Apart from infections, sudden death syndrome, or ‘flip overs’, accounts for some broiler mortality during production, particularly for male broilers. It is thought to be a metabolic disorder associated with rapid growth rates, which leads to an imbalance in cardiac physiology and, consequently, heart failure. As male broilers generally grow faster than females, a metabolic disorder

The Poultry Cooperative Research Centre (Poultry CRC) has been recognised for its collaborative efforts with industry and research partners in the development of a vaccine against fowl cholera, Vaxsafe® PM. The award, for significant innovation in Agriculture and Food, was made at the Cooperative Research Centres Association (CRCA) Conference on May 16. As CEO of the CRCA,

Staff from the Poultry CRC recently attended the combined 2012 Poultry Information Exchange/Australian Milling Conference (PIX) at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. The theme for the 2012 conference was ‘Feeding the Nation’. This well respected bi-annual event provides the CRC the opportunity to promote our research and education activities, and resulting services to the Australian

In 2007 the NSW Food Authority and NSW Health investigated an outbreak of Salmonella poisoning caused by mishandling of raw egg foods. This is a common contributing factor in many Salmonella outbreaks, along with lack of cleaning and sanitising, and temperature abuse. This emphasises how essential it is that farmers implement effective measures to minimise

Feather-pecking and injurious pecking behaviours represent serious welfare and economic challenges for the egg industry. This is particularly a problem for barn-laid and free-range egg producers compared to conventional cage-egg producers. With support from the Poultry CRC, Ms Kate Hartcher, a University of Sydney Master’s degree student, aims to investigate the rearing environment of free-range

Welcome to another edition of eChook! In a recent Poultry CRC meeting, key industry leaders highlighted the importance of extension work for the future of poultry research, education and industry expansion. It was widely recognised that whilst timely dissemination of new information is essential, the continuous availability of existing knowledge in an easy-to-access format is also vital.

These days, bringing new animal vaccines to market requires more than just registering a ‘bug in a bottle’. Strict regulations to ensure food safety, imposed by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority and other authorities around the globe, demand rigorous quality controls from vaccine seed to final product. To this end, the Poultry CRC

Dr Jess Morgan, University of Queensland Research Fellow and Poultry CRC sub-project leader, is currently working towards characterising Australian strains of Eimeria, which cause coccidiosis. Within Australia, each species of Eimeria may be represented by one large inter-breeding population, where outbreak strains sweep the country each year like a flu epidemic. Alternatively, strains may be spatially diversified, with

After moving to Brisbane to join a companion animal practice, Western Australian Vet, Dr Robyn Hall, decided to pursue her interest in research. Her initial approach to the University of Queensland led to a meeting with Dr Tim Mahony, a Poultry CRC Project Leader. Now a Poultry CRC supported PhD student, Robyn is investigating Essential and

Applications are now open for the 2012 Ivy Inwood Industry Award. Now in its second year, the Award provides people in the agricultural industry with the opportunity to win a cash prize of $10,000 to develop their winning idea or initiative. Safe Food Production Queensland’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr Barbara Wilson said this award was

Welcome to another edition of eChook! In this edition, we will update you on our work on necrotic enteritis. Dr Rob Moore and his team have built on our previous research to produce a number of vaccines that we will be exploring commercially in the near future. This will be of great benefit to the

Clinical necrotic enteritis (NE) massively damages the lining of a chicken’s intestine, causing disease and, often, death. Sub-clinical NE, while not demonstrating the characteristic clinical symptoms of severe lesions, impairs the intestine’s ability to absorb nutrients and results in illness and poor growth, potentially accounting for over 90% of the economic losses suffered by chicken

After arriving in Australia for the 2012 Australian Poultry Science Symposium, Professor Birger Svihus has spent some time at the Poultry CRC HQ in Armidale. Currently a Professor with the Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (with its Norwegian acronym being UMB), Birger has a background in Animal Science, and holds a PhD