ANSC 102 Poultry

What are the major commercial breeds of the duck industry

Pekin, Muscovey, Pekin X Muscovy (mule)

Grow out

meat ducks

developers

younglings to become breeders

Breeders

hens and drakes

How many hens should you have per drake

no more than 5

Incubation period for ducks

28 days Pekin, 35 days Muscovey, 25-29 days mallard

Housing for ducks

curtain sided barns predominate, pine shavings/straw/plastic slatted, supplemental lighting

Which form of suplemental lighting do ducks prefer

kerosene lanterns

How long during the day is supplemental lighting typically provided to ducks

18-24 hours

Water sources for ducks

nipple lines, water troughs, showers, cup drinkers

What is a main challenge in providing water to ducks

They will get into and produce waste, which increases risk for disease

What are some challenges we face in raising ducks

lameness, lighting, flip overs, biosecurity, water sources, fatigue

What are the major commerical breeds in the layer industry

white leghorn hybrid, brown hyline/lohmann brown, galliformes phasianidae Gallus gallus

What determines egg color

earlobe color

Pullets

young females

When do pullets become hens

after 16 weeks

What are the different types of cage-free

enriched cages, barn/open field, aviary

Breeders in the layer industry

genetic sleection for egg number, quality, egg size, body weight uniformity,, feed conversation rate

What happens to process breeders

sexed, vaccinated, beak and toe trimmed

Conventional cages layer industry

used up until about 2005, genetic selection for poultry to live in cages

What are some advantages of conventional cages

improved livability, more disease free, less stress with smaller groups, less bacteria = cleaner eggs, improved economics

What are some disadvantages of conventional cages

no expression of behavior, poor skeletal health, poor feathering, overgrown claws, more susceptible to heat stress

Enriched cages

includes environmental enrichment, perches, stratching pads, dust baths, next boxes

Advtanges of enriched cages

allows for some natural behaviors

disadvantages of enriched cages

malfunctions of elements led to injury, still a cage, public hates

Barn (2D)/Aviary (3D) advantages

more apparent space, environmental enirchment, nest boxes, improved skeleton (not really), allows for escape from pecking

Disadvantages of barns/aviary

grouping on floor, foot pecking, bullying, egg cannibalism, mislaid eggs, health and biosecurity issues, air quality issues with dust and ammonia

challenges with layer industry

broken keel bones (from landing too hard of perches0, lighting, health and food safety, new unwanted behaviors, how hens utilize their resources and how to track hen behaviors, piling

major commercial turkey breeds

whitey hybrid, broad brested white

baby turkeys

poults or turkeylings

heavy toms

turkey products

thanksgiving turkeys

hens, 12-14 weeks

turkey products

toms, 16-19 weeks

incubation of turkeys

28 days, sexed, beak and toe trimmed, vaccinated

housing types for turkeys

curtain sided or fully enclosed barns, pine shavings, supplemental lighting in seasonal breeders

supplemental lighting for turkeys

bright for poults, decreasing light in grow out to help with cannablaism

challenges with turkey industry

lameness, welfare, overcrowding, biosecurity, what do turkeys see, cannibalism in heavy toms

major breeds in broiler industry

cornish/cornish rock

conrish game gens

1-2 lbs, less than 5 weeks, either sex

incubation of broierls

21 days, vaccinated, beak and toe trimmed

broiler breeder

slow growing broilers, feed restricted

housing types for broilers

fully enclosed, some curtain sided, modern led lighting, litter flooring

challenges with broilers

lameness, lighting, biosecurity, feather pecking, cannibalism, high density, feeding schedules, woody breast (myofiber degeneration)

How do bird perceive light in their environment

have photoreceptors - 4 different colors, double cones (possibly due to movement), and oil droplet organelle (to filter light before it hits photoreceptors), wavelength specific recptors and quanta activated recptors (particles of light, brightness) - overall can see so many different colors

How important is vision for birds

very important - we know because one eye is half size of brain

Wild bird communication

sing, call, show off flashes of color - communicate to mate

Why is important to consider what birds see

need to know how they percieve environments like aviarys

When measuring light for experiments with duck what must you consider

you need to measure at the height of the duck because distance affects how light is percieved, need to measure how light reflects/interacts with each object in the environment

What are they looking for when measuring reflectance

How is light interacting with object (what is reflected, what is absorbed, what is refracted)

Anatomy of poultry eye

cornea in front, lens, chamber of liquid (vitrous humor), retina; shape of eye matters, need to know where photorecptors are in retina and how many there are; what wavelengths are associated with oil droplets and relative density

What do experiments about light tell us

if a bird can see an object and from what distance - visual acquity

What did we learn about chickens viewing perches

They likely cannot tell how far away stainless steel perches are and cannot slow down in time

Vision in domesticated vs wild poultry

domesticated ducks have vision shifted so they cannot see blue very well - when we select for breeding we are creating changes (could be genetic, diet, etc.)

What do we need to look at in addition to vision

behavior

What light do ducks prefer

red light compared to blue light

Light perception in birds

have deep brain photoreceptors, how do light affect this

Duck vocalizations

have very specific sounds depending on what is going on

how many types of vocalizations do ducks have

19

Does the number of vocalizations differ by duck sex

yes

why are vocalizations important

socially (group composition) and environmentally (what is going on in their life) dependent, direct vocalizations impact conspecific physiology (information affects our physiology)

Wild bird alarm calls

different based on environmnet - if there is a predator, predator in area, moting (rallying) call

Why is understanding vocalizations important for production

can help us predict when ducks are unhappy immediately, get real time welfare assessments