Poultry companies need to balance consumer preferences with flock health, welfare and food safety.

. The same people asking for more animal welfare are also asking us to take antibiotics out of poultry production,” lamented Suzanne Dougherty, DVM, a consulting poultry veterinarian based in Alabama, in a recent interview with Poultry Health Today. She noted that veterinarians take very seriously their oath to do what’s best for the animal, which increasingly presents ethical and welfare dilemmas when dealing with sick birds in an antibiotic-free (ABF) program. “We need to consider what’s going to be best for the bird before we just throw all of the antibiotics out,” Dougherty said. “For veterinarians it’s a very difficult ethical issue — it goes against what’s best for the bird.” In some cases, the best treatment option for the bird is an antibiotic to help prevent suffering and even minimize mortality. “At times it is a critical animal-welfare option to have antibiotics available for treatment of the bird,” she said. Antibiotic-free, raised without antibiotics and no antibiotics ever are just a sampling of the claims being used in poultry production and marketing today — and they all say something a little different. For instance, some systems allow the use of ionophores or animal-only antibiotics while others are not using any antibiotics.“Flocks can be raised successfully in an ABF system, but sometimes flocks get sick — just like you or your kids,” she said, adding that veterinarians “should try to explain to consumers why this is an important topic.” Some growers in ABF systems have the option to treat sick birds and sell them through the conventional market following withdrawal times while others have limited options. But regardless of the production system, all growers feel the pressure, she insisted. They want to do the right thing for their birds while meeting the needs of their customers and consumers. Intestinal health is the key to successful ABF production. If the intestinal tract is happy, the bird is productive. When the balance of the bird’s intestinal health becomes disrupted, more opportunistic bacteria often proliferate — Salmonella being the major concern. “We’re all striving to maintain our progress in food safety,” she said. “Sometimes we need to use antibiotics to treat the disease and help keep the animal healthy enough to prevent Salmonella from becoming a problem.” “

AGRIBUSINESS: Litter management.

Litter management using litter amendments which play a crucial role in controlling ammonia. Amendments that decrease litter pH increase ammonia suppression.This can be done solely or as an adjunct to windrowing. The first step in reconditioning litter is de-caking or removing wet material primarily below drinkers. Amendments are then applied on top of the litter these create unfavorable conditions for the bacteria and enzymes that contribute to ammonia formation and production to thrive. Litter amendments form a pH barrier on top of the litter preventing or slowing the formation of ammonia (NH3+). Acidifiers are most commonly used, binding the volatile ammonia (NH3+) with an acid to form the nonvolatile ammonium salt (NH4+).

Windrowing litter can reduce pressure from poultry viruses, insects and bacteria.

Poultry producers looking to improve litter quality and flock health should consider windrowing — a practice that not only works to control ammonia in the reconditioned litter but also reduces pathogen and insect pressure. Windrowing involves raking or rolling the litter into even rows. The moisture present in the rows increases litter temperature, which releases ammonia while reducing pathogens including bacteria, viruses and pests. Producers interested in windrowing should begin incorporating it into their litter-management program during moderate or warm weather, according to Casey Ritz, PhD, poultry-waste management, University of Georgia. Ammonia levels will likely increase following the windrowing process, requiring the use of a litter treatment. The intense heat generated by windrowing inhibits microbial and viral growth while allowing the floor to dry between rows of piled litter. The windrow also traps insects, which can make insecticide treatments more effective. It is critical for windrowed litter to reach a temperature of at least 130° F (54° C) for 3 to 4 days to effectively reduce pathogen levels, the specialist said. Ritz also stressed that the windrow process requires 12 to 14 days of downtime between flocks. He also emphasized the need for time to heat the windrows, treat litter for ammonia and pests, and then level the material allowing it to cool and dry before the next chick placement. He shared these 10 additional tips for effective windrowing: 1)Schedule a minimum of 12 to 14 days of downtime between flocks. 2)Start with a litter depth of 3 to 6 inches.3)Form windrows within 2 days after bird catch. 4)Maintain a temperature in windrow of 130° F or higher for 3 to 4 days to ensure that pathogens are killed. 5) Turn windrows every 3 to 4 days (2 to 3 turns is optimal). 6) Shift entire windrow when turning to allow the floors to dry.7) Level material at least 4 days before chick placement to decrease litter temperature, litter moisture and ammonia levels. 8) Apply litter amendment to control release of ammonia.9) Utilize moderate weather conditions primarily in spring, summer, fall. 10)ventilate during windrow process to decrease ammonia levels. “Windrowing is not for everyone,” Ritz insisted, “but it can provide economic benefits to many average and below-average producing flocks through improved feed conversion and weight gain and reduced mortality.” Poultry producers need to evaluate the time, equipment and labor costs associated with windrowing before committing to the system. contributed by poultry health.

E. coli in broilers: Its costly impact on condemnations and mortality.

Early feeding, housing affect broiler response to immune challenges.

A study in Netherlands from Wageningen University, shows that early feeding after hatch and housing type can affect the response of broilers to immune challenges later in life.In the study, broiler chicks received feed and water either immediately after hatch or after a 72-hour delay, and were reared either on the floor or in a cage system. At 4 weeks of age, researchers challenged the chicks intratracheally with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide/Human Serum Albumin (HUSA) — a non-infectious lung challenge — or a placebo. They then measured antibody titers up to 14 days after the challenge. Chicks with delayed access to feed and water and that were housed on the floor had the highest antibody titers against HUSA, and showed the strongest sickness response and poorest performance in response to the challenge. The findings indicate that chicks with delayed access to feed might be more sensitive to an environment with higher antigenic pressure, thus early feeding and housing should be taken into account when striving for a balance between disease resistance and performance in poultry.

Improving Rapid Detection Methods for Foodborne Pathogens.

Researchers at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed a microfluidic device that exploits cell movement to separate live and dead bacteria during food processing. The food processing industry is interested in technologies or methods that can quickly and accurately detect viable (live) bacteria, as these are the pathogens that can cause illness.Common foodborne pathogen screening methods like polymerase chain reaction (PCR) use DNA-based methods to perform the detection. However, because both viable (live) and non-viable (dead) bacteria contain the same DNA and other properties, it is difficult to distinguish between them without performing additional time-consuming incubation and culturing steps. Researchers at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) have developed a microfluidic device that exploits cell movement to separate live cells from dead ones for real-time pathogen detection.The phenomenon known as chemotaxis is the movement of an organism in response to a chemical stimulus. For example, live bacteria naturally sense nutrient molecules such as sugars and amino acids and move toward them. Dr Jie Xu, GTRI research scientist and project director, explained: “The hypothesis is that by changing the local environment of the cells, their movement can be manipulated so all the viable cells can be separated and concentrated. This would improve the probability of detection and also provide a high level of confidence that viable cells are being detected.” GTRI’s chemotaxis-based microfluidic device consists of a 100-micrometre thick nitrocellulose membrane layer engraved with a micron-sized centre channel to contain the bacteria-laden sample. Two additional side channels are engraved into the same membrane layer that contains nanometer-sized pores that allow the formation of a chemical gradient across the center channel. The bacteria interact with these chemicals in the centre channel and then move based on the nature of these interactions, either toward it if it is a food source or away if it is a repellant. The separated bacteria are then collected in the channel’s respective outlets In recent experiments, E. coli 0157:H7 was used as the model bacterium, and aspartic acid (an attractant) and nickel ion (a repellent) were used as the chemotactic effectors. Researchers found the chemical gradients inside the channel can be maintained for an extended period. They also observed the cell population shift toward the side channel with attractant when live cells flowed inside the center channel, while the dead cells remained in the primary flow stream and exited the center channel.continue

Salmonella prevention requires teamwork between production and processing.

Identifying the pathways of Salmonella contamination has poultry producers and processors looking for answers in every step of the process from the farm to table.Chuck Hofacre, PhD, University of Georgia, told poultry health today that we know Salmonella occurs naturally in the bird’s intestinal tract and lives there without harming the bird. In processing plant, USDA/FSIS routinely samples processed poultry for the presence of Salmonella. While numerous strains of Salmonella have been identified, not all pose a human-health hazard. “Either Salmonella is present or it’s not,” Hofacre said. “FSIS testing doesn’t identify the strain or the relative amount of Salmonella present in a sample.” Contamination often occurs through a broken intestinal tract or feather follicles in the wings. Poultry processors are working on environmental interventions in the plant to reduce bacterial contamination on whole birds and processed poultry parts. Producers with high levels of Salmonella at the processing plant should work to reduce levels on their farms. “We know that Salmonella is passed from the hen to the chick so a strong vaccination program at the breeder level is an important first step,” Hofacre said. In addition to vaccination, environmental interventions including rodent and insect control, water sanitation and dust control help to reduce Salmonella levels. Research shows that the bacteria can survive in dust and litter for several years potentially infecting new flocks of broilers. While Salmonella itself is not necessarily a bigger threat in antibiotic-free production, uneven bird size at processing — a problem often seen in ABF flocks — may contribute to higher contamination levels of processed poultry. According to Hofacre, studies show that increased variation in bird size at processing results in higher levels of Salmonella contamination. Processing machines are standardized for a particular size and weight of bird, he explains that when birds outside those parameters are processed, it is more likely to see intestinal or crop breakage allowing for Salmonella contamination of the carcass. contributed by http://poultryhealthtoday.com/