Broiler chickens aged 40 and 46-days-old from two neighboring flocks belonging to a commercial broiler complex, presenting facial edema, severe respiratory signs and 10% mortality were analyzed. Pneumonic lesions and opaque thoracic and abdominal air sacs with foamy exudate were seen at postmortem examination. Histopathology of lungs showed fibrinoheterophilic pneumonia in both cases. Small pin...

The studies were performed on samples of broiler carcasses from 13 different Bulgarian poultry slaughterhouses in 2008. Neck skin samples from 327 chilled broilers were examined for presence of Salmonella spp. All isolates were serologically typed. Positive samples were 86/327 or 26.29% of all studied broiler carcasses. Contaminated samples originated more frequently from South Bulgaria as comp...

The feed restriction program is on of the main techniques in growth curve manipulation for increasing production efficiency in broiler chicken. Quantities and qualitative feed restriction are procedures that can be used to manipulate the feeding strategies of poultry in order to decrease growth and metabolic rate to some extent and so alleviate the incidence of some metabolic diseases such as a...

Drastic genetic changes have occurred in many commercial broiler lines during the last years with regard to performance. This genetic improvement needs a corresponding adjustment of our knowledge about amino acid nutrition in broilers. Additionally, today broiler feed formulators are not only focused on minimising the costs. They also have to take into consideration environmental issues and the...

The aim of the present work is to make a review on the literature concerning the incidence of some major pathologies of leg skeleton in broiler chickens and broiler breeders, related to poor animal welfare. On the basis of data on the incidence of leg skeletal pathology published by us and by other researchers, this review goes through some reports on femoral head necrosis (FHN), tibial dyschon...

Contrary to a commonly held belief that broiler chickens need more space, there is increasing evidence that these birds are attracted to other birds. Indeed, commercially farmed birds exhibit a range of socially facilitated behaviours, such as increased feeding and preening in response to the presence of other birds. Social facilitation can generate feedback loops, whereby the adoption of a par...

The embryonic modal value of heart rate (MHR) differs between broiler and White Leghorn chickens, but the initial development of cholinergic chronotropic control of embryonic heart rate (HR) does not. Thus, we hypothesized that hatchling MHR should also differ between broiler and White Leghorn strains, while the development of a physiological regulation, such as the endothermic HR response, sho...

Residues from cereal grain production are important feedstuffs for ruminants throughout the world. They are, however, low in protein and high in fiber, which limit feed intake and digestibility. The nutritive value of cereal crop residues can be improved by various processing methods, such as treatment with alkalis like sodium hydroxide or ammonia. Another means of improving nutritive value of ...

The application of broiler manure and bedding (litter) on land has been a long-used disposal method that benefits plant and soil. For proper manure management, factors such as nutrient content, house cleaning management, application methods, and many land, crop, and climatic factors must be considered. A study was undertaken to characterize broiler cake and broiler litter as the by-products of ...

A study was conducted with green tea (GT) and biotite to evaluate their effect on broiler growth, meat quality, and the development of internal organs. A total of 210 Ross day old chicks (DOC) were distributed to 6 dietary feed additive groups having 5 treatments with 7 chicks in each group. The groups were control (basal), antibiotic (basal + 30 ppm oxytetracycline), GT (0.5 and 1.0% with basa...