Specialty

Specialty poultry takes prime position on Aussie plates

ABOVE: The Fook Wong chicken name comes from a merging of the Chinese words ‘fook’ meaning happiness and ‘wong’ meaning to feel royal. Australia’s taste for specialty poultry is undergoing a transformation with home-grown Asian-inspired chickens, cockerel and game birds making their way into more restaurants, retail spaces, and home cooks’ kitchens than ever before.…

meat

AgriFutures Chicken Meat project snapshot

ABOVE: The age of broilers has a significant effect on how well they digest and absorb energy-yielding nutrients and amino acids. meat The age of broilers has a significant effect on how well they digest and absorb energy-yielding nutrients and amino acids. The capacity of the digestive tract to digest and absorb nutrients is limited…

poultry

Poultry disease replication: the key to prevention success

ABOVE: While the researchers were able to replicate necrotic enteritis for research purposes. Their next challenge lies in fully understanding how clostridium perfringens infects poultry and causes its devastating effects. Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine are working to develop a vaccine for necrotic enteritis, a devastating disease that causes enormous…

turkey

Quarantined turkey poults nearly ready to fly the coop

ABOVE: Staff will care for the turkey poults during their mandatory 13-week stay in quarantine. Australia’s state-of-the-art avian quarantine facility is filling the role of midwife to nearly 3000 turkey poults in Victoria. The team at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Post Entry Quarantine facility in Mickleham together with industry experts have nurtured…

Animal welfare standards on Australian chicken farms

ABOVE: A new video produced by Humans of Agriculture showcases what higher animal welfare standards look like on Australian free range and conventional chicken farms under the RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme. HUMANS of Agriculture has produced a new video featuring some Australian Chicken Meat Federation members, which showcases what higher animal welfare standards look like…

Prevent bacteria spread from newly hatched poultry

ABOVE: Newly hatched chicks may carry disease-causing bacteria but biosecurity and hygiene practices can prevent the spread of infection. Photo: NDSU GOOD biosecurity and hygiene practices can reduce the risk of contamination and illness from hatchlings. When preparing for hatching season, backyard poultry owners and educators may also plan to take precautions against the spread…

VIV Asia 2023 international conference

ABOVE: Delegates attending the VIV Asia 2023 conference in Bangkok. RECENTLY, I had the pleasure of attending the VIV Asia 2023 conference held in Bangkok from March 8-10. An international trade show for animal husbandry and processing industries, it is one of the largest events of its kind in the world. The conference drew in…

layer

Promoting optimal gut health in layers

ABOVE: Gut health is still a very hot topic in today’s layer production. Laying persistence, egg shell quality and gut health are still very hot topics in today’s layer production, where the cycle is getting longer and pressure on poultry producers to reduce the use of antibiotics is growing. But what does a healthy gut…

AgriFutures

AgriFutures plan for Australia’s favourite protein

ABOVE: AgriFutures announced a new five-year research, development and extension plan for Australia’s $6.6 billion dollar chicken meat industry. AgriFutures Australia has announced a new five-year research, development and extension plan for Australia’s $6.6 billion dollar chicken meat industry. The AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program RDE Plan 2022-2027 sets the agenda to grow the long-term prosperity…