Chapter 24
Poultry Breed Identification and
Production Management
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or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Veterinary Terminology
• Cockerel
– male chicken under a year of age
• Pullet
– young chicken raised to lay eggs
• Layer
– adult female hen that lays eggs
• Spent hens
– former layer egg hens who no longer produce eggs
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Veterinary Terminology
• Broiler
– young chick used for meat production between 6-8
weeks of age
• Fryers
– tender and easy to cook meat from broilers
• Capon
– castrated male chicken, over 6 lbs. and 6 months of
age
• Flock
– a group of similar poultry
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Biology
• Avian digestive tract
• Do not need to fly; many too large to fly
• Gizzard – muscular organ used to break
down food particles
• Grit – ingested to break down hard
substances
• Most producers debreak to prevent injury
and make eating less difficult
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Biology
• Combs – flesh like projections on top of
heads
• Wattle – flesh like projection under chin
• Males tend to have larger bodies and
head features
• Eyes, skin, wattle, and comb useful in
determining overall health of bird
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Poultry Species and Classes
• Poultry
– Domesticated birds with feathers, 2 legs, 2 wings,
and a beak
– Primarily raised for
• Eggs
• Meat
• Feathers
• By-products
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Chickens
• Most important and popular type of
poultry
• Raised for eggs and meat
• 4 classes:
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–
–
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American
English
Asiatic
Mediterranean
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Turkeys
• High amounts of white meat
• 300 million raised each year
• Increase in size of production farms
(100,000 birds per farm)
• Raised in confinement
• Marketed after 20 weeks of age
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Ducks
•
•
•
•
•
Raised for meat, eggs, and feathers
15 million raised yearly
Grow faster and heavier than chickens
Swim
Commercially raised indoors in
confinement
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Geese
•
•
•
•
1 million raised yearly
Meat, eggs, feathers, and down
Eat grass and weeds
Very hardy and disease resistant
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Peafowl
• Raised for feathers and as pets
• Feathers can be up to 5 times the body
length
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Swans
• Known for long, thin, graceful neck
• Raised for ornamental purposes
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Other Poultry Species
• Guinea fowl – meat, eggs, and hunting
• Pigeons – meat and competitive
purposes
• Quail – meat and eggs
• Pheasant – meat and hunting purposes
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Ratites
•
•
•
•
Large birds that DON’T fly
Used for meat, eggs, and feathers
Raised in large groups
Ostrich, Rhea, and Emu are most
common
• Commonly seen in wildlife preserves or
zoos
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Selection of Species or Breed
• Selection based on bird’s ability to
produce eggs or meat as quickly as
possible
• Other factors: how well bird eats and
uses food, fast return on the investment,
high profit compared to cost of feed,
amount of space needed, and amount of
labor involved
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Nutrition
• Automated feeders and water systems
• Young chicks may need pans or trays
• Food kept in feed bins or stored in
automatic bins
• Conveyer belt system weighs feed and
distributes a set amount
• Water is monitored for consumption
• Water troughs cleaned daily
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Behavior
• Known for adaptable behavior
• Domestic fowl is shy; wary by nature
• Many species are gregarious and have a
social status within flock
• Maintain contact with flock by sight and
vocal communication
• Can become nervous if separated from
flock
• May become territorial
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Basic Training
• Training and handling should begin when
fowl are young
• Wings should be observed and
examined
• Feet and legs should be handled
• Check appearance of feathers
• Poultry will adjust easily to humans with
regular handling
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Equipment and Housing Needs
• Houses designed for each production
system
• Broiler housing must meet needs of chicks
• Day old chicks need 1/4 to 1/3 of a square
foot of space
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Equipment and Housing Needs
• Space requirements increase with growth
• Growers commonly use portable fence to
contain chicks and remove fence when full
grown
• Floor coverings must be gentle, dust free,
and cleaned daily
• Proper lighting is necessary for growth
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Equipment and Housing Needs
• Breeder housing must meet needs of
reproductive adults
• Environmental conditions must be met
– indoor
– outdoor
• Controlled conditions must be met
– temperature
– humidity
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Restraint and Handling
• Should be restrained by holding wings
against birds body
• Body should be restrained securely with
one arm and head held around the neck
with other hand
• Never hold tightly around diaphragm
• Young chicks can be held in hand
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Grooming
• Do not typically require
• Should be free of external parasites, dirt,
and debris
• Feathers can be sprayed with water
• Fowl will preen and clean their wings and
feathers
• Some owners will trim nails, clip wings, or
dremel beaks
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Basic Health Care and
Maintenance
• Molting:
– Process of shedding and renewing feathers
– Hens stop laying eggs during this
process (or reduce number of eggs)
– Hen depletes calcium and rest allows restoring of
needs
– Usually in the fall, prior to winter
– Occurs about 4 months until new growth of feathers
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Basic Health Care and
Maintenance
• Forced Molting:
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Controversial topic
Decrease light during the length of day
Artificial lights set for longer darkness
Allow 8 hours light
After molting, allow 14-16 hours light
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Basic Health Care and
Maintenance
• Sanitation:
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–
–
–
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Disease outbreaks can kill an entire flock quickly
Good sanitation practice is required
Removal of feces, dead birds, and insects
Disinfect cages, boots, and equipment
Remove all litter and spray disinfectant between
batches
– Restrict access to people and vehicles
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Vaccinations
• Helps develop immunity to disease
• Several common diseases in poultry
• In vivo: vaccine injected into embryo
through the egg during incubation
• 18th day of incubation process
• Chicks hatch with immunity
• Reduces stress
• Ready for market 2 days sooner
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Vaccinations
• Egg injection system used at high rate of
speed
• Special needle punctures egg shell
• Dosage of vaccine is delivered
• Machine operated
• 20,000-30,000 eggs injected per hour
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Reproduction and Breeding
• Female mates with male for eggs to be
fertilized
• Eggs are incubated to hatch
• Incubation period influenced by
temperature and humidity:
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Chickens: 21 days
Geese: 29-31 days
Turkeys: 27-28 days
Ducks: 28-35 days
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Common Diseases
• Poultry have 33 pathogenic diseases
and there are 10 parasites of concern
• Viruses, bacteria, or infection
• Common nutritional diseases
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Common Diseases
• Costly to treat
• Many become less efficient and can’t
produce or are not usable for human
consumption
• Many die; loss of profit
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or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Marek’s Disease
• Known as “range paralysis”
• Caused by a herpes virus
• Signs: diarrhea, leg or wing paralysis,
weight loss, and death
• No treatment available
• Prevention by vaccine
• Genetic resistance has been noted
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Newcastle Disease
• Caused by a virus
• Signs: gasping for breath, wheezing,
twist necks around due to respiratory
stress, possible paralysis, lay softshelled eggs, and may stop producing
eggs
• No treatment available
• Prevention by vaccine
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Infectious Bronchitis
• Affects ONLY CHICKENS (no other
poultry species)
• Caused by a virus, primarily in young
birds
• Signs: wheezing, gasping for air, and
nasal discharge
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Infectious Bronchitis
• Older hens stop laying eggs
• Prevention through sanitation and
isolation methods
• Vaccine available
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Fowl Cholera
• Affects all species
• Caused by BACTERIA
• Signs: fever, purple colored heads,
yellow droppings, and sudden death
• Possible to treat with antibiotics called
sulfonamides
• Prevention by vaccination
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Avian Pox
•
•
•
•
Slow spreading disease
Several strains that are species specific
Caused by virus spread by mosquitoes
Signs: wart-like growths on skin and
mouth and respiratory distress
• No treatment
• Difficult to control through sanitation
• Prevention through vaccine
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Avian Influenza
• Commonly called bird flu
• Affects all species of avians
• Caused by virus, occurring naturally in
the intestines
• Transmitted directly and through body
excretes
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Avian Influenza
• Zoonotic to humans but no human to
human transmission
• Fatal strain not seen in U.S.
• Isolation
• Human vaccine available
• Current research ongoing
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Common Parasites
• Internal and external parasites are
common
• Isolated cages and specialized
production systems reduce the amount
of parasites in poultry
• Proper sanitation practices
• Control of insects and wild birds
• All species affected
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Coccidiosis
• Internal protozoan parasite
• Transmitted by droppings of affected
birds
• Seen commonly in wild birds
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Coccidiosis
• Droppings can get in food and water
sources
• Affect companion animals and people
• Signs: bloody droppings, lethargic
appearance, (sleepy, little activity), and
pale skin
• Treatments by mouth or placed in water
or feed
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Large Round Worms
• Worms may reach 3 inches in length
• Occur in the intestinal tract
• Signs: emaciated appearance, diarrhea,
and droopy wings
• Prevention through sanitation,
dewormers, and rotating range and
yards
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Tapeworms
• Internal parasites
• Hosts include snails, earthworms, beetles,
and flies
• Ingested by poultry
• Signs: pale head color, pale leg color, and
poor body flesh appearance
• Dewormers
• Prevention is through dietary control and
confinement
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Mites
• External parasites include: Mites, Lice,
Chiggers, and Ticks
• Signs: visible parasite, pale color,
listless, and droopy wings
• Use approved insecticides to treat
infestations
• Prevention and control by limiting access
to wild birds
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Poultry Production
• Began over 5,000 years ago in Asia
• Arrived in America in the 1600s
• Aztec Indians domesticated the wild
turkey
• Became a large commercial industry in
the 1950s
• Raised by confinement method
• Largest producer of eggs is California
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Poultry Production
• Poultry Science – the study of poultry
that includes breeding, incubation,
raising, housing, nutrition, sanitation, and
marketing
• Goal is to produce quality at a
reasonable price
• Developed over last 50 years to improve
production rates
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Poultry Production Systems
• 3 main systems, mostly relating to
chickens
• Used in raising poultry, eggs, meat,
feathers, and other products for human
use
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or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Broiler Production
• Goal: produce the most meat as quickly
as possible
• Chicks must be healthy and continue
growth
• Keep mortality to a minimum (death) –
less than 5 percent
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Broiler Production
• Raised in large poultry houses
• 6 week raising time to reach market size
(4 to 4.5 lbs)
• Grow fast in an efficient time to reduce
cost
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Egg Production System
• Goal: produce high-quality eggs for
human consumption
• One egg per day from each hen
• Not fertile, not hatched or incubated
• Graded due to quality and size - small,
medium, large, jumbo
• Placed in cartons with small end down
• Large end up to protect quality of egg and
air cell
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Egg Anatomy
• Yolk – oocyte cell produced by hen’s
ovary
• Albumin – egg white
• Eggshell – calcium layer
• Air cell – empty space at large end of
egg where oxygen is stored
• Chalaza – anchors yolk in the egg white
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Egg Anatomy
• Germinal disc – white spot in egg where
sperm enters egg to allow fertilization
• Inner Shell Membrane – thin area
outside of albumin
• Outer Shell Membrane – thin area inside
of shell
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Egg Quality
• Quality determined by external
appearance and internal condition
• Size, shape, color, cracks, blemishes,
or dirt
• Shell is primarily calcium-protection
• 95% of market shells are white
• Demand for brown eggs is increasing
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Pullet Production
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hens raised for egg production
Specially bred birds
Selected from day old chicks
Raised similar to broilers
Only females are raised
Bred for maximum egg production
Known as “replacement hens”
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Broiler Egg Production System
• Pullets and cockerels raised together
specifically to produce broilers
• Females should have large numbers of
quality eggs
• Males should be large in size
• Chicks are selected for system
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