California Ag Network

Category: Poultry

  • Enzymatically Treated Soybean Meal Improves Performance in Birds with Necrotic Enteritis

    The PSA Annual Meeting 2019 just took place in Montreal, Canada July 15-18. PSA’s (Poultry Science Association’s) overall objective is to create a forum for exchanging information and stimulate novelty and dissemination of knowledge within poultry. It is one of the leading poultry conferences in the world. Hamlet Protein’s study was selected for an oral presentation at PSA. The presentation entitled “Effect of an enzyme-treated soy protein on the performance of broiler chickens infected or uninfected with Clostridium perfringens”, was presented by Hamlet Protein’s Global Poultry Segment Manager Alfred Blanch.

    The feeding trial that was carried out at Southern Poultry Feed and Research in Georgia, USA with Greg Mathis and Brett Lumpkins concluded that dietary protein makes a big difference when it comes to enteric disorders. The addition of enzyme treated soy protein (ESP) in starter diets, with a very low content of soy anti-nutritional factors, with or without antibiotic growth promoters, equals the weight of the birds infected with Clostridium perfringens and their FCR to that of uninfected chickens.

    “The dietary protein quality counts a lot if necrotic Clostridium perfringens confronts your flock”, says Alfred Blanch, Global Poultry Segment Manager at Hamlet Protein.

    The basal diet composition and, particularly, the dietary protein, plays a crucial role in the genesis of necrotic enteritis. In this sense, the reduction of soy anti-nutritional factors in starter diets for broiler chickens may be a good strategy to palliate the performance impairment due to mild necrotic enteritis outbreaks. Thus, the addition of HP AviStart, an enzymatically treated soybean meal (ESBM), in the starter diet, with or without antibiotic growth promoters, equals the performance of Clostridium perfringens-infected broiler chickens to that of uninfected chickens. In other words, HP AviStart supplementation in starter diets will result in performance improvements in birds with necrotic enteritis, regardless of the use of antibiotic growth promoters.

    “With or without antibiotics, dietary protein makes a big difference when it comes to enteric disorders. The inclusion of HP AviStart, with a very low content of ANFs in starter feed may be a suitable tool to maintain the performance of the birds when it comes to coccidia vaccine and/or ABF broiler production systems”, concludes Alfred Blanch.

     

  • Tulare County Crop Report (For the Week Ending: July 20, 2019)

    Small Grains, Other Field Crops:

    Corn for silage continues to mature. Black-eyed beans continue to mature. Cotton continues to be irrigated and cultivated. Alfalfa continues to be cut and baled.

    Deciduous Tree Fruit, Nuts, And Grapes:

    The stone fruit season continues on. Peaches are being exported to Canada, Taiwan, Costa Rica,Mexico, El Salvador, Panama, and Chile. Nectarines are being exported to Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, and Chile. Plums are being exported to Canada, Taiwan, China, Costa Rica, and Australia. Apricots are being exported to Canada. Hand-pruning and mechanical topping continues to take place in some stone fruit orchards, after harvest. Immature stone fruit continues to develop.

    Some older stone fruit groves are being removed after harvest. Grapes continue tomature and harvest has now slowly begun. Grapes are being exported to Japan, Korea, thePhilippines, and Thailand. Some vineyards continue to have leaves thinned to allow for betterairflow and light. Irrigation continues for grape vineyards. Almond, pecan, walnut, and pistachionuts continue to develop. Pistachios are being exported to Hong Kong, Spain, Costa Rica, Vietnam, and Turkey. Almonds are being exported to the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica,Belgium, Japan, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia, Finland, and Mexico. Persimmons continue todevelop. Irrigation continues for nut and stone fruit orchards.

    Citrus, Avocados, And Olives:

    Valencia and navel oranges continue to be harvested. Late navel harvest is nearing the end, withoranges being sent to domestic markets only. Gassing of Valencia oranges to improve color continues. Valencia oranges are mainly being sent to domestic markets, but they continue to beexported in small amounts to Mexico, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Korea. Ruby Grapefruitare being exported to Mexico. Finger limes continue to be exported to France and theNetherlands. Some citrus groves are being pruned and hedge rowed. Navel oranges are being harvested for juice from the field. Immature olives continue to develop.

    Vegetables, Melons, Herbs, Berries:

    Certified producers are picking tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumber, watermelon, and squash. Summer vegetables continue to be sold at roadside stands and Farmer’s Markets. Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries are being picked and sold by local growers. Blueberries are beingexported to Japan, Taiwan, and the Netherlands.

    Livestock And Poultry:

    Rangeland forage is of good quality. The fed cattle price is at $110 per cwt.

    Additional Comments:

    Local wholesale nurseries are still shipping small orders of nursery stock to local and out-of-state retail nursery outlets. Nurseries continue to receive new rootstocks of various flowers and plants daily. Bare-root rose shipments continue to be sent to Florida.

     

  • CDFA official heads National Egg Regulatory Officials (NERO) organization

    CDFA Egg Safety and Quality Manager Tony Herrera has been elected president of the National Egg Regulatory Officials organization (NERO). This is his second time serving as president of NERO.

    Herrera’s responsibilities at CDFA include planning, directing, managing and overseeing a statewide regulatory food safety, quality and grading program for shell eggs and egg products that are marketed in California. He has been with CDFA for nearly 40 years, serving in many capacities from inspector to district supervisor to program manager.

    During CDFA’s ongoing virulent Newcastle disease incident, Herrera has served as liaison to the poultry and egg industries, and he served on the task force responding in 2002-2003 to the disease outbreak in California. He is also CDFA’s representative to the Shell Egg Advisory Committee. Additionally, Herrera is assistant director of the board of directors of the National Egg Quality School.

    CDFA State Veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones: “We are proud of Tony’s leadership and after successfully shepherding California’s Egg Safety program through a litany of changes to meet today’s market demands, we are confident that he will serve NERO well.

  • Emergency Funds to Address Virulent Newcastle Disease in California

    USDA secretary Sonny Perdue is making available an additional $45 million to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and its partners to address the ongoing virulent Newcastle disease (VND) outbreak in Southern California.  This funding will allow APHIS and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to strengthen their joint efforts to stop the spread of this disease and prevent it from affecting additional commercial flocks.

    “Virulent Newcastle disease is a serious concern for our nation’s poultry industry and we need to step up our response in order to keep this disease out of additional commercial flocks,” said Greg Ibach, USDA Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs.  “At this point, the trade impacts of this outbreak are minimal because APHIS has negotiated agreements with many countries to promote the principle of regionalization, or limiting trade restrictions to areas affected by outbreaks rather than entire States or the entire country.  However, if VND were to spread into additional commercial flocks – in California or other states – the impacts could increase substantially.”

    “I want to thank Secretary Perdue and USDA for making additional resources available to fight this highly-contagious poultry disease,” said Karen Ross, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. “The strong partnership between USDA and CDFA, local government, industry and homeowners is the united stand we need. With everyone’s full effort we can eradicate this disease, just like we did in 2003.”

    It is vital that USDA and CDFA put more responders on the ground to increase surveillance and detection in backyard flocks; ensure rapid euthanasia of likely-exposed birds; implement wider mandatory surveillance on commercial farms and help ensure that they are enhancing biosecurity in light of the increased threat; and increase outreach to backyard flock owners.

    USDA will also work with CDFA on several steps tostrengthen the response and prevent additional disease spread.  These include:

    • Ensuring any poultry, poultry products and poultry materials that move out of affected areas will be done with a permit;
    • Enforcing the quarantines and mandatory fallow periods for backyard locations to ensure the disease is eliminated before new birds are allowed onsite; and
    • Rapid euthanasia of likely-exposed birds.

    The $45 million USDA will use for these efforts is being reallocated from emergency funds transferred to USDA, but not used during the highly pathogenic avian influenza outbreak response in 2014-2015.  USDA will routinely reassess this plan and readjust tactics as needed. The goal remains to rid Southern California of VND, while protecting the rest of the country’s poultry from the disease.

    Link to CDFA’s VND information page.

    Regional Quarantine Map

  • Animal Agriculture Alliance debuts Sustainability Impact Report

    Report Highlights Animal Agriculture’s Commitment to Continuous Improvement

    Yesterday, the Animal Agriculture Alliance released its “Sustainability Impact Report” focusing on animal agriculture in the United States. The report highlights how the animal agriculture industry shares the same values as today’s consumer with its never-ending commitment to animal care, environmental stewardship, responsible antibiotic use, food safety and nutrition. To access the report, go to https://www.animalagalliance.org/engage/#sustainability.

    The 33-page report covers nine industries: dairy, beef, veal, pork, chicken, turkey, egg, sheep and aquaculture. “Animal agriculture has made great strides in environmental stewardship, animal welfare and overall sustainability over the years,” said Kay Johnson Smith, Alliance president and CEO. “As new technology and research become available, the industry will continue to innovate and improve.”

    Environmental stewardship highlights:

    • According to the Environmental Protection Agency, agriculture accounts for a total of 9 percent of U.S. GHG emissions while livestock production is only 3.9 percent.
    • Dairy farmers decreased their carbon footprint by 63 percent from 1944 to 2007.
    • Since 1977, cattle ranchers have reduced their carbon footprint by 16 percent.
    • Pig farmers decreased their carbon footprint by 7.7 percent and their water use by 25.1 percent from 1960 to 2015.
    • The egg industry reduced its carbon footprint by 71 percent and its water use by 32 percent since 1960.

    Animal welfare highlights:

    • Hens under the United Egg Producers Certified program account for 95 percent of all the nation’s laying hens.
    • The National Chicken Council (NCC) developed the NCC Animal Welfare Guidelines and Audit Checklist, which have been widely adopted within the chicken industry. These guidelines were updated in 2018.
    • As of January 2019, more than 72,000 pig farmers and farm employees were Pork Quality Assurance Plus certified.
    • By 2016, 98 percent of the U.S. milk supply came from dairy farms and cooperatives enrolled in the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management program.

    Nutrition highlights:

    • Milk provides nine essential nutrients and is also the number one food source of calcium, vitamin D and potassium for all Americans ages 2 years and older.
    • Today’s pork is 16 percent leaner and 27 percent lower in saturated fat compared to 20 years ago.
    • Lamb is an excellent source of vitamin B12, selenium, zinc and niacin.
    • One 3-ounce serving of lean beef provides about 50 percent of the recommended daily value of protein.
    • One large egg has varying amounts of 13 essential vitamins and minerals, six grams of protein and only 70 calories.

    About the Alliance:
    The Animal Agriculture Alliance is an industry-united, nonprofit organization that helps bridge the communication gap between farm and fork. We connect key food industry stakeholders to arm them with responses to emerging issues. We engage food chain influencers and promote consumer choice by helping them better understand modern animal agriculture. We protect by exposing those who threaten our nation’s food security with damaging misinformation. Find the Alliance on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

  • CDFA’s Work to Regulate Antibiotics in Livestock

    A report issued last week by a consortium of environmental groups on antibiotics in the meat supply chain highlights the importance of work being undertaken by California Department of Food and Agriculture as the first state in the nation to regulate the use of antibiotics in livestock. The report touched on CDFA’s efforts but it is important to clearly state what is being done to implement the legislation in collaboration with sister agencies and a broad, diverse set of stakeholders.

    As of January 1st, 2018, California became the first state in the nation to require veterinary oversight for the use of all medically important antibiotics used in livestock (not just in feed or water). The state law also prohibits growth promotion use and goes above and beyond the federal requirements to prohibit the use of medically important antibiotics in a regular pattern for disease prevention unless necessary for surgical or medical procedures. This is currently the only legislation that requires data collection from willing participants to monitor antibiotic use practices, assess trends in antibiotic resistance, and to inform the development of antimicrobial stewardship guidelines and best management practices to effect change in antibiotic usage.

    The California Department of Food and Agriculture has hired experienced and qualified staff to work with multiple state and federal partners, as well as university researchers, to collect information across California’s diverse livestock production types, coordinating with existing systems and efforts where possible. In less than two years, the Antimicrobial Use & Stewardship program’s efforts, through in-house surveys and contracted studies, have developed data from  nearly 1,400 operations, representing more than half a million animals across 55 counties in California, and- reflecting antibiotic use and management practices across beef and dairy cattle, sheep, and backyard poultry operations.

    Additionally, the Antimicrobial Use & Stewardship program has initiated on-farm sampling, covering a population of more than 50 operations and 128,000 animals in California that will voluntarily be sampled over time. Data collection efforts are ongoing and will continue to expand as the program moves forward.

    CDFA is committed to fulfilling the requirements of state law and continuing to work with all stakeholders to achieve a safe, secure, and bountiful food supply, while reducing the emergence of antimicrobial resistance.

  • Can We Better Prepare Hens for Cage-Free Living?

    Davis, Calif., (April 26, 2018) – Consumers are clamoring for cage-free eggs, and producers are scrambling to meet the demand.

    In 2017, nearly 16 percent of all hens in the U.S. were in cage-free production. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 75 percent of all laying hens will need to be cage free by 2026 to meet market demand.

    Cage-free housing is more spacious for hens, but the extra room comes with added risk of collisions and broken bones. Many cage-free hens are developing breast or “keel” bone fractures when they misjudge the distance between perches and platforms and collide with other birds and features in their environment.

    But help is on the way. A team of animal welfare experts from the University of California, Davis, is leading efforts to explore whether complex rearing systems for chicks can reduce bone fractures. Funded by a $432,000 grant from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, the project will measure whether an active upbringing can help chicks develop stronger bones, as well as cognitive and navigational abilities.

    “With improved navigational skills, hens may be less likely to collide with other birds on route to food and water,” said Maja M. Makagon, an assistant professor with the UC Davis Department of Animal Science who is leading a team of collaborators from UC Davis, Iowa State University, the University of Bristol in England and the University of Bern in Switzerland.

    When landings fail – Laying hens have experienced keel-bone fractures for decades, but the incidence is rising as more flocks are raised in open, multi-tier systems. “Cage-free” can mean different things on different farms, but typically cage-free birds flap around in large, vertical, enclosed spaces to reach food, perches and nesting areas. Today’s hens are not especially adept at flying, and sometimes their landings fail.

    Broken keel bones are likely painful. Research shows that when given a choice of feed, hens with broken bones will select feed laced with anti-inflammatory medication. There is also evidence that fractures can affect egg quality.

    Can active upbringing help? – Farmers have various ways of raising chicks in the first 16 weeks of life. Some farmers rear chicks in flat, enclosed spaces, like on a barn floor, and others raise chicks in multi-tiered systems.

    Makagon and her team will test whether birds reared in more complex, multi-tiered settings will fare better in cage-free housing.

    “We hypothesize that if you expose birds to environments that are vertical in nature, two things will happen: keel bones will develop stronger and birds will be better at navigating space,” she said.

    The team will measure the prevalence of keel-bone damage on a broad scale at commercial farms in the United States and identify the relationship between rearing environment and keel-bone strength.

    Then, researchers will conduct similar tests on a small scale at UC Davis. They will rear chicks in pens with different levels of vertical complexity and evaluate how that affects keel-bone development and a bird’s cognitive and navigational skills.

    A team effort – From UC Davis, Makagon is working with Richard Blatchford, an assistant Cooperative Extension specialist, and Kristina Horback, an assistant professor, both with the Center for Animal Welfare in the UC Davis Department of Animal Science.

    Project members also include Suzanne Millmann, professor of biomedical sciences at Iowa State University; John Tarlton, professor of regenerative medicine at the University of Bristol, England; and Michael Toscano, group leader at the Center for Proper Housing: Poultry and Rabbits (ZTHZ), University of Bern, Switzerland.

    The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research is funding two additional grants to address the health and productivity of laying hens: Purdue University will test whether nutritional interventions can strengthen bones, and the University of Edinburgh will expand efforts to breed hens with stronger bones.

  • Got Backyard Chickens? Get Their Eggs Tested for Free

    Davis, Calif., (April 5, 2018) – Californians who raise poultry outdoors are invited to get their eggs tested for contaminants.

    People who raise poultry outdoors are encouraged to have their eggs tested for environmental contaminants.

    To find out if harmful substances on the ground that are eaten by birds get passed along in the eggs they lay, Maurice Pitesky, UC Cooperative Extension poultry specialist at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, is providing free egg testing.

    “We’re trying to understand the connection between the environment that backyard poultry are raised in and the eggs they are producing,” Pitesky said.

    Pitesky’s colleague veterinary toxicologist Birgit Puschner is testing eggs for different types of contaminants, depending on the county the eggs are from.

    Eggs from counties recently affected by wildfires will be tested for chemicals, building materials and heavy metals that may have been carried in the smoke and ash. Pitesky and Puschner are also looking for lead and PCBs in eggs from certain regions of the state.

    The UC Cooperative Extension poultry specialist will share individual egg results with each poultry owner. At the end of the study, all of the results will be summarized and made available to the general public.

    Pitesky describes the project in a video produced by CropMobster for UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and UC Agriculture and Natural Resources. Watch the video at https://youtu.be/3ZlytlUIS3I.

    For more information about the study and how to package and ship eggs, visit http://ucanr.edu/eggtest.

    Residents in Sonoma County may drop off eggs at the UC Cooperative Extension office at 133 Aviation Blvd Suite 109 in Santa Rosa. The UCCE office in Sonoma County is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

  • People, Poultry and Planet: Petaluma Poultry Is a Leader in the Poultry Industry

    Petaluma, Calif., (March 16, 2018) – Founded in 1969 by Allan Shainsky, Petaluma Poultry has been a local company for more than 40 years. They returned to their “old fashioned flavor” in 1986 when they began feeding a vegetarian diet, committed to never using antibiotics and introduced Rocky the Free Range Chicken.

    Petaluma Poultry took their commitment to the next level in 1999 with the introduction of Rosie the Original Organic Chicken.

    The company is a recognized leader in organic poultry production in the US, and their commitment to people, poultry and the planet is what sets them apart. Three P’s were the acronym for Petaluma Poultry (formerly Petaluma Poultry Processors), but they also represent the core values of People, Poultry, and Planet. Additionally, they’re important traits to the company’s customers.

    For people, more than 650 employees are very important to Petaluma Poultry. The company believes strongly in safety and making sure the employees go home as good as they arrived or better. They have a health improvement program with a nurse on site to offer optional health consultations to employees.

    For the planet, Petaluma Poultry focuses on farming sustainably. They are third party audited, certified and have won multiple awards for their commitment to sustainability.

    There are many factors that go into the company’s operations to make them sustainable including erosion control practices, effective use of water, available forage, handling of manure and environmental practices such as how they handle used oil. They have reduced their water and electricity usage and minimized waste.

    Petaluma Poultry has a robust recycling program with 56% of materials recycled and a goal to get to 75%. For materials that can’t be recycled, they compost waste from products including egg shells and feathers as well as wax cardboard.

    For the poultry, Petaluma Poultry is strongly focused on encouraging the natural behavior of chickens. The company is an innovator in free range and animal welfare. The birds are provided access to the outside, dust baths and other improvements that enhances their ability to be a chicken.

    “One of the things we’re really good at is growing chickens in a natural environment that encourages chickens to act naturally,” said Matt Junkel, Vice President of Operations. “We’re completely opposite of a factory farming operation.”

    Petaluma Poultry has 20 farms in Sonoma and Marin counties and the Central Valley; they raise approximately 20 million chickens per year.

    In addition to their farms, their facilities in Petaluma and the surrounding area include a hatchery, feed mill, farms, a processing plant, administrative office and distribution center.

    Petaluma Poultry has an economic benefit to the community of more than $40 million, with a significant portion of money spent on their employees in Sonoma County.

    Petaluma Poultry is very involved in the community and provides more than $100,000 in donations a year to local non-profits. They are big supporters of the county fair as well as a community garden in Petaluma. Other organizations that have benefitted from their support include the Polly Klaas Foundation, Petaluma Educational Foundation and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sonoma and Marin County and COTS (Committee on the Shelterless). They’ve also participated in programs focusing on the environment such as the Petaluma River Clean Up that they’ve been involved with for more than 10 years as well at Doran Beach and Russian River Clean Ups.

    In 2017, they donated more than 70 tons of food to the Redwood Empire Food Bank, with a large majority going towards wildfire disaster relief. During the October wildfires, Petaluma Poultry also took their Rocky Mobile, a food truck, to five events and provided free meals to first responders and people staying at shelters.

    For more information visit petalumapoultry.com

    One of Petaluma Poultry’s Sonoma County Farms. Courtesy photo.

  • Backyard Chickens Need More Regulation

    Davis, Calif., (March 13, 2018) – Historically, keeping backyard chickens was a response to economic hardship — whether it was in the Depression or during wartime food rationing.

    But a growing number of chickens today are roaming or are caged on small family farms and in backyards, as suburban and urban poultry gains more popularity among consumers. Many people prefer to raise their own food because they think it will be safer, fresher and more nutritious than that which was commercially raised. Yet, a new University of California, Davis, study suggests that local ordinances are not adequately addressing human and animal health when it comes to backyard poultry, and laws that do exist do not keep pace with those for commercial growers.

    “Ironically, as people seek to take control over the way their food is grown, most ordinances fail to ensure basic health and welfare for birds and humans,” said Catherine Brinkley, assistant professor of community and regional development, in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. She is the primary author of the study.

    The paper, “A Method for Guarding Animal Welfare and Public Health: Tracking the Rise of Backyard Poultry Ordinances,” was recently published in the Journal of Community Health.

    What needs to happen, the author recommends, is that there be more laws that mandate vaccinations, manure management and general animal welfare in urban and suburban settings similar to policies and regulations imposed on commercial chicken ranches.

    “Provisions governing animal slaughter and routine veterinary care are rare, presenting a concern for monitoring and intervening in public health crises,” the study says. “In addition, shelters anticipate higher poultry intakes, particularly as unwanted birds are turned loose to become strays.”

    Researchers focused their study on 100 municipalities in Colorado, the only state to compile public data for animal shelter surrenders and other statistics. Compared with three other U.S. cities — Los Angeles, Miami and New York — Denver had the highest percentage of respondents in favor of allowing backyard poultry, 62.5 percent, and the lowest percentage of respondents who believed urban poultry would lead to more human disease, at 7.4 percent. Almost 42,000 households across the four cities were surveyed.

    Almost all the laws governing poultry-keeping in Colorado were passed since 2000.

    “More poultry ordinances have been passed or modified in Colorado in the last five years than in the previous hundred,” Brinkley said.

    The most common guidelines for poultry ordinances, the researchers found, pertain to housing design, placement and the sex of birds — some municipalities ban roosters altogether, some do not, and still others permit one rooster per 12 hens, for example. But regulations pertaining to cleanliness, ventilation, and food and water requirements are often lacking. Ordinances governing the slaughter of backyard chickens occur in only half of municipalities in Colorado, and many are vague, researchers found.

    Regulations pertaining to the chickens’ health and welfare were rare in the Colorado study, with only 2 percent of municipalities including poultry under animal cruelty and abuse regulations.