Carlyle D Bennett

Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development · Livestock KC

Commercial laying hens in North America are typically beak trimmed to prevent injury and mortality caused by feather pecking and cannibalism. Beak trimming is most commonly performed on day-old chicks at the hatchery, either by hot blade (HB) or infrared (INF) techniques. The differences between these 2 methods and the potential variability within...

In North America and most other parts of the world, poultry meat is conventionally produced using fast-growing and high-yielding modern strains of broilers, which reach market weight as early as 35 to 42 d of age [1]. This improved performance of the modern broiler strains has been achieved through selection for high growth rate and yield [2]. Howe...

The present study determined the effect of Clostridium perfringens isolates taken from necrotic enteritis (NE) outbreaks on organic farms in a NE virulence testing model. Thirteen strains were isolated in the course of the study. Six C. perfringens field isolates were taken from a naturally occurring NE outbreak on an organic farm. Polymerase chain...

The objective of this study was to compare the performance of a modern commercial broiler strain (Ross 308; RS) with that of two 1970s broiler strains (broiler strains 1 and 2) fed a drug-free low-protein or recommended-protein diet. All chicks were vaccinated on d 1 against coc-cidiosis using the edible immunocox gel vaccine (Vetech Laboratories I...

Field trials and published research suggest that it is possible to dilute commercial turkey and broiler chicken rations with whole wheat and suffer little or no loss in performance. It has been hypothesized that birds fed whole wheat have improved gizzard health and are able to self-select whole grain to better meet their individual nutritional nee...

The live performance from 19 to 43 wk of age of two strains of commercial White Leghorn hens fed two levels of whole barley (0 or 60%) and insoluble grit (0 or 4 g/bird per wk) was compared. The 0 and 60% whole barley diets differed only in feed form and were formulated to the same nutrient specifications. No dilution of nutrients or ingredients oc...

Live performance to 96 d was compared for 1,584 turkey toms reared on diets containing four levels of whole barley and two levels of insoluble grit (0 or 9 g/bird per wk). Nutrient specifications for all diets were similar. The six dietary treatments were 1) 0% whole barley plus grit, 2) Treatment 1 minus grit, 3) grit plus 5% whole barley at 0 d i...

The effect of grain form (whole, mash, or pelleted) on the live performance of broiler chickens was determined. In the first trial, six regimens compared the feeding of whole wheat: 1) 0% of diet for the whole trial (0 to 48 d); 2) 5% at 6 d, 20% at 13 d, 35% at 27 d; 3) 5% at 6 d, 35% at 13 d, 50% at 27 d; 4) 5% at 0 d, 20% at 6 d, 35% at 13 d, 50...

Olkowski, A.A., Classen, H.L., Riddell, C. and Bennett, C.D., 1997. A study of electrocardiographic patterns in a population of commercial broiler chickens. Veterinary Research Communications, 21 (1), 51-62. A study was completed to characterize the electrocardiographic (ECG) patterns of male broiler chickens. Data were collected from 300 commercia...

Broiler chicken diets were diluted with three levels of whole wheat and two levels of crumbled wheat to determine how feeding whole grain and diluting feed with wheat would alter the performance of male and female broilers. Grit was not used. The amount of extra wheat added increased from 5% at 11 d of age to a maximum level of 30% at 31 d of age....

Specific gravity measurement is a common method of estimating egg shell thickness. In Trial 1, alt solutions with specific gravities of 1.075, 1.080, and 1.085 were used to estimate the average specific gravity of eggs from 45 commercial Leghorn flocks. A strong linear relationship (R²=98.8) existed between average specific gravity and the percenta...

The weights of cracked and intact eggs were compared in 24 commercial Leghorn flocks at 35-40, 52-58, and 65-70 weeks of age. For eggs weighed before travelling through the egg handling and collection system, cracked eggs were 1.2 g/egg heavier than non-cracked eggs at 52-58 weeks of age, but no difference was observed at the other two ages. For eg...

The hatchability of thin and thick shelled eggs was compared for 25 broiler breeder flocks. Shell thickness of the eggs was determined by using salt solutions with specific gravities of 1.075, 1.080 and 1.085 to measure the average egg specific gravity. Eggs that floated in solutions with specific gravities of 1.080 or lower were classified as thin...

Broiler breeder pullets were reared on a standard breeder-grower diet in accordance with breeder recommendations to 10 wk of age, with samples of the birds being selected for carcass analysis at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 wk of age. At 10 wk of age, 264 pullets were assigned to one of three diets formulated to contain 15% CP and to provide 2,550, 2...

Four broiler breeder pullets were reared on a skip-a-day feeding regimen according to breeder recommendations; another four pullets were fed daily the same average feed intake as the skip-a-day fed birds. At 15–17 wk of age the average and diurnal pattern of heat production and respiration quotients were determined using an open-circuit respiration...

One hundred and two broiler breeder pullets were reared from 10 wk of age on one of three diets formulated to contain 15% CP and provide 10.67, 11.72, or 12.89 MJ ME kg⁻¹. All birds received the same daily feed allotment. At 20 wk of age, the pullets were light-stimulated and nine birds per treatment were slaughtered for carcass analysis. The remai...

Plasma testosterone levels were measured in commercial strain Leghorn pullets from 16 to 80 wk of age. Testosterone level was high just prior to first egg, but subsequently declined and stayed at a constant level through the production cycle. There was no relationship between testosterone concentration and eggshell quality (P > 0.05). Key words: Te...

One hundred and sixty-eight broiler breeder pullets were fed skip-a-day or half the same feed allotment on a daily basis from 5 to 20 wk of age. When weighed on the same day, daily fed birds were significantly larger than skip-a-day-fed birds, but this difference appears to be partly due to feed retained in the digestive tract. Body composition and...

Water usage of daily fed and skip-a-day-fed broiler breeder pullets housed in cages was measured in two trials. Daily fed birds in both trials had free access to water. In Trial 1, skip-a-day-fed birds were restricted to 4 h water every day or only on feed days. In Trial 2, the skip-a-day-fed birds were water restricted 4 h either every day, only o...

Phone: (306) 966-6597 F M : (306) 966-4151 DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM Eggs become larger and the incidence of cracked eggs increases as laying flocks get older. These well known facts are sometimes used to support the belief that cracked egg problems in older flocks are caused by exces-sive egg size. However, scientists who have studied egg weight and...