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Poultry popular for
holidays
Chicken most popular
Average American eats 75
pounds of poultry per year.
Products from poultry:
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Meat
Eggs
Medicine and vaccines
Feathers for clothes, pillows,
fish lures
Ornamental uses/hobbies
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Types :
Chicken
 Turkey
 Ducks
 Geese
 Quail
 Peafowl
 Swans
 Pigeons
 Ratites
 Pheasants
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Common names –
Fowl or Birds
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Most important
species
Raised for meat
and eggs
Meat of a chicken
is based on age and
sex
Broiler – Young chicken 6-7 weeks, weighs about 4
pounds. Either sex. 7 billion are raised each year in the
US.
 Roaster – Young chicken older and slightly larger than a
broiler.
 Capon – Male chicken that has been neutered
(castrated). 5-7 months old. Weigh 6 pounds.
 Spent Hen – Hen that no longer lays eggs. Used in
soups, or processed foods.
 Layer – Mature female. Can produce around 300 eggs
per year.
 Hen – Mature female, laying.
 Pullet – Young female not yet laying eggs
 Cock – Mature male, can be called a rooster.
 Cockerel – Young male that is less than one year old.
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White Leghorn –
used in egg
production.
Smallest
Barred Plymouth
Rock – meat and
eggs
New Hampshire –
Meat and eggs
White Rock –
meat and eggs.
Largest.
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Raised primarily
for meat
Consumers want
white meat
300 million
turkeys are
raised each year
in the US
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Poult – young
turkey
Tom – mature
male turkey or
gobbler.
Hen - female
turkey
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Raised in
confinement
Marketed at
20 weeks
Most popular
is the broadbreasted
white
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Raised for
meat, eggs,
down, and
feathers.
Down – the
soft feathery
covering that
grows under
the feathers.
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Duckling –
young duck –
still has down
Drake –
mature male
duck
Hen – mature
female duck
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15 million ducks
are raised in the
US each year.
Grow faster and
heavier than
chickens
Can swim
Most raised
indoors on
commercial
farms.
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Used for meat, eggs,
feathers and
ornamental
purposes. Some
used to control
weeds.
1 million raised in
the US each year.
Resist a lot of
diseases that other
poultry get.
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Gosling – baby
goose of either
sex
Gander – Mature
Male goose
Hen – Mature
female goose
Gaggle – flock or
group of geese
that are not
flying.
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Peacock – mature
male peafowl.
Peahen – mature
female peafowl.
Train – male tail
feathers.
Use - for their
feathers.
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Love water
Colors range
from white to
black
Used for
ornamental
purposes
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Flightless birds which
include: Ostrich, emu,
kiwi, cassowary, and
rhea.
Largest is the Ostrich
– weighs 350 pounds
– stands 10 feet tall.
Life span – 70 years.
Raised for – feathers,
meat, skin and oil.
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Raised for food,
as novelty bird,
and to stock
game preserves.
Have thick shell
and because of
this are often
used for
ornamental
purposes.
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Early Poultry Production
 First poultry raised was
more than 5000 years
ago in Asia and in
Egypt about 3500 years
ago.
 Poultry was brought to
North America in 1607
 Turkeys were native to
North America
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Raised in Confinement
Leading states for meat production: Georgia,
Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and North
Carolina
Leading state for egg production: California
Leading states for turkey production: North
Carolina, Minnesota, and California.
Poultry Science – the study and use of areas of
science in raising poultry.
Vertical integration – more than one step in the
poultry process
(chick/feed/growers/broilers/buyers)
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Classified as Aves
Vertebrates
Differ in digestion and reproduction
Digestion – beak and gizzard
Reproduction – eggs are hatched, 21 days
(chickens) 29-31 days (geese) Turkeys (27-28
days) and ducks (28-35 days). Incubation period
is influenced by temperature and humidity.
Appearance – yellow pigmentation – egg
production. Large red comb – good health.
Ragged feathers – poor health.
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4 areas:
 Broiler Production – 6 weeks to raise
 Egg Production – 24 weeks to raise
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Egg Quality: 95% marketed are white
Parts: Shell, Albumen, Yolk, Membrane
Judging eggs – Candling
Molting – Process of shedding and renewing
feathers. Laying eggs stops during molting. Takes
about 2 months to have a bird completely molt out.
 Pullet for egg Production
 Pullets begin to lay eggs at 24 weeks.
 Pullet and Cockerel for broiler egg production.
 One cockerel per 8-10 pullets
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Housing – Controlled environment.
 Litter – wood shavings
 Lighting – control laying cycle (14 – 16
hours) and cannibalism (red light).
 Temperature – 85 – 95 degrees F for babies,
70 for 6 week birds
 Humidity – 50 -75 % in broiler houses. Mist
systems are used.
 Ventilation – using large fans. Helps
prevent cannibalism.
 Automated equipment is used
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Use disinfectants
Vaccinate
Dispose of dead birds in an
incinerator
Diseases – mostly caused by
a bacteria or virus
Marek’s Disease – virus paralysis of legs and wings.
 Newcastle – Virus – soft eggs,
affects birds gasp, twist neck
around.
 Infectious Bronchitis – virus –
nasal discharge, laying stops.
 Fowl Cholera – bacteria –
fever, colored heads, death.
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Parasites –
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Coccidiosis – parasite –
droppings get into food or
water. Birds are sleepy, pale
and listless.
Large Roundworms – worms
picked up in soil.
Mites – Pest that sucks blood,
use insecticides to rid. Bird is
pale, droopy and listless.
Tapeworm – Bird pale, looses
weight. Found in soil.