Woody breast in broilers.

Woody breast have evolved in the rapidly growing broiler chicken because of our drive to produce fast growing birds within a limited time frame and high demand for white meat.broiler chickens bred lately can yield breast fillets that are heavier than an entire bird was bred years ago. The down-side of this massive production is that rising number of those fillets are laced with hard fibers a condition commonly called woody breast. Woody breast poses no threat to human health, but it degrades the texture of the meat,taste and economic value.In woody breast,the fillets are hard,more elastic and difficult to chew.The actual cause is not known but it has been linked to decrease blood flow to muscle. This muscle myyopathy has been linked to necrosis following reduced blood flow to muscle resulting in fibrosis and replacement of protein fibers with collagen fibers. This replacement of protein fibers with collagen fibers is responsible for the toughness and woody appearance of muscle. The digestibility is questionable as its gummy,elastic and requires longer mastication. Woody breast changes the appearance and hence reduce consumer willingness to buy such chicken breast fillets. Producers cull such birds from production line and sell at discounted rates thus reducing profit margin. Producers are trying to curb the woody breast menace by changing production techniques by reducing fattening of the birds. The industry is poised to change tactics because fattened chickens dont meet many customers taste as many are not willing to pay large amounts for chicken breasts,they rather go for wings. Restaurants,food vendors are also scaling done demand thus prompting a paradigm shift. The role of phytase and trace minerals in the curbing of woody breast has been explored see

In-ovo chick sexing to curb massive culling of day-old cockerels.

The meat of modern laying hen strains differs from that of broiler strains in that it is not as edible and because their meat is of little economic value, many producers choose to cull day-old cockerel chicks that will not add to egg production . The massive culling of male chicks has raised animal welfare concerns hence many interventions have been sought to curb the practice by early detection of birds through sexing. A new research according to Eureka Alert,explains a method which can be carried out in the egg without damaging them, can distinguish between male and female embryos through differences between the sexes in the egg fluids. In-ovo testing is key to ending massive culling of male chicks in the poultry industry. This test uses an imaging technique called optical spectroscopy,and a group of European scientists have identified a way to determine the sex of a chick within four days of the egg being laid. The imaging technique called optical spectroscopy makes it possible for hatcheries to accurately determine the sex of a chick within four days of the egg being laid. This non-destructive method picks up on differences in the fluids contained in an egg from which a cockerel will develop, compared to one from which a hen will hatch.. In the study tests were done on 380 eggs,and the researchers were able to identify the sex of the embryo accurately in 93 percent of cases. The In-ovo testing based on spectral analysis is non-invasive, does not require extraction of egg material, the method is applicable during the fourth day of incubation, before onset of embryo sensitivity at day seven, which is therefore in agreement with animal welfare.

EEG FOR PLANTS.

In a bid to look into soil without using destructive methods , the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) has awarded $4.6 million to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) for two innovative projects to address this gap, giving farmers important information to increase crop yields while also promoting the storage of carbon in soil. One project aims to use electrical current to image the root system, which will accelerate the breeding of crops with roots that are tailored to specific conditions such as drought. The other project will develop a new imaging technique based on neutron scattering to measure the distribution of carbon and other elements in the soil. Berkeley Lab received these competitive awards from ARPA-E’s Rhizosphere Observations Optimizing Terrestrial Sequestration (ROOTS) program, which seeks to develop crops that take carbon out of the atmosphere and store it in soil—enabling a 50 percent increase in carbon deposition depth and accumulation while also reducing nitrous oxide emissions by 50 percent and increasing water productivity by 25 percent. Soil carbon deficits are a global phenomenon resulting from many decades of industrial agriculture. Soils have the capacity to store significant quantities of carbon, reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations while also enhancing soil fertility and water retention.continue

Food safety tips for Christmas.

The Christmas season is a time for celebrating with family and friends during office parties, buffets and potluck dinners. But, improperly prepared or handled foods can be a breeding ground for dangerous bacteria that causes food borne illnesses 

 The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service has food safety tips to ensure that the foods you share with your friends and family keep everyone in the spirit of Christmas.

 1) Transporting Your Christmas Dish: If you're transporting a meal from one location to another, temperature is important. When transporting hot dishes, wrap them well and pack in an insulated container. Upon arrival, use the stove, oven, or microwave to reheat food to 165 °F. 

When transporting cold foods, use a cooler with ice or freezer gel packs. Be sure to store food in watertight containers to prevent contact with melting ice water and carry your cooler in the trunk, which is usually colder than other parts of the car.

 2) Serving Your Meal: When serving your meal, keep foods out of the "danger zone" by keeping hot foods hot and cold foods cold. If you are serving hot foods on a buffet, keep the foods hot with chafing dishes, slow cookers or warming trays. Make sure they are heated to at least 165 °F. Cold foods can be kept cold by nesting the serving dishes into bowls of ice or use small serving trays with smaller portions of food and replace as needed. It's important that cold foods are held at 40 °F or colder.

 3) Leftovers: After the fun is over, don't forget to discard all perishable foods, such as meat, poultry, and casseroles left at room temperature longer than 2 hours. Immediately refrigerate or freeze remaining leftovers in shallow containers. 

USDA's FoodKeeper app provides more details about how long leftovers can be stored, with storage guidance on more than 400 items and cooking tips for meat, poultry, seafood and eggs. continue

Giant dog-sized rats eats baby alive.

Giant dog-sized rats ate a sleeping three-month-old girl alive after she was allegedly left alone by her mother, who had scurried off to go partying. The 26-year-old mother from Johannesburg, South Africa arrived home after a night of boozing with her boyfriend and found the remains of her baby daughter on a blood-soaked bed, The U.K. Sun reports. The mother, who has been charged with child neglect, originally claimed the child had burned to death but neighbors who rushed to the shack in the township area of Katlehong disagreed. The baby died a painful death, as the infant’s tongue, eyes and fingers had all been eaten. and besides the missing body parts, the remains of her body had bites and wounds all over that were inflicted by the sharp teeth of the rats. Witnesses said the woman had taken the girl's twin brother Lucky out with her, when she went partying. She returned at 6:30 a.m. with her new boyfriend in tow and discovered that her daughter had been eaten by rats, her landlady, Mama Sesi Mtshali, said. This is not the first time rats have eaten people in South Africa townships as large numbers of rats are in the environment.more

The Nigerian Army and cattle rearing.

The drive to be food secure in the country and increase revenue through export of products has seen many sectors in the country dabbing into agriculture and agribusiness. The latest entrant to the agricultural zone is the Nigerian Army. The Nigeria Army has decided to raise cattle ranches in all brigades and divisions in the country to ensure food security through intensive production to ensure wholesome beef is available and to set the ball rolling officers were sent to Argentina to learn and understand production techniques. The idea behind under-studying Argentina is the fact they have a population of 41 million people but feed about 400 million people with their beef around the world.The Army has come up with an initiative dubbed the barrack investment initiative as a platform to encourage agribusiness ventures such as vegetable farming,rearing chicken e.t.c continue

Stress Can Cause Dogs To Go Prematurely Gray.

A new study has shown that stress can cause dogs to go grey prematurely.The study showed that the more anxious and impulsive a dog is the greater the stress level and hence graying of hair of the face. Animals are prone to stress induced graying just like humans according to a study published in December issue of Applied Animal Behavior Science. The lead researcher Camille King, an alumnus of Northern Illinois University and animal behaviorist, said based on years of experience observing and working with dogs, I’ve long had a suspicion that dogs with higher levels of anxiety and impulsiveness also show increased muzzle grayness. For the study, King teamed up with NIU professor Thomas Smith, animal behaviorist Peter Borchelt and renowned author/researcher Temple Grandin to visit dogs parks, veterinary offices and other areas where dogs congregate in Colorado. Together, they examined 400 dogs between the ages of 1 and 4. The dogs were photographed and the degree of muzzle grayness was rated on an ordinal scale ranging from “no gray” to “full gray.” In addition, the dogs’ owners were asked to fill out a behavior questionnaire and the owners were told that the purpose of the study involved dog lifestyle in order to prevent biased responses. The researchers found that dogs who exhibited higher owner-reported signs of anxiety and impulsivity showed a greater extent of premature muzzle graying than their less-anxious and less-impulsive dog peers. Female dogs showed higher levels of grayness than male dogs, but dog size, spay/neuter status and the presence of medical problems did not significantly predict the extent of muzzle grayness. One practical implication of the findings of this study involves the possibility of using observations of muzzle grayness in a diagnostic manner to address anxiety, impulsivity, or fear issues. According to the researchers, if dog professionals such as veterinarians, applied behaviorists, dog trainers, etc. are able to note premature graying in their assessments and or training, then these dogs might be assessed more thoroughly for anxiety/impulsivity/fear problems and, if necessary, started on behavior modification programs earlier in their developmental life stages. more