Poultry or Avian Science Commons^™

Isolation Of Drug-Sensitive Eimeria Species From Wild Turkey Feces And Development Of A Model Bioshuttle Program For Eimeria Meleagrimitis For Domestic Turkeys, Maria Carolina Trujillo Peralta

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis was to determine the anticoccidial profile of Eimeria spp. derived from wild turkeys. These drug-sensitive Eimeria spp. have potential to be used as vaccine candidates to control coccidiosis in commercial turkeys. Chapter two consists of a brief literature review focused on coccidiosis in turkeys. Chapter three addresses the methodologies utilized to isolate, recover, and speciate Eimeria recovered from wild turkey feces in the eastern two-thirds of the United States. From this, we successfully obtained single oocyst-derived stocks for E. meleagrimitis, E. dispersa, E. meleagridis, E. gallopavonis, and E. adenoeides. Chapter four describes the experiment conducted …

Bacterial Chondronecrosis With Osteomyelitis In Broilers: Genomics, Phylogenomics, And Methods To Detect Specific Pathogens During Outbreaks., Abdulkarim Abdulaziz A. Shwani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lameness is a major issue in animal welfare and the broiler industry. Bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) is one of the main causes of lameness. Many staphylococcal species, including Staphylococcus agnetis isolate 908, have been isolated from the bones and blood of lame broilers at the University of Arkansas. Staphylococcus agnetis is a coagulase-variable, Gram-positive bacterial species that has been previously associated with subclinical or mild clinical cases of mastitis in dairy cattle. The annotated complete genome of hypervirulent strain 908 was published at NCBI. In this study, it has been compared to nine genomes we assembled for hypervirulent isolates …

Time Course Investigation Of The Dermal Leukocyte Response To Lipoteichoic Acid In Chickens, Ian Gilbert

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is component of the cell wall of Gram-positive bacteria that stimulates inflammation during bacterial infection. However, few studies have investigated the in vivo immune response to LTA, and none of the in vivo studies done have been performed in birds. For this project, the pulp (a skin-derivative) of growing feathers (GFs) of chickens were used as a test site to investigate the in vivo effects of intradermally injected LTA. In Study 1, the pulp of 12 GFs of 11-week-old Light-brown Leghorn (LBL) males were injected with 10 μL of differing concentrations of LTA (0.1, 1.0, 10, 100 …

Investigating Egg Storage Conditions, Hatch Characteristics, And Feeding Methods Of Commercially Produced Poultry, Joshua R. Deines

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Advancements in poultry research continue to add knowledge and understanding to an already technical industry. Such information has led to new developments in early feeding strategies which provide nutrients to broiler chicks while in the egg or during transport. This wealth of knowledge in poultry research extends beyond chickens and is utilized for other species, such as quail and pheasants, including how fertile eggs are stored and incubated. However, methods of early feeding broilers have not been investigated in industry relevant approaches to understand its effects, including how timing of feed access interacts with the hatch window. As well, quail …

Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment For Parts, Ground, And Msc Poultry Product Including Intervention Analysis And Exploration Of Enterobacteriaceae As An Indicator Organism In Poultry Processing, Leigh Ann Parette

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Samples collected at five different large bird poultry processing facilities over a period of 7 months from prescald to post debone locations were enumerated for Enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella spp., and Campylobacter spp. and the results were used to create Quantitative Microbial Risk Analyses (QMRA) models for parts, ground, and mechanically separated chicken (MSC) products. Sensitivity analyses indicated the points in the process at which reductions would be most advantageous to the endpoint and simulation models were run to test reductions required to meet the current USDA performance standards.

These data were analyzed to determine the reductions from one node (location) to …

Microbiota Metabolic Product Deoxycholic Acid Prevents Campylobacter Jejuni Chicken Colonization Through Modulating Ceca Anaerobes, Bilal Ali Alrubaye

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Campylobacter jejuni is a prevalent infectious enteritis mainly foodborne from chickens. Despite of reducing C. jejuni food contamination dramatically decreases campylobacteriosis, few effective approaches are available for the bacterial reduction in chickens. The aim of this study was to use microbial metabolic product deoxycholic acid (DCA) to reduce C. jejuni chicken colonization. Broiler chicks were fed 0 or 1.5 g/kg DCA, lithocholic acid (LCA), or urodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in diets or orally gavaged with cholic acid (CA, 1.5g/kg body weight). Birds were also transplanted with DCA modulated anaerobes (DCA-Anearo) or aerobes (DCA-Aero). Birds were infected with 109 CFU/bird human clinical …

Assessment Of A Nutritional Rehabilitation Model In Two Modern Broilers And Their Jungle Fowl Ancestor: A Model For Better Understanding Childhood Undernutrition, Mikayla Baxter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The World Health Organization, estimated that 22.9% of children under the age of 5 are stunted. The etiology of stunting is multifactorial and is associated with poor linear growth, villous atrophy, dysbiosis, and increased intestinal permeability. Inclusion of rye in poultry diets induces nutrient deficiencies and increases intestinal permeability, dysbiosis and decreases growth rates. The objective of this dissertation was to determine if chickens consuming a rye based diet exhibited a similar pathophysiology of stunted children to develop a relevant animal model. Therefore, early or late phase malnutrition was induced determine the effects of malnutrition on performance, bone mineralization, intestinal …

Genomic Approaches To Identify Important Traits In Avian Species, Bhuwan Khatri

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focusses on identifying different molecular markers that have impact on overall poultry production. Chapter one reviews microRNA (miRNA), copy number variation (CNV) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) as markers suggested in different avian species by various studies. It reviews modern genomic approaches that are employed for next generation sequencing data analysis and verification.

Chapter two seeks to identify and validate the muscle specific miRNAs in the breast muscle of modern broilers and its foundational chicken line. Small RNA sequencing was performed to identify differentially expressed mature miRNAs in the breast muscles of these two chicken lines. Results showed …

Central Role Of Vasotocin In The Neuroendocrine Regulation Of Stress Responses And Food Intake In Chickens, Gallus Gallus, Gurueswar Nagarajan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is well known that arginine vasotocin (AVT) in birds is involved in physiological homeostasis such as cardiovascular, osmotic regulation as well as reproductive functions. Pertinent to these physiological functions, AVT immunoreactive (-ir) neurons in the hypothalamus have been found associated with hemorrhage, dehydration, oviposition and other physiological regulation. Evidence, however, suggests that AVT also plays significant roles in modulating behavior, memory, stress, and food intake. This dissertation research addresses the latter two neuroendocrine functions of AVT in detail within the chicken brain. First, the functional role of AVT-ir neurons in conjunction with corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH)-ir neurons in the …

Evaluation And Selection Of A Bacillus Based Direct-Fed Microbial Candidate For In Situ Enzyme Production To Improve Gut Health Integrity, Bone Quality And Growth Performance In Poultry, Juan David Latorre Cardenas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the last decade, the increasing interest in renewable energy sources has been changing the distribution of corn utilization from human and animal consumption to biofuel production, leading to a continuous rise in feed costs of livestock diets. Therefore, alternative feed ingredients such as distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS), as well as cereals like wheat, barley, and sorghum have become part of the feed matrix to maintain or reduce production costs. However, these raw materials often contain a higher concentration of antinutritional factors in comparison to corn, including non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) which increase digesta viscosity and reduce nutrient absorption …

Evaluation Of Bacillus Spp Candidates For Aflatoxin B1 Biodegradation In Broiler Chickens, Rosario Galarza Seeber

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Poultry health has been traditionally maintained by hygenic measures, vaccinations, and the use of antibiotics. Modern husbandry management considers the use of probiotics as a natural way to protect birds against many everyday pathogens. Different strains of Bacillus spp. have proved to have beneficial effects in poultry production. However, the most used bacterium in commercial probiotics is Lactobacillus, a vegetative cell. In contrast, Bacillus spp are bacterial spores, highly resistant to harsh conditions, which makes them preferable, in some cases, to Lactobacillus because of shelf life and storage conditions. There is published information regarding mycotoxin detoxification by bacteria. Mycotoxins are …

Chitosan Reduces Enteric Colonization Of Campylobacter In Young Chickens, But Not On Post-Harvest Chicken Skin Samples, Hanna Royce Arambel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Worldwide, Campylobacter is one of the leading causes of foodborne bacterial gastroenteritis causing an estimated 1.3 million infections in the United States alone. Consumption and/or cross-contamination of raw or undercooked poultry products have been linked as the most common source of Campylobacter infection, making the poultry industry a target for Campylobacter reduction strategies. Campylobacter is prevalent in most poultry flocks in the United States, with as many as 90% of flocks Campylobacter-positive at the time of slaughter. It is estimated that a reduction of Campylobacter in poultry would greatly reduce the risk of campylobacteriosis in humans. Unfortunately, there are …

Genetic Analysis Of The Promoter Region Of The Serotonin Receptor 5ht2b And Its Contribution To Pulmonary Hypertension Syndrome In Broiler-Type Chickens, Khaloud Awada Alzahrani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH) is a sever disorder characterized by high pulmonary artery pressure and pulmonary vascular resistance along with specific histological changes. Idiopathic PAH is a human disease of unknown origin that showed common characteristics to PHS/ascites in chicken. PHS/ascites is a condition found in broilers causing right ventricular hypertrophy, valvular insufficiency, increased venous pressure, variable liver changes, accumulation of fluids in the abdominal cavity, and finally lung and heart failure. Currently, there is no acceptable animal model for human PAH. Our group has been validating the chicken as the medical animal model for human PAH, thus we have …