The aim of this study was to evaluate different feeding schedules and their relationship to calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) plasma levels and egg quality of broiler breeders. The feeding schedules were: single feeding at 8:00 AM; twice daily feeding (50% at 8:00 AM and 50% at 3:00 PM) and single feeding at 3:00 PM. 330 female and 45 male Cobb 500 broiler breeders were used from 40 to 60 weeks o...

An one year epidemiological study was carried out between February 2005 and January 2006 in Belgium to assess the Campylobacter prevalence in free-range broiler production. Three successive broiler flocks on 6 belgian farms were investigated for the presence of Campylobacter ssp. during the rearing period. Each flock was visited four times, before and after the outdoor rearing period. During ea...

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the influence of glutamine (Gln) supplementation in the diet of broiler chickens on the growth performance, immune response as well as some blood parameters. Two hundred fifty one day old broiler chickens were allotted into five equal groups (50 chicks per each) of mixed sex. Five experimental diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous and isocal...

To simulate the broiler growth the input variables were: day of year, vents opening, wind velocity, external temperature and absolute humidity, the maximum, average and minimum of the internal temperature and absolute humidity. For that purpose, two techniques were applied, a multi-layer perceptron (MLP) static Neural Network (NN) and the Layered Digital Dynamic Network (LDDN) which were applie...

and Implications An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding various fiber ingredients on the performance of chickens bred for egg or meat production from 1 to 21 d of age. The lower fiber diet was based on a traditional corn-soybean meal (SBM) diet and the higher fiber diet was formulated by addition of 60 g/kg of both dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and wheat b...

The aim of this study was to apply the life cycle assessment (LCA) method, from cradle to gate, to quantify the environmental burdens per 1,000 kg of expected edible carcass weight in the 3 main broiler production systems in the United Kingdom: 1) standard indoor, 2) free range, and 3) organic, and to identify the main components of these burdens. The LCA method evaluates production systems log...

Leg health has been an important component of broiler welfare and of the economy of broiler production for many decades and includes a wide range of leg disorders leading to locomotion problems (e.g. Thorp, 1994; SCAHAW, 2000; Bradshaw et al., 2002). This article will focus on five leg health traits recorded within the Aviagen Ltd (Newbridge, UK) breeding programme, namely (1) long bones deform...

Recent research to define a measure of chick quality has evaluated the effects of incubation conditions, breeder age and genotype on progeny growth and survival. Nutritional research has focused on defining the optimum concentration of maternal dietary nutrients for progeny growth, mortality and immune status. There is a research requirement to bring these two areas together to better understan...

Climate change and disease have large negative impacts on poultry production, but little is known about the interactions of responses to these stressors in chickens. Fayoumi (heat and disease resistant) and broiler (heat and disease susceptible) chicken lines were stimulated at 22 days of age, using a 2x2x2 factorial design including: breed (Fayoumi or broiler), inflammatory stimulus (lipopolys...

An appropriate dietary CP level and feeding regimen during rearing is considered important for controlling BW and improving semen production in broiler breeder males. A total of 640 day-old broiler breeder male chicks of two commercial strains (A and B) received treatments of a factorial arrangement of two CP levels (12 and 16%) of corn-soybean grower diets and two feeding regimens [changing fe...