Broiler Breeder Performance in The Final Phase of Grower

One of the comestibles that have high nutritional value and are easy to obtain is chicken. The higher demand for chicken must be accompanied by an increase in production. It is important for the breeder of broiler chicken to choose high quality Day Old Chick (DOC) from the broiler breeder which also has high quality and productivity. The type of broiler breeder that is grown in PT. Karya Indah Pertiwi is Ross 308. Observations were made when the chickens were 18th to 21st weeks old in 6 henneries totaling about 10,000 chickens. The performance of broiler breeder observed were feed consumption, bodyweight gain, feed conversion ratio, and uniformity. Feed consumption of broiler breeder at 18th to 21st week was 659.4 g/chicken, 700,583 g/chicken, 742,116 g/chicken, 767.2 g/chicken. Bodyweight gain at 18th to 21st week was 143.51 g/chicken, 193.3 g/chicken, 63.43 g/chicken, 167.96 g/chicken. Feed conversion ratio at 18th to 21st week was 4.5, 3.6, 11.6, 4.5. The uniformity at 18th to 21st week was 77%, 81%, 81%, 81%. In conclusion, the value of feed consumption for broiler breeder at PT. Karya Indah Pertiwi was increasing every week. Bodyweight gain at 20th week was lower than 18th, 19th, and 21st week. The value of feed conversion ratio at 20th week was higher than at 18th, 19th, and 21st week. Chicken uniformity value at 18th week was not good it was at 77%, while at the 19th, 20th, and 21st week it was quite good at 81%.

A Review of the Emerging White Chick Hatchery Disease

White chick hatchery disease is an emerging disease of broiler chicks with which the virus, chicken astrovirus, has been associated. Adult birds typically show no obvious clinical signs of infection, although some broiler breeder flocks have experienced slight egg drops. Substantial decreases in hatching are experienced over a two-week period, with an increase in mid-to-late embryo deaths, chicks too weak to hatch and pale, runted chicks with high mortality. Chicken astrovirus is an enteric virus, and strains are typically transmitted horizontally within flocks via the faecal–oral route; however, dead-in-shell embryos and weak, pale hatchlings indicate vertical transmission of the strains associated with white chick hatchery disease. Hatch levels are typically restored after two weeks when seroconversion of the hens to chicken astrovirus has occurred. Currently, there are no commercial vaccines available for the virus; therefore, the only means of protection is by good levels of biosecurity. This review aims to outline the current understanding regarding white chick hatchery disease in broiler chick flocks suffering from severe early mortality and increased embryo death in countries worldwide.

Genotypic correlation between Salmonella Enteritidis isolates from broiler breeders and hatchery flocks

In this study, Salmonella Enteritidis strains isolated from dust and environmental materials from different flocks located in Turkey’s Western Black Sea region were examined by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST). A total of 59 S. Enteritidis strains isolated from broiler breeder and hatchery flocks, and one S. Enteritidis strain isolated from a stool sample of a farm worker were examined. PFGE analysis revealed two major PFGE groups and nine different macro restriction profiles. It was determined that 85% (51/60) of the strains were close to each other and comprised Group I. All S. Enteritidis strains had the same sequence type (ST): ST11. Isolation of strains with a single genotype suggests that there may be a cross transmission between the flocks.

Occurrence of Marek's disease in vaccinated Algerian broiler breeder flocks: A histopathological survey

Background and Aim: Marek's disease (MD) is a lymphoproliferative disease that occurs in chickens. In the absence of control measures, MD causes devastating losses to commercial poultry flocks. Vaccination has enabled dramatic success in the prevention and control of MD. However, the MD vaccination program has failed frequently, and occasional clinical outbreaks have been reported in the vaccinated flocks as well. The present study aimed to describe the clinical and histopathological characteristics of the field cases of MD in broiler breeder flocks. Materials and Methods: A survey on the update of MD occurrence in Algerian broiler breeder flocks was conducted from June 2020 to September 2020. Ten vaccinated broiler breeder flocks located in Central Algeria and having progressive tumors in different visceral organs were evaluated for MD virus infection by conducting a histopathological examination of the birds. Results: The age of the birds affected with MD ranged from 13 to 22 weeks. The mortality rate varied sensitively from 4% to 10%. The clinical symptoms reported in the affected flocks included locomotor, nervous, digestive, and respiratory symptoms. Necropsy of the dead or euthanized birds revealed visceral lymphomatosis in several organs and macroscopic changes in the peripheral nerves (including loss of longitudinal striation, color change [grayish], and volume increase). The histopathological findings included the infiltration and proliferation of lymphocytes and blast cells (lymphoblasts) in various organs of the birds, which are the typical characteristics of MD and, therefore, confirmed the field infection of MD in these birds. Conclusion: The present study provided evidence for the high prevalence of MD in the broiler breeder flocks vaccinated with a bivalent vaccine (turkey herpesvirus+Rispens) at the hatchery. The findings of the present study may indicate highlevel failure of vaccination in these birds.