Raising chickens in urban environments is a growing phenomenon in the United States. Urban chicken flocks are not part of the commercial poultry industry; however, they sometimes provide chicken meat and eggs to local food systems such as farmers’ markets. Urban chickens represent an avian population for which very little information is available.…

The objective of this research is to determine the thermal inactivation kinetics of Listeria monocytogenes in chicken breast meat using both isothermal and dynamic conditions. A four-strain cocktail of L. monocytogenes was inoculated to chicken breast meat. Isothermal studies were performed by submerging samples under hot water maintained at…

Chilling is a critical step in poultry processing to attain high-quality meat and to meet the USDA-Food Safety and Inspection Service temperature standards. This study was conducted to determine the effects of commercially available chilling systems on quality and safety of broiler meat. A total of 300 carcasses in 2 replications were randomly…

The current study was undertaken to acquire data on contamination of chicken parts with Salmonella at retail and to acquire data on cross-contamination of cooked chicken with Salmonella from raw chicken during meal preparation. Whole raw chickens (n ~ 31) were obtained from local retail stores and cut into two wings, two breasts without skin or…

Nationwide sampling in the U.S. of whole large eggs, to update values in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR) (http://www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata), was conducted in 2000–2001 and in 2010. Retail cartons of large eggs were obtained from 12 supermarket locations using statistical…

It is recognized that cool egg storage for 8 d or longer, commonly employed in broiler parent and commercial layer production, reduces hatchability. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of short periods of incubation during egg storage (SPIDES) in the restoration of hatchability of broiler hatching eggs stored for 21 d. Prolonged cool…

Studies have demonstrated that obesity and osteoporosis are linked disorders in humans. This study examined the hypothesis that excessive lipid consumption affects bone metabolism in laying hens. A total of one hundred 63-wk-old laying hens were randomly divided into 2 treatments and fed either a regular layer diet (control) or a high energy and…

Nationwide sampling in the U.S. of whole large eggs, to update values in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (SR) (http://www.ars.usda.gov/nutrientdata), was conducted in 2000–2001 and in 2010. Retail cartons of large eggs were obtained from 12 supermarket locations using statistical…

Genetic differences alter the type and degree of hens’responses and their ability to adapt to a stressor. This study examined the effects of genotypic variations on the productivity and behavior of laying hens following heat stress (HS). Two strains of White Leghorn hens were used: DXL (Dekalb XL), a commercial strain individually selected for egg…

Commercial production of eggs and egg products requires the washing of eggs to remove urinary / fecal material and broken egg residue. In the case of one Ohio farming facility, 1.6 million birds produce 1.4 million eggs per day, using ~50mL of wash water / egg or ~ 70,000 liters per day. The aqueous waste stream was evaluated for estrogenicity, to…

This pilot analysis was conducted with data from 52 conventional grow-out broiler flocks in a prospective field observational study in the southeastern United States during 2003–2006. Each flock was sampled for Salmonella 1 wk before the end of grow-out, upon arrival at the processing plant, and during processing (prior to and immediately after…

An experiment consisting of two identically designed trials was conducted to determine the nutrient composition and AMEn content of distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) in order to develop prediction equations for AMEn in broilers. Fifteen samples of DDGS ranging in ether extract (EE) from 3.15 to 13.23% (DM-basis) were collected from…

Commercial producers and nutritionists have questioned the performance consequences of sulfur (S) from various dietary and water sources combined in current commercial production. The combination of high S containing feed ingredients, including dried distiller’s grains with solubles (DDGS) and dietary additives that contain S such as lysine sulfate…

Lysine is frequently a first- or second-limiting amino acid in poultry diets. Improving the efficiency of lysine use for protein synthesis would effectively lower the lysine requirement and decrease feed costs. Understanding how lysine is degraded and how the degradation is regulated would identify potential molecular targets for interventions to…

This study was conducted to develop antimicrobial coatings to decontaminate and prevent cross-contamination of shell eggs. Egg shells were inoculated with nalidixic acid resistant Salmonella enterica Enteritidis strains OB030832, OB040159, and C405, and then treated with antimicrobial coatings. Polylactic acid (PLA) served as a non-edible polymer…

Marek’s disease (MD) is an economically significant disease in chickens caused by the highly oncogenic Marek’s disease virus (MDV). Understanding the genes and biological pathways that confer MD genetic resistance should lead towards the development of more disease resistant commercial poultry flocks or improved MD vaccines. MDV mEq, a bZIP…

Marek’s disease (MD) is an economically significant disease in chickens that is caused by the highly oncogenic Marek’s disease virus (MDV). A major unanswered question is the mechanism of MDV-induced tumor formation. Meq, a bZIP transcription factor discovered in the 1990s, is critically involved in viral oncogenicity, but only a few of its host…

Detecting genetic variation is a critical step in elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying phenotypic diversity. Until recently, such detection has mostly focused on single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) because of the ease in screening complete genomes. Another type of variant, copy number variation (CNV), is emerging as a…

Ammonia (NH3) volatilized from broiler litter diminishes indoor air quality, which can potentially decrease bird productivity. Emissions of NH3 exhausted from broiler houses pose environmental concerns for ecosystem biodiversity, aquatic nutrient enrichment, and particulate formation in the atmosphere. Research was conducted sampling litter (rice…

Enrichment of pullet cages with perches has not been studied. Our objective was to determine if access to metal perches during all or part of the life cycle of caged White Leghorns affected egg traits, foot health, and feather condition. Treatment 1 represented control chickens that never had access to perches during their life cycle. Treatment 2…