73 - December 2013

Welcome to another edition of eChook! Poultry CRC wishes all our colleagues, friends and families a safe and enjoyable festive season, and good wishes for an outstanding 2014! In this edition, we look at one of the challenges in bird management in free range systems, highlight a recently completed CRC project, and introduce two new

Coccidiosis, caused by parasites of the genus Eimeria, is a worldwide disease of chickens estimated to result in global annual losses of over US$2.4 billion. Ten species of Eimeria have been identified in Australia and species, as well as strains within a species, can vary greatly in their pathogenicity. Recent outbreaks on vaccinated farms have

Dr Jeff Downing, Senior Lecture in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at The University of Sydney, has a new Poultry CRC project titled Proteomic measures of albumen degradation as indicators of egg freshness. Working with Associate Professor Paul Sheehy, Jeff’s project will investigate the changes in proteins found in egg albumen associated with time and

Associate Professor Dominique Blache from The University of Western Australia (UWA) is leading a new Poultry CRC project attempting to reduce the incidence of floor laying on commercial duck farms. It has been estimated that about 20% (but this may be as high as 40%) of eggs may be laid outside of the nest box