Ian Johnston
EnviroAg
October 2018 – October 2019
PRJ-010961
 
Summary
The transport of chickens to the processing plant is a necessary part of chicken meat production. However, there are risks to the welfare and meat quality of the chickens if they become stressed. Stress generally occurs when chickens are transported during extreme weather events and/or …
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Jeff Downing
University of Sydney
July 2018 – September 2019
PRJ-010953
 
Summary
Meat chickens are highly susceptible to heat stress, particularly during periods of prolonged hot weather events in shed conditions and also during transport. Heatwaves in Australia are expected to become a regular occurrence, so there is a need to identify and implement strategies …
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A normal process of feed digestion in chickens includes the excretion of ammonia in their faeces, which gets mixed into the litter on the floor of the housing. If the system is not managed appropriately, the presence of ammonia can be detrimental to chicken health and welfare. Internationally, ‘litter amendments’ …
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As the Australian chicken meat industry increasingly expands into more rural areas, the availability of adequate water supplies of suitable quality becomes more of a challenge on-farm and during processing. There are several water treatment and recycling technologies available that may improve the efficiency, availability and appropriateness of water used …
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Australia’s geographic isolation and strict import biosecurity requirements prevent several diseases that impact poultry industries internationally, such as very virulent Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (vvIBDV), to remain non-existent in Australian poultry. Incursion of vvIBDV strains pose a serious threat to the Australian Poultry Industry, and although work since the 1990s …
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There are several laboratories that provide a variety of services to the Australian chicken meat industry, which includes the isolation and characterisation of bacteria from various samples collected on-farm or during processing. In some instances, characterisation of these bacteria may require additional information to be gathered to determine if the …
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Any application to build new, or expand existing, poultry farms requires modelling of the potential odour emissions to surrounding areas, to inform the extent of the potential impact of the new facilities to neighbouring properties (which may be farming operations or residential buildings). However, the robustness of the modelling used …
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