ANS 001 - Poultry Lab

What are the following USDA grades for eggs from highest to lowest?

1. AA

2. A

3. B

What are the characteristics of an AA shell?

It will be clean, smooth, and unbroken.

What are the characteristics of an AA air cell?

Fresh eggs have smaller air cells, no bigger than 1/8 of an inch.

What are the characteristics of an AA yolk?

It shouldn’t be very visible from the outside of the shell.

What are the characteristics of an AA egg white?

It should be thick and clear.

What is the size of egg-laying breeds?

Small-bodied

What is the focus of egg-laying breeds?

The eggs rather than growth.

What is the focus of meat chickens?

They are hybrid varieties bred to grow faster with an efficient feed conversion ratio.

How much egg production from the U.S was supplied to the total world egg supply?

10%

What is the number one protein consumed in the U.S?

Chicken

What are the top broiler producing states?

1. Georgia

2. Kansas

3. Alabama

4. North Carolina

5. Mississippi

What percentage of broiler chickens are produced on family farms?

95%

Egg-laying breed that has white eggs and white ear lobes and was thought to have originated in Tuscany. Include number of eggs per year and their typical minimum weight.

Leghorn

280 eggs per year that typically weigh 55 grams

Egg-laying breed that has brown eggs and red ear lobes that was developed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. It has a distinct mahogany red colored feathers. It is a heavy breed that can be considered dual-purpose.

Rhode Island Red

Egg-laying breed with blue ear lobes, black skin/bones, and five toes on each foot. It’s a docile breed thought to have originated in Asia with lacking function in the barbicels of their feathers.

Silkie

Egg-laying breed that lays blue or green eggs with distinct ear-tufts and is rumpless. It was developed in Chile.

Araucana

Derivative breed of the Araucana that is breaded, muffed, and tailed.

Ameraucana

What is the typical cross for meat chickens?

Cornish Males x Plymouth Rock Females

Vertical Integration

Common production style where growers enter an agreement with a chicken processor to raise broilers while being guaranteed market.

What is the percentage of meat chickens that are raised by independent farmers while working under contract?

90%

Female chicken less than 1 year of age.

Pullet

Female chicken over 1 year of age.

Hen

A young chicken.

Chick

Male chicken less than 1 year of age.

Cockerel

Male chicken more than 1 year of age.

Cock

Egg industry term: A hen that wants to sit on eggs to hatch them.

Broody

Egg industry term: A unit to measure egg quality based on the height of the thick albumen (egg white). The higher the haugh value, the better the egg quality.

Haugh Unit

Egg industry term: Examining the inside contents of the egg with a light.

Candling

Egg industry term: A part of a hen’s reproductive cycle where she stops laying and loses body feathers.

Molting

Egg industry term: Where male chicks are a different color from female chicks in certain breeds.

Sex-linked

Meat industry term: Unsexed batch of chicks

Straight Run

Meat industry term: A surgically castrated male chicken at less than 4 months of age.

Capon

Meat industry term: A young, immature chicken of either sex. Usually less than 5 weeks of age and are at a ready-to-cook carcass weight of not more than 0.91 kg (2lb).

Cornish Game Hen

Meat industry term: A young chicken of either sex that is less than 10 weeks of age. They are tender-meated with soft, pliable, smooth-textured skin, and a flexible breastbone cartilage.

Broiler/Fryer

Meat industry term: A young chicken of either sex that is 8-12 weeks of age. They’re tender-meated, with soft pliable, smooth-textured skin, but are somewhat less flexible than a broiler/fryer.

Roaster

Meat industry term: Adult female chicken over 10 months of age with meat that is less tender than that of a roaster and has a nonflexible breastbone tip.

Stewing Chicken

What is molting?

A natural seasonal event where birds reduce their feed intake, stop egg production, and replace plumage.

What is induced molting?

A process used in layer hens to simulate natural molting events.

What are the benefits of induced molting?

Birds will resume egg production at a higher rate with better egg quality, and also production life will be extended.

What are acceptable practices to induce molting?

1. Reduction of photoperiod

2. Specific nutrient restrictions

What are the sex chromosomes of poultry?

Male = ZZ

Female = ZW

Which sex determines the sex of the offspring?

Female Birds

What do poultry feeds generally consist of?

Combination of concentrates, high protein supplements, and carotenoid pigments.

Why are carotenoid pigments added?

To add the yellow/orange color of skin and eggs

What are some sources of carotenoid pigments?

Corn, corn gluten meal, and ground marigold flowers

How should a healthy bird react?

Bright, alert, and responsive (BAR) or Quiet, alert, and responsive (QAR)

What does it mean if a bird is away from others in a corner?

They may be sick or injured.

How should the eyes of a bird be?

Round

How should the feces of the bird be?

Well-formed with urates visible.

Spraddle Leg/Splay Leg

A common husbandry concern where one or both legs will grow incorrectly.

What is a common reason splay leg occurs?

Slippery caging floors

Meat Counter Term: Only approved by the USDA if a producer can demonstrate that poultry has been allowed outdoor access for some part of the day.

Free Range

Meat Counter Term: A product that cannot contain artificial ingredients or added colors and is only minimally processed.

Natural

Meat Counter Term: A term that has to follow specific rules in production by the USDA

Organic

Meat Counter Term: A flock raised without the use of products classified as antibiotics. In chickens, all bird’s are technically antibiotic free due to withdrawal periods to ensure no residue is left in the meat.

Antibiotic-Free

Meat Counter Term: Hormones are not allowed in raising poultry. To claim this term, it must be be followed by a statement that says, “Federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones.”

No Hormones Added

What is reliable method of judging quality in low or very high quality eggs?

Candling

What is another method used to accurately judge for in-between grades in eggs?

Periodic sampling and breaking of eggs

Another method of egg grading is haugh units. What does it consist of?

Weigh the egg, break it out, and measure the height of the thick albumen.

What is the formula of haugh units? Include what the variables for.

Grade = 100log(H - 1.7W0.37 + 7.6)

H = Height of thick albumen

W = Weight of egg