of HVT vaccines has been shown to have a positive impact on the immune development of embryonic chickens, an important benefit in view of the well-documented immunosuppressive effects of MD.7 These findings suggest that in ovo vaccination programs that include vaccines of all MDV serotypes (CVI988, SB1 and HVT) may offer optimal protection against MDV as the virus continues evolving toward greater virulence.
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Gimeno IM. Marek’s disease vaccines; A solution for today but a worry for tomorrow. Vaccine. 2008;26(s3):C31-C41.
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Marek’s disease virus. The Pirbright Institute. Available at https://www.pirbright.ac.uk/viruses/mareks-disease-virus.
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Avian Dis. 2015;59:400-409
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Producers should consult local product labels to determine if in ovo administration is licensed in their country.
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Zhang Y, Sharma JM. Early Posthatch Protection Against Marek’s Disease in Chickens Vaccinated In Ovo with a CVI988 Serotype 1 Vaccine. Avian Dis. 2001;45(3):639-641.
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Gimeno IM, Cortes AL, Witter RL, Pandiri AR. Optimization of the Protocols for Double Vaccination Against Marek’s Disease by Using Commercially Available Vaccines: Evaluation of Protection, Vaccine Replication, and Activation of T Cells. Avian Dis. 2012;56(2):295-305.
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Faiz NM, Cortes AL, Guy JS, et al. Early infection with Marek’s disease virus can jeopardize protection conferred by laryngotracheitis vaccines: a method to study MDV-induced immunosuppression. Avian Pathol. 2016;45(6):606-615.
Editor’s note: The opinions and advice presented in this article belong to the author and, as such, are presented here as points of view, not specific recommendations by Poultry Health Today.
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By Tom Tabler, PhDExtension ProfessorMississippi State University Extension Service, Poultry Science DepartmentMississippi State, MS
Raising commercial chickens successfully requires an adequate water supply. This means enough water pressure and volume to meet flock demands.
However, on many farms I visit, growers don’t always understand the difference between pressure and volume or the important roles they play in meeting this objective.
Water pressure and volume are both critical to the health, and even survival, of a flock. I’ve found the simplest way to understand the difference between pressure and volume is this: Pressure is how much force is needed to get water where it’s going; once it’s there, volume is how much water is needed to meet the flock’s demand.
Most integrators today require at least two water sources on every poultry farm — two wells or one well plus community water. They also provide guidelines on how many gallons of water per minute should be delivered.
‘I don’t know’ To meet this need, many growers drill wells between the chicken houses so the supply is conveniently near the demand and to avoid long runs of pipe that can cause pressure loss. Yet, whenever I visit a farm and suspect water is adversely affecting bird performance, it’s difficult to get pertinent information. The first two questions I ask are:
- What size is the supply line from the well to the chicken houses?
- What size pump is in the bottom of the well?
More often than not, the answer I get to both questions is, “I don’t know.”
I’ve been on farms during summer afternoons where the house farthest from the well would only have about half of the cool-cell pad actually getting wet because there wasn’t enough water pressure or volume to reach the end of the line at that house. It’s hard to fix something if you don’t know it’s broken, and sometimes, growers simply don’t know something’s broken.
Undersized pump or supply lines Using an undersized pump is a common mistake. If you have a pump capable of pumping 50 gallons per minute (gpm) but the total water demand by all your chicken houses is 70 gpm, you are going to have problems.
Another common mistake is utilizing an undersized supply line from the well to the chicken houses. If the water demand on the farm is 60 gpm and there’s a 2-inch supply line from the well to chicken houses, you cannot provide 60 gpm! A 2-inch pipe can carry only about 48 to 50 gpm.
Growers also often fail to increase the size of the supply line after they add additional houses. A four-house farm may be fine with a 2-inch supply line. However, if you build two additional houses and don’t upgrade to a 3-inch line or add an additional water source, there will be water-restriction issues.
Recently, conventional thinking has been that a typical 40-foot x 500-foot broiler house requires about 2 gpm for drinking and about 8 gpm for the cool cells (a total of about 10 gpm per house). However, chicken genetics change every year. Chickens today eat and drink more than they did just a few years ago. I’m pretty conservative, so I feel better recommending 3 gpm for drinking and 9 gpm for the cool cells. PVC pipe is inexpensive compared to what it will cost if you undersize your supply line and shortchange yourself on water.
Large birds need more water Trouble with the water supply can also occur when growers switch from growing small birds (4.5 pounds or less) to large birds (9.5 pounds or more) without upgrading the supply line. Growing larger birds requires more water for both drinking and cooling. Improved cooling is typically achieved by adding an additional 20 feet or more of cool cell to each side of your house, which requires more water, and an additional one or two tunnel fans.
If you have an older farm that may only have a ¾-inch or 1-inch supply line, that line will not adequately handle the water demands of larger birds during later grow-out stages. You may need to increase the size of the well pump and the supply line in order to meet demands.
I can’t emphasize enough the importance of meeting peak water demand in summer with big chickens on the farm. You may only reach peak demand once or twice a year, but you must have the ability to do so. Otherwise, drinking and/or cooling water will be limited, which could prove disastrous with large birds in hot weather.
Realize that water filters further restrict flow. Water pressure will decrease approximately 5 pounds per square inch for each in-line water filter the water passes through. Pumping water uphill also results in a significant pressure loss before water ever reaches the houses; therefore, well placement is an important consideration.
Know peak demand Know your peak 24-hour water demand. If there are big chickens on the farm, I’ve found this peak is usually in July or August. If your controller can record hourly data, watch for plateaus in water use during the hottest part of the day when demand is greatest. They could indicate the pump, supply, supply line or perhaps a combination of all three are undersized.
Water lines for drinkers should come off the supply line first before line(s) supplying cool cells and possibly foggers. Cool-cell water should not come off the supply line first because it will starve the drinker line. If there’s not a water meter on your cool-cell line, I advise adding one to track cool-cell water use. On hot days with big chickens, cool cells can use as much or more water than drinkers.
It should go without saying that the water supply should be tested for mineral concentrations and bacterial contamination to ensure it’s safe for poultry to drink.
Here’s a list that sums up the variety of problems that can affect water pressure and volume:
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Poor planning
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Undersized main line and/or water meters
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Distance between farm and well or municipal line
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Changes in elevation
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No municipal supply available
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Insufficient well capacity
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Failure to maintain drinker system
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Not checking water availability before building
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Too many houses for the amount of water available
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Adding additional houses or retrofitting beyond water supply capability
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Failure to regularly test water supply
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No backup plan in place should something happen to interrupt the water supply
5-gallon bucket test A quick estimation of how much water you can deliver is the 5-gallon bucket test. Fill a 5-gallon bucket with water from the control room and time how long it takes for the bucket to fill. The bucket will fill slower with birds in the house. A quick estimation is:
- 5 gallons in 10 seconds = 30 gpm
- 5 gallons in 15 seconds = 20 gpm
- 5 gallons in 30 seconds = 10 gpm
Over the years, I’ve had to tell a lot of growers their supply line was too small or their well pump was undersized. One of these conversations took place in September 2017, so the problem is still out there today, especially on many older farms trying to grow birds larger than the farm was designed for.
It’s easy to ignore the water supply if the power is on and the well pump is running, but this is a mistake. Everything about managing a poultry farm is important, but nothing is more important than having enough water.
There is information out there to help you properly size for pressure and volume1,2,3,4. I recommend you take advantage of it! Understanding water pressure and volume will help keep your flock safe, healthy — and maybe even alive — during critical periods.
1 Barrett J, Tabler T. Private water well placement and sizing for poultry production. Mississippi State University Extension. Pub. 2953. 2016 May.
2 Czarick M. Broiler farm water usage and pipe sizing rules of thumb. Poultry Housing Tips. University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service. 2007 May.
3 Donald J, et al. Key water factors for broiler production. Alabama Poultry Engineering and Economics Newsletter. Auburn University. 2000 September.
4 Tabler T, et al. How total farm water pressure and volume affect commercial poultry production. Mississippi State University Extension. Pub. 3058. 2017 March.
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Editor’s note: The opinions and advice presented in this article belong to the author and, as such, are presented here as points of view, not specific recommendations by Poultry Health Today.
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Poultry farmers looking for ways to reduce the spread of viruses and bacteria in their facilities need look no further than the boots on their feet, according to a University of Guelph/University of Montreal study presented at the 2018 Western Poultry Health Disease Conference.1
Using real pathogens applied to both boots and floors, the researchers in this study measured contamination levels where employees changed their boots on a Quebec poultry farm. The pathogens applied were a generic E. coli ampicillin-resistant strain and a T4 bacteriophage that provided a surrogate for viruses. The researchers also assessed contamination based on the number of steps employees took into dirty and clean areas.
Overall, the two most common biosecurity breaches found were putting boots on in either clean or dirty areas instead of in hygienic changing areas located between dirty and clean areas, and not changing boots at all — which caused more pathogenic contamination than changing them in the wrong areas.
If boots aren’t changed, the first step into either a clean or a dirty area is always the worst for causing pathogenic contamination, and contamination levels do not significantly diminish with subsequent steps, the researchers found. Even after 10 steps, according to the study, “the underside of the boot is still heavily contaminated.”
1 Huard G, et al. Assessment and mitigations of contamination risks: Critical knowledge to reduce diseases and increase biosecurity compliance. Proceedings of 67th Western Disease Conference. 2018 April:110-116.
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New research confirms that modified-live vaccines (MLVs) can effectively reduce salmonellosis in broilers — a leading cause of food poisoning in humans and one of the most critical food-borne diseases affecting international trade in poultry.1
The research was conducted to test the ability of a commercially available MLV to cross-protect against a field strain of S. Heidelberg (SH) that is prevalent on Brazilian broiler farms and widely implicated in non-typhoidal Salmonella infections.2
According to Eduardo Muniz, one of the study’s investigators and a poultry veterinarian at Zoetis, Salmonella bacteria are ubiquitous in the poultry environment and nothing new in broiler production. But as the world’s largest exporter of poultry meat, Brazil has made Salmonella control an urgent priority in recent years as the EU and other markets have adopted stricter standards to safeguard public health and more rigorous testing for imported products.
To tackle the issue, the broiler sector in Brazil is taking steps to improve Salmonella control throughout the supply chain. In production, killed and attenuated, live Salmonella vaccines have been used for decades in breeders to control vertical disease transmission, Muniz explains. However, MLVs — live vaccines that have been genetically modified to prevent the vaccine strain from becoming virulent — have gained considerable attention due to their significant and well-documented advantages, including greater cross-protection and safety.4
“The epidemiology and control of Salmonella are notoriously complex, as they depend on many factors including serotype, host, environment and geographic features. MLVs can help mitigate these factors by stimulating active immunity to a wider range of Salmonella strains,” he says.
“Consistent with previous findings, the MLV we tested in this Brazilian study significantly reduced SH counts in challenged birds when administered in two applications, indicating that it is a safe and effective option for controlling salmonellosis in broilers.”
Study design Published in Avian Pathology,3 the study evaluated a commercially available vaccine based on S. typhimurium (ST), which produces antigens in a similar configuration to SH and has previously been shown to provide good cross-protection against various SH serovars. The research was conducted by Zoetis in collaboration with Brazil’s Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and the Mercolab laboratory.
For the study, 80 broiler chicks were divided in 4 groups (T1, T2, T3 and T4) of 20 birds each. Two groups (T1 and T2) were challenged with a common Brazilian field strain of SH on day 3, and the other two groups (T3 and T4) were challenged on day 21. Half the birds (T1 and T3) were vaccinated according to label instructions, with one application by spray in the hatchery on day 1 and the second via drinking water on day 14. The other half (T2 and T4) were not vaccinated and served as positive control.
At the end of the study, researchers evaluated ceca, liver and spleen samples for quantitative and qualitative SH analysis. The liver and spleen samples showed that vaccination significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced the percentage of SH positivity in the group challenged at 3 days of age, while in the group challenged at 21 days this difference was almost considered significant (P = 0.1818). There was no statistically significant difference in SH count in the caecum (CFU/g) in the group challenged at 3 days, but for the group challenged at 21 days, the SH counts were significantly (P ≤ 0.05) lower in the vaccinated group when compared to the positive control.
Significantly reduced SH counts Based on these results, researchers concluded that the best protection was achieved in group T3, which was vaccinated in two doses and challenged on day 21.
“These results confirm that the ST vaccine was able to significantly reduce bacterial SH burden in the cecum, liver and spleen after oral challenge with a Brazilian field strain. This reinforces the vaccine’s efficacy in the control of salmonellosis caused by SH in broilers, particularly when the challenge is encountered later in the bird’s life,” Muniz says.
“It should be emphasized that the efficacy of cross-protection for SH depends on at least two vaccine applications,” he adds. “This means that birds should be immunized as soon as possible during the first days of life so that they have time to develop immunity and receive the second dose.
MLVs are not a ‘magic bullet’, Muniz stresses, and steps need to be taken to control Salmonella at all stages of the supply chain, from production and processing to packaging and transport.
“As part of a holistic Salmonella management strategy, however, MLVs are valuable tools for reducing salmonellosis in broilers, thus improving the safety and quality of poultry products,” he concludes.
To access the published study, click here.
1 Muniz et al. “Evaluation of the effectiveness and safety of a genetically modified live vaccine in broilers challenged with Salmonella Heidelberg.” Avian Pathology, volume 6, issue 6, 2017.
2 Ibid
3 ibid
4 Alderton et al. “Humoral responses and Salmonellosis protection in chickens given a vitamin-Dependent Salmonella Typhimurium Mutant”. Avian Diseases, volume 35, issue 3, pp. 435-442, 1991.
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Minimizing carcass condemnations and reducing the load of foodborne pathogens moving from broiler farms into processing might seem like separate production objectives — and they are.
They share two common solutions, however — specifically, better teamwork and communication between live production and processing.
In this special video news report, Poultry Health Today looks at what two veterinarians at Zoetis are doing to bring these two sides together.
Editor’s note: This video interview and news article were developed independently by the editors of Poultry Health Today. They are presented here solely for their news value. The opinions and recommendations presented are not necessarily shared by the editors of Poultry Health Today or the interviewee’s employer.
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Adjusting broiler feeding programs in the summer months can help avoid the health and growth challenges associated with heat stress.
Writing in WattAgNet, nutritionist Ioannis Mavromichalis said the process of eating, digesting and metabolizing feed generates heat.
In a bid to reduce discomfort by limiting an internal heat source, birds will stop eating — leading to detrimental effects on performance as well as health and welfare.
To tackle the problem, Mavromichalis recommends four measures which can be used in combination on farms, depending on their circumstances:
1. Adjust feeding management During intense heat, limit access to feeders — it might not help with growth, but it will avoid mortality spikes. Make sure birds have access to cool water, and consider switching from meal to pellets to increase nutrient ingestion, as birds fill up more slowly with pellets.
2. Adjust feed formulations Energy, protein and fiber each require attention. Energy should be increased by adding highly-digestible oils, whole protein should be reduced by adding more feed-grade amino acids. Changing fiber profiles can also limit heat production, as guts with less fiber will contain less heat-generating bacteria.
3. Adjust water supplements Adding supplements should be done before changes to feed. Birds will try to drink before they eat, so if stress is alleviated through water it could be a less-expensive solution.
4. Adjust feed additives In general, the more antioxidants added to feed the better, as heat stress causes an increase of oxidative species in the gut. Additives such as potassium chloride and sodium carbonate are also used frequently during heat stress.
Full article
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