Priorities
Egg
- False Layers: Research on prevention
- Salmonella enteritidis (Food Safety): Transfer between vaccinated and unvaccinated flocks; transfer between bird, environment and egg; transfer outside to inside the egg.
- Spent hens: Composting; non-food uses
- Feed Cost/Feed Conversion: Continue research to identify alternate, economically feasible feed sources.
- Water Quality: Effects of mineral and organic excesses; research the effect of pH in drinking water re layer mortality, production, and shell quality
- Waste Management: Reducing Phosphorus in manure; alternate uses for manure – composting; storage and handling
- Environmental Quality: Air quality issues pertaining to human and poultry health; Facility testing to find base line information regarding appropriate levels of emissions, dust, ammonia; Pathogens/disease
- Bird Health: In free run/range and aviary housing systems; transportation specific to pullets
- Employee Health: Environmental Quality; Physical Concerns (objects in aviaries, climbing ladders, etc.)
Chicken
- Animal Welfare: Development of water administered vaccine for coccidiosis; Overall Poultry Health; Genetics/Genomics
- Production without Antibiotics: Effective alternatives to antibiotics for the prevention of key pathogens like necrotic enteritis and the maintenance of healthy flocks; Poultry welfare including impact of antibiotic removal and availability of alternatives; Economic viability including increased cost of raising chickens without antibiotics and cost of replacements to antibiotics; Differences of poultry feed stuffs without antibiotics; Impact on environment and manure management
- Productivity and Sustainability: Eco-efficiency; Feed and production efficiencies; New ‘smart’ agriculture; Flock health and welfare
- Environment: Lighting; Stocking density; Decreasing heat and electrical costs; Impact due to removal of antibiotic use
Turkey
- Feed: Efficiencies; enzymes; other additives (reduced antibiotics); formulations; alternative feedstuffs; fibre level effect; whole grain feeding; removing antimicrobials; vegetable-based diets for a premium product.
- Health: Shipping and handling – attention to impact of long distances; stocking density; lighting programs; runny manure; coccidia.
- Performance: Bird size; feeding strategies; strain effect.
- Catching: Day vs night
- Cleaning and litter quality
Hatchery
- Evaluate the use of probiotics on day-old chick vigor.
- Test the efficacy of Clostridium vaccines on day-old broiler chicks and it would be good to test their efficacy.
- Compare the effectiveness of antibiotics in day-old broiler chicks for example, penicillin versus gentamycin.
- Evaluate Cocci vaccines in day-old broiler chicks and their effectiveness in Atlantic Canada.
- Evaluate products to reduce E. Coli challenges in day-old broiler chicks – applied either to the day old broiler chick or used in the breeder barn.
- Evaluate the effect of brooding temperatures on the performance of broiler chicks. Commercial experience is indicating that today’s genetics require a higher brooding temperature than 10 or 15 years ago to optimize weight gain and alleviate stress on the chicks.