Making Every Egg Count
By Dave Watts, UK Regional Accounts Manager, Aviagen - Genetic improvement over the last few decades has seen major improvements in breeder egg production and chick output, but are you getting as much of this from the bird as you could? Two areas where...

Several Reasons Why Your Hens May Stop Laying Eggs
By A. Bruce Webster, Extension Poultry Scientist, University of Georgia - It is not unusual for the Extension Service to get calls from backyard flock owners wanting to know why their hens have stopped laying eggs. There are a lot of reasons why this...

The Impact of Genetics on Breeder Management
By Ron Meijerhof, senior technical specialist, Hybro B.V., Boxmeer, The Netherlands - In the world of broiler meat production, rapid developments are being made. The increase in broiler performance for all commercial breeds has been tremendous over recent...

Analysis of US poultry meat trade with the EU: Past, present, future
By the USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service - The US exports $2.2 billion of poultry meat per year, however none of those exports enter the EU. This report outlines some of the current and historical reasons for this. Web links and other sources are cited...

Coexisting with Neighbors: A Poultry Farmer’s Guide
By Casey W. Ritz, Ph.D. Extension Poultry Scientist, University of Georgia - The farming environment in which we live is continually changing. Several factors stand out as influences of that change in this day and age: the geographic consolidation of...

Nutritional and Feeding Strategies to Minimize Nutrient Losses in Livestock Manure
By Mindy J. Spiehs, Regional Extension Educator - Livestock Manure Systems, University of Minnesota Extension Service - The livestock industry has undergone substantial changes in the past few decades. The poultry, swine, and dairy industries in particular...

Small Flock Vaccination
By Joseph M. Maudlin, Extension Poultry Scientist, University of Georgia - Vaccines are widely used by the livestock industry to prevent diseases. Commercial poultry (farms with greater than 5,000 birds) are almost universally vaccinated against a variety...

Windbreaks for Poultry Farms
By G.T. Tabler, Poultry Science Department at the University of Arkansas's Avian Advice - Windbreaks are barriers that have been used for centuries to reduce and redirect wind. They were first used in the mid-1400’s when the Scottish Parliament urged...

EU Poultry Directive
By the European Commission - The farming of chickens for meat production represents an important farming sector within the EU. This is illustrated by the fact that more than 4 billion chickens are slaughtered for meat production in the EU-15 each year...

Is Mold Growth Hurting Your Performance?
By Frank T. Jones, Cooperative Extension Section Leader, Center of Excellence for Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas's Avian Advice - Unexplainable poor performance can occur from time to time. While production problems can originate from...

Can In-House Composting Reduce Flies In High-Rise Layer Houses?
By A. Bruce Webster, Extension Poultry Scientist and Nancy Hinkle, Entomology - CES, University of Georgia - High-rise layer houses offer great convenience by allowing long-term storage of manure in the lower level of the house. Unfortunately, this convenience...

Normal Birds - A Review of Avian Anatomy
By F. Dustan Clark, Extension Poultry Veterinarian, Center of Excellence for Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas's Avian Advice - A necropsy is the examination of a bird externally and internally to determine the cause of death. The method...

Attitudes of consumers towards the welfare of farmed animals
By the European Commission - This survey focus's particularly on the attitude of consumers to the welfare and protection of farmed animals. The survey has been carried out by TNS Opinion & Social, interviewing 24 708 citizens in the 25 Member States...

Evaluation of Litter Treatments on Salmonella Recovery in Poultry Litter
By J.B. Payne and Susan E. Watkins, Center of Excellence for Poultry Science at the University of Arkansas's Avian Advice - Pathogenic bacterial populations can have a negative effect on the production and health of birds if concentrations are too...

Breeder Nutrition and Chick Quality
By Marcus Kenny and Carolyne Kemp, Aviagen - This article by Aviagen discusses how the nutrition of the breeder hen affects the chicks physiology at hatching.