Midwest Poultry Research Program

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Various issues and concerns are negatively affecting the well being of the poultry industry in the North Central Region and other parts of the USA. These problems include disease entities, nutritional concerns, rearing practices, availability of alternative feed ingredients, etc. This project will conduct research to address issues of high priority to the poultry industry in the U.S. Midwestern region and the nation. It will promptly communicate the research findings to appropriate users, to improve efficiency and sustainability of poultry production through integrated, collaborative research and technology transfer.

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APPROACH: Ten projects: 1) Exploring the occurrence/virulence of avian pathogenic E. coli (APEC) and G. anatis by a) completing the genome sequences of two G. anatis strains, b) comparing these two genomes for putative determinants of G. anatis virulence, and c) determining the comparative prevalence and sources of G. anatis isolates from healthy hens versus those from peritonitis. 2) Ovotransferrin is a major egg white protein that can be used as a natural antimicrobial agent. This work will: a) Develop a method to separate ovotransferrin from egg white, b) Develop methods to activate antimicrobial capabilities, and c) Determine the effects of ovotransferrin products on the survival of foodborne pathogens. 3) This project will evaluate varying length feeding of several feed additives. Broilers will be used to evaluate several prebiotic ingredients such as oligosaccharides, Grobiotic-P, organic acids and DDGS fiber. 4) The goal is to determine if limit feeding of corn and DDGS diets will provide for acceptable postmolt performance in a non-feed withdrawal molt program for layers. Molt diets comprised of corn and DDGS supplemented with vitamins, minerals, and calcium will be used. Emphasis will be on evaluating corn and DDGS molt diets which are fed at various limited rates. 5) The project goal is to modify and repeat a test of the Missouri Ideal Turkey Protein. This study is designed to generate more data, consistent with our previous work, in a way that the turkey industry can take advantage of and put in practice. 6) This project will test the hypothesis that poultry satellite cells grown to incorporate various types and proportions of fatty acids in their membrane lipids, differ in their responsiveness to growth factor stimuli and expression of particular heparan sulfate proteoglycans (syndecans and glypicans). The project will utilize myogenic satellite cells in culture. Satellite cells isolated from two metabolically different muscles of the turkey and chicken will be used. 7) The impact of stocking density on growth and yield of commercial pheasants will be explored as a means to further refine the specifications for rearing environment. Based on the significant roles that syndecan-4 and glypican-1 play in the muscle growth process, the developmental expression of these genes will be focused on in the proposed studies. 8) This project will test the maximum palatable and economic level of DDGS inclusion rate in pullet and layer rations by conducting a pullet trial feeding DDGS at varying levels and conducting a long-term layer trial testing varying levels of DDGS. 9) This study will determine the digestible lysine, threonine and lysine:threonine ratios for commercial turkey hens from 2 to 20 weeks of age. The approach of the research will be to use individually fed birds throughout the experimental period so as to preclude the inherent variability that occurs when pen averages are used to summarize the data. 10) This project will establish the requirements of digestible threonine (dThr) for male turkeys for the entire growth period. Seven experiments will be conducted to determine the digestible threonine requirements for toms to market weights.

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PROGRESS: 2007/01 TO 2007/12<BR>
OUTPUTS: The Midwest Poultry Research Project is a consortium of universities conducting research projects directed towards the needs of the poultry industry. The various projects encompass a wide scope of research but are focused on key problems and issues that are of concern to the poultry industry. The outcomes of the various projects are disseminated to the stakeholders by oral presentations and personal contacts at the Midwest Poultry Convention and other meetings that involve poultry producers, through a website that is maintained by the Midwest Poultry Consortium, by scientific and lay journal publications and by direct contact (i.e. consultations) with producers initiated by phone, email or other means. <BR><BR>
IMPACT: 2007/01 TO 2007/12<BR>
The outcomes of the various MPRP projects are summarized as follows: 1. Genome sequencing of virulent and avirulent strains of Gallibacterium anatis revealed a subset of pathogen-specific genes that is being used to develop a diagnostic multiplex PCR panel for identification of G. anatis strains most likely to cause peritonitis in laying hens. 2. The MPRP, maintains a website to serve as a clearinghouse for MPRP research. 3. Feeding laying hens with corn or high DDGS molt diets at a rate of 36, 45, or 55 g/hen/day can provide for comparable postmolt production performance. 4. Development of optimal separation conditions for ovotransferrin from egg white; and methods to activate ovotransferrin and test its effects on the survival of food borne pathogens in model systems. 5. FGF-2 elicits different signaling characteristics between muscle subpopulations and regulation of sydnecan-4 and glypican-1 transcription by FGF-2 impacts satellite cell proliferation and differentiation. 6. Maximum stocking density for commercial white pheasants can be reduced from 2.0 to 1.0 sqft per bird without negative impact on growth and yield characteristics. 7. Feeding .46 to .92% Temulose (contains a high level of mannan) to chicks increased metabolizable energy and amino acid digestibility and feeding 3 to 5% Grobiotic to chicks for 1, 2, 3 or 7 days increased cecal bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, indicating that these ingredients are good potential alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters. 8. Incubation temperature during the first third of incubation can significantly effect early embryo development and skeletal growth in ducklings and these differences may carry over through hatch. 9. A pullet nutrition trial was conducted to test the Inclusion Rate of DDGS in Pullet Diets indicated that incremental increases produced no negative effects on feed intake, growth rate or mortality. 10. Seven experiments were conducted that determined the digestible threonine (dThr) requirement of Nicholas male turkeys from 0 to 21 weeks of age. 11-The project modified and repeated a test of the Missouri Ideal Turkey Protein program to assess the optimized feeding recommendations with performance standards.