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US Egg production is transitioning from conventional cage to cage-free system. While cage-free system allows birds to perform natural behaviors such as dustbathing, foraging, and perching, an inherent challenge is feather pecking (FP, Figure 1). Pecking is one of the primary welfare issues in commercial cage-free hen houses as that can seriously reduce the well-being…
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Broiler production and issues: The world’s population is expected to reach 9.5 billion by 2050 and the requirement for animal products (e.g., meat, eggs, and milk) will be increased by 70% as compared to 2005 levels. As indicated, it is challenging to improve animal production efficiency and product quality under limited natural resources (e.g., fresh…
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Poultry Production and Sustainability: Currently, the United States (US) is the world’s largest broiler producer and second largest egg producer with the annual sale value of $40 billion. Georgia is the largest poultry producing state in the US. However, the current poultry and egg production is facing emerging challenges such as environmental impacts (i.e., greenhouse…
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Daily routine evaluation of chickens (e.g., broilers and layers) are critical for maintaining animals’ health and welfare in commercial poultry houses. For laying hen production, it is becoming more challenging under cage–free production systems (Figure 1) as compare to conventional caged hens (Figure 2) because birds have freedoms to move in a larger space and…
Posted in: poultry monitoring -
Broiler production management with robots Currently, the United States is the world’s largest broiler producer with the annual sales of $40 billion. Modern broiler production is facing emerging challenges of animal health, food safety, environmental impact, and increasing concern from the general public on animal welfare. Fast growth rate and heavier body weights of broilers…
Posted in: Precision animal production -
Introduction Heat stress is the primary concern for laying hen production in the summer as heat waves may significantly increase flock mortality and reduce egg production in laying hen houses. Mechanical ventilation and cooling cell are popular cooling methods used in the US South such as Georgia. However, most of layer farms in the US…
Posted in: poultry monitoring