(NAPSI)-The plucky rooster that is the mascot for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Biosecurity For Birds campaign needs a name. He's loud and proud. He has everything going for him: a nice home, a bevy of admiring hens and good health...everything but a name. From now through October 2010, bird enthusiasts can submit their name suggestions for the mascot, who headlines USDA's campaign that offers tips and information to poultry owners on how to protect their birds from infectious poultry diseases. The contest is sponsored by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Biosecurity For Birds campaign.
"I know all my chickens have names, and our mascot certainly should have one," said Andy Schneider, The Chicken Whisperer and national spokesperson for the campaign. "I urge all my fans and bird lovers to log on to the website, participate in the contest and give this healthy bird a name."
Contest Details
Contestants may submit their suggestions by logging on to http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov. A panel of poultry enthusiasts and marketing experts will review the nominations and select three top choices that will be posted on the Biosecurity for Birds website. Bird lovers will then have two weeks to vote for their favorite name.
The winning name and the person who submits it will be announced during Bird Health Awareness Week in November. The winning contestant will receive a deluxe duffel bag and will be interviewed and featured on the Biosecurity For Birds website.
Tips For Bird Owners
Biosecurity For Birds is a public awareness campaign that seeks to educate both new and experienced poultry owners about important steps to take to protect their flock. Poultry owners can help keep disease away from their farms and backyard pens by keeping things clean and watching for signs of infectious poultry diseases such as avian influenza, or "bird flu." Schneider reminds bird owners to "clean your shoes, clean your cages and equipment, and wash your hands before and after working with your birds." Plus, bird owners should not borrow or share bird supplies. If they must, items should be cleaned and disinfected before being brought home.
For more safety tips and to enter the contest, visit the Biosecurity For Birds website at http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov.
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Showing posts with label poultry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poultry. Show all posts
Monday, August 23, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
As Interest In Backyard Poultry Grows, So Does Need For Healthy Birds
(NAPSI)-Raising "backyard poultry" has become increasingly popular all over the U.S. these days. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reminds both new and experienced poultry owners it's important to keep your birds healthy by practicing backyard biosecurity.
While "biosecurity" may not be a common household word, for poultry and bird owners it can spell the difference between health and disease. Practicing biosecurity can help keep disease away from farms and backyard pens and keep birds healthy. By using biosecurity practices, poultry owners can help reduce the chances of their birds being exposed to infectious poultry diseases such as avian influenza.
According to Dr. Fidelis Hegngi, senior staff veterinarian with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, backyard biosecurity means doing everything needed to protect birds from disease--similar to what people do every day to protect themselves from human infections--essentially good hygiene.
"That's what protects us from germs-we wash our hands, avoid contact with people who have colds and flu, and we cover our mouths and noses when we sneeze," says Dr. Hegngi. "If you follow basic hygiene activities with your birds, you'll go a long way to keeping your birds safe from disease."
By taking a few simple steps, you can protect your birds. Dr. Hegngi recommends bird owners wash their hands thoroughly with soap, water and disinfectant before and after handling birds. When you're through working with your birds, disinfect your shoes and equipment. Cages, food and water should be cleaned daily. Poultry owners should remove feed from bags; place it in clean, sealed containers; and throw the bags away. Finally, bird owners should not borrow or share bird supplies. If they must, items should be cleaned and disinfected before being brought home.
Be sure to isolate new birds you bring in from your other birds for at least 30 days. You should restrict access to your birds, especially from people who own birds that are housed outside. Keep your birds away from other birds whenever possible.
Look your flock over regularly so you can watch for signs of illness or unexpected deaths among your birds. Report sick birds or die-offs to the local cooperative extension office, a veterinarian, State Veterinarian, State animal diagnostic laboratory or USDA Veterinary Services toll free at (866) 536-7593.
For additional recommendations, poultry owners are encouraged to visit the USDA's Web site at http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov.
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While "biosecurity" may not be a common household word, for poultry and bird owners it can spell the difference between health and disease. Practicing biosecurity can help keep disease away from farms and backyard pens and keep birds healthy. By using biosecurity practices, poultry owners can help reduce the chances of their birds being exposed to infectious poultry diseases such as avian influenza.
According to Dr. Fidelis Hegngi, senior staff veterinarian with USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, backyard biosecurity means doing everything needed to protect birds from disease--similar to what people do every day to protect themselves from human infections--essentially good hygiene.
"That's what protects us from germs-we wash our hands, avoid contact with people who have colds and flu, and we cover our mouths and noses when we sneeze," says Dr. Hegngi. "If you follow basic hygiene activities with your birds, you'll go a long way to keeping your birds safe from disease."
By taking a few simple steps, you can protect your birds. Dr. Hegngi recommends bird owners wash their hands thoroughly with soap, water and disinfectant before and after handling birds. When you're through working with your birds, disinfect your shoes and equipment. Cages, food and water should be cleaned daily. Poultry owners should remove feed from bags; place it in clean, sealed containers; and throw the bags away. Finally, bird owners should not borrow or share bird supplies. If they must, items should be cleaned and disinfected before being brought home.
Be sure to isolate new birds you bring in from your other birds for at least 30 days. You should restrict access to your birds, especially from people who own birds that are housed outside. Keep your birds away from other birds whenever possible.
Look your flock over regularly so you can watch for signs of illness or unexpected deaths among your birds. Report sick birds or die-offs to the local cooperative extension office, a veterinarian, State Veterinarian, State animal diagnostic laboratory or USDA Veterinary Services toll free at (866) 536-7593.
For additional recommendations, poultry owners are encouraged to visit the USDA's Web site at http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov.
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Saturday, December 12, 2009
Helping Backyard Bird Owners Raise Healthy Flocks
(NAPSI)-A unique calendar could help many of America's backyard poultry owners keep their birds safe from diseases such as avian influenza.
The free 2010 calendar is offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). As hobby farming and raising poultry grow in popularity, experts say it's become increasingly important for poultry owners to protect their birds from diseases. In addition to featuring vivid photos of poultry and wild birds-along with text in English and Spanish-USDA's 2010 Backyard Biosecurity calendar provides useful tips and information to help owners do just that.
Avian influenza (AI) viruses can infect chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, ducks, geese and guinea fowl, as well as other birds. By practicing good hygiene when taking care of birds and poultry, owners can reduce the risk of disease-causing germs going to or coming from their farm or home.
Such things as thoroughly washing your hands before entering your bird area and before working with your birds, and cleaning and disinfecting equipment that comes in contact with your birds, will help keep disease away.
The calendar has information on spotting signs of sick birds and photos of birds with AI. Avian influenza can strike poultry quickly, and knowing what to look for will help bird owners: A lack of energy and appetite; decreased egg production or soft-shelled or misshapen eggs; swelling of the head, eyelids, comb, wattles and hocks; purple discoloration of the wattles, combs and legs; nasal discharge; coughing and sneezing; stumbling or diarrhea could indicate AI.
To protect the U.S. poultry population, USDA quarantines and tests live birds imported into the United States to ensure that they do not have any foreign animal diseases.
The Backyard Biosecurity calendar is available free of charge. Interested poultry owners can order online at http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov.
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The free 2010 calendar is offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). As hobby farming and raising poultry grow in popularity, experts say it's become increasingly important for poultry owners to protect their birds from diseases. In addition to featuring vivid photos of poultry and wild birds-along with text in English and Spanish-USDA's 2010 Backyard Biosecurity calendar provides useful tips and information to help owners do just that.
Avian influenza (AI) viruses can infect chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, ducks, geese and guinea fowl, as well as other birds. By practicing good hygiene when taking care of birds and poultry, owners can reduce the risk of disease-causing germs going to or coming from their farm or home.
Such things as thoroughly washing your hands before entering your bird area and before working with your birds, and cleaning and disinfecting equipment that comes in contact with your birds, will help keep disease away.
The calendar has information on spotting signs of sick birds and photos of birds with AI. Avian influenza can strike poultry quickly, and knowing what to look for will help bird owners: A lack of energy and appetite; decreased egg production or soft-shelled or misshapen eggs; swelling of the head, eyelids, comb, wattles and hocks; purple discoloration of the wattles, combs and legs; nasal discharge; coughing and sneezing; stumbling or diarrhea could indicate AI.
To protect the U.S. poultry population, USDA quarantines and tests live birds imported into the United States to ensure that they do not have any foreign animal diseases.
The Backyard Biosecurity calendar is available free of charge. Interested poultry owners can order online at http://healthybirds.aphis.usda.gov.
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Friday, August 7, 2009
Male or female? The chicken industry cares
Chickens, like most animals, typically produce equal numbers of males and females. But this natural sex ratio doesn’t always work in the poultry industry’s economic favor. A University of Georgia researcher is working on ways to skew the chicken’s sex ratio to help the industry streamline production and make more money.
Chickens are big business in Georgia, worth $4.9 billion in 2008, or 41 percent of the state’s total agricultural value. The industry is split into two areas: meat production and egg production.
Chickens raised for meat are called broilers. For this part of the industry, the females of this breed are less profitable. On average, male broilers weigh half a pound more than females at market age, and they eat 5 percent less feed.
For the egg-laying breed, females are prized over males, obviously, because males can’t grow up to produce eggs.
Kristen Navara, a poultry scientist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is trying to determine how to control avian sex ratios.
“In nature, it is a necessary strategy to adjust offspring sex in relation to the environment,” she said. “Humans, rodents, birds all skew sex ratios. It is clear females need the ability to adjust offspring for the environment where they will be born or hatched into.”
Navara has recently studied skewed sex ratios in hamsters and humans in relation to day length. She is now looking for the mechanism that can control the ratios in poultry and finches. She’s using hormones, particularly corticosterone, to find that mechanism.
Injecting female birds with a burst of corticosterone just before ovulation produced a sex ratio skewed toward males, or 81 percent.
She believes she can flip the ratio to favor males or females using hormones or aggravates, which stop the secretion of corticosterone.
Sara Beth Pinson, a graduate student in Navara’s lab, is coordinating studies to determine the optimal dose of corticosterone to produce the desired result. They are also testing different durations of the hormone treatment to determine how long-term treatments affect offspring sex. Research results could be available in six months.
Focused on species survival, Navara is also looking at sex ratios in zebra finches. “This is where it started, in an ecological context,” she said. “We are really interested in how a species survives. If we could figure out how to adjust the sex ratio of avian offspring, it could really help in conservation efforts.”
This research “is something the industry has been looking for for years,” said Mike Lacy, head of the CAES poultry science department. “The U.S. poultry and egg industry funded Dr. Navara to do this research because it is something the industry is very interested in.”
It is important to note that no chickens used for food are given hormones. Navara’s research is only using hormones to discover the mechanism. “Broilers are not treated with hormones. The industry does not treat with hormones and never will,” Lacy said.
“So far, the hormone injections seem to work, but what we want to do is find the mechanism the hormone is working through and then produce a non-hormonal treatment for the birds. That is the optimal way to go,” she said.
By April Sorrow
University of Georgia
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Chickens are big business in Georgia, worth $4.9 billion in 2008, or 41 percent of the state’s total agricultural value. The industry is split into two areas: meat production and egg production.
Chickens raised for meat are called broilers. For this part of the industry, the females of this breed are less profitable. On average, male broilers weigh half a pound more than females at market age, and they eat 5 percent less feed.
For the egg-laying breed, females are prized over males, obviously, because males can’t grow up to produce eggs.
Kristen Navara, a poultry scientist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is trying to determine how to control avian sex ratios.
“In nature, it is a necessary strategy to adjust offspring sex in relation to the environment,” she said. “Humans, rodents, birds all skew sex ratios. It is clear females need the ability to adjust offspring for the environment where they will be born or hatched into.”
Navara has recently studied skewed sex ratios in hamsters and humans in relation to day length. She is now looking for the mechanism that can control the ratios in poultry and finches. She’s using hormones, particularly corticosterone, to find that mechanism.
Injecting female birds with a burst of corticosterone just before ovulation produced a sex ratio skewed toward males, or 81 percent.
She believes she can flip the ratio to favor males or females using hormones or aggravates, which stop the secretion of corticosterone.
Sara Beth Pinson, a graduate student in Navara’s lab, is coordinating studies to determine the optimal dose of corticosterone to produce the desired result. They are also testing different durations of the hormone treatment to determine how long-term treatments affect offspring sex. Research results could be available in six months.
Focused on species survival, Navara is also looking at sex ratios in zebra finches. “This is where it started, in an ecological context,” she said. “We are really interested in how a species survives. If we could figure out how to adjust the sex ratio of avian offspring, it could really help in conservation efforts.”
This research “is something the industry has been looking for for years,” said Mike Lacy, head of the CAES poultry science department. “The U.S. poultry and egg industry funded Dr. Navara to do this research because it is something the industry is very interested in.”
It is important to note that no chickens used for food are given hormones. Navara’s research is only using hormones to discover the mechanism. “Broilers are not treated with hormones. The industry does not treat with hormones and never will,” Lacy said.
“So far, the hormone injections seem to work, but what we want to do is find the mechanism the hormone is working through and then produce a non-hormonal treatment for the birds. That is the optimal way to go,” she said.
By April Sorrow
University of Georgia
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