1. Chapter 12 Poultry Production

2. General Information: Poultry popular for holidays Chicken most popular
Average American eats 75 pounds of poultry per year.
Products from poultry:
Meat
Eggs
Medicine and vaccines
Feathers for clothes, pillows, fish lures
Ornamental uses/hobbies

3. Kinds of Poultry: Types : Common names – Fowl or Birds Chicken Turkey
Ducks
Geese
Quail
Peafowl
Swans
Pigeons
Ratites
Pheasants
Common names – Fowl or Birds

4. Chickens: Most important species Raised for meat and eggs
Meat of a chicken is based on age and sex

5. Names of chickens:
Broiler – Young chicken 6-7 weeks, weighs about 4 pounds. Either sex. 7 billion are raised each year in the US.
Roaster – Young chicken older and slightly larger than a broiler.
Capon – Male chicken that has been neutered (castrated) months old. Weigh 6 pounds.
Spent Hen – Hen that no longer lays eggs. Used in soups, or processed foods.
Layer – Mature female. Can produce around 300 eggs per year.
Hen – Mature female, laying.
Pullet – Young female not yet laying eggs
Cock – Mature male, can be called a rooster.
Cockerel – Young male that is less than one year old.

6. Common breeds: White Leghorn – used in egg production. Smallest
Barred Plymouth Rock – meat and eggs
New Hampshire – Meat and eggs
White Rock – meat and eggs. Largest.

7. Turkey: Raised primarily for meat Consumers want white meat
300 million turkeys are raised each year in the US

8. Turkey Names: Poult – young turkey
Tom – mature male turkey or gobbler.
Hen - female turkey

9. Turkey Facts: Raised in confinement Marketed at 20 weeks
Most popular is the broad-breasted white

10. Ducks: Raised for meat, eggs, down, and feathers.
Down – the soft feathery covering that grows under the feathers.

11. Duck Names: Duckling – young duck – still has down
Drake – mature male duck
Hen – mature female duck

12. Duck Facts: 15 million ducks are raised in the US each year.
Grow faster and heavier than chickens
Can swim
Most raised indoors on commercial farms.

13. Geese:
Used for meat, eggs, feathers and ornamental purposes. Some used to control weeds.
1 million raised in the US each year.
Resist a lot of diseases that other poultry get.

14. Geese Names: Gosling – baby goose of either sex
Gander – Mature Male goose
Hen – Mature female goose
Gaggle – flock or group of geese that are not flying.

15. Peafowl Names & Use: Peacock – mature male peafowl.
Peahen – mature female peafowl.
Train – male tail feathers.
Use - for their feathers.

16. Swans: Love water Colors range from white to black
Used for ornamental purposes

17. Ratites:
Flightless birds which include: Ostrich, emu, kiwi, cassowary, and rhea.
Largest is the Ostrich – weighs 350 pounds – stands 10 feet tall. Life span – 70 years.
Raised for – feathers, meat, skin and oil.

18. Guinea Fowl:
Raised for food, as novelty bird, and to stock game preserves.
Have thick shell and because of this are often used for ornamental purposes.

19. The Poultry Industry: Early Poultry Production
First poultry raised was more than 5000 years ago in Asia and in Egypt about 3500 years ago.
Poultry was brought to North America in 1607
Turkeys were native to North America

20. Modern Poultry Industry:
Raised in Confinement
Leading states for meat production: Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina
Leading state for egg production: California
Leading states for turkey production: North Carolina, Minnesota, and California.
Poultry Science – the study and use of areas of science in raising poultry.
Vertical integration – more than one step in the poultry process (chick/feed/growers/broilers/buyers)

21. Poultry as Organisms: Classified as Aves Vertebrates
Differ in digestion and reproduction
Digestion – beak and gizzard
Reproduction – eggs are hatched, 21 days (chickens) days (geese) Turkeys (27-28 days) and ducks (28-35 days). Incubation period is influenced by temperature and humidity.
Appearance – yellow pigmentation – egg production. Large red comb – good health. Ragged feathers – poor health.

22. Poultry Production Systems:
4 areas:
Broiler Production – 6 weeks to raise
Egg Production – 24 weeks to raise
Egg Quality: 95% marketed are white
Parts: Shell, Albumen, Yolk, Membrane
Judging eggs – Candling
Molting – Process of shedding and renewing feathers. Laying eggs stops during molting. Takes about 2 months to have a bird completely molt out.
Pullet for egg Production
Pullets begin to lay eggs at 24 weeks.
Pullet and Cockerel for broiler egg production.
One cockerel per 8-10 pullets

23. Housing and Equipment:
Housing – Controlled environment.
Litter – wood shavings
Lighting – control laying cycle (14 – 16 hours) and cannibalism (red light).
Temperature – 85 – 95 degrees F for babies, 70 for 6 week birds
Humidity – % in broiler houses. Mist systems are used.
Ventilation – using large fans. Helps prevent cannibalism.
Automated equipment is used

24. Sanitation: Use disinfectants Vaccinate
Dispose of dead birds in an incinerator
Diseases – mostly caused by a bacteria or virus
Marek’s Disease – virus - paralysis of legs and wings.
Newcastle – Virus – soft eggs, affects birds gasp, twist neck around.
Infectious Bronchitis – virus – nasal discharge, laying stops.
Fowl Cholera – bacteria – fever, colored heads, death.

25. Sanitation: Parasites –
Coccidiosis – parasite – droppings get into food or water. Birds are sleepy, pale and listless.
Large Roundworms – worms picked up in soil.
Mites – Pest that sucks blood, use insecticides to rid. Bird is pale, droopy and listless.
Tapeworm – Bird pale, looses weight. Found in soil.

26. The End