Sustainable poultry education for undergraduate students.

Sustainable poultry production can help address many critical socio- and environmental issues, including food insecurity, climate crisis, and loss of biodiversity. The education of undergraduate students in poultry science helps prepare a future workforce in poultry production and to develop responsible citizens for global engagement. The University of Connecticut has a poultry project, funded by U.

National extension workshop: Connecting learners and educators to broaden reach and maximize impact in the 21st century.

Disseminating training nationwide through the Cooperative Extension Service, particularly as global demand for poultry products continues to increase, is critical for sustainable poultry production. Increasing urbanization, globalization of the poultry industry, consumer interest in animal welfare and labor shortages present opportunities for Extension professionals to engage diverse audiences and increase agricultural literacy. As part of the Poultry Science Association's 2024 National Extension Workshop, we presented examples of initiatives aimed at connecting educators, teachers and learners to address some of the pressing issues facing the poultry industry.

Effect of outdoor structural enrichments on the performance, use of range area, and behavior of organic meat chickens.

Chickens provided with outdoor access often do not fully use the range area. Natural cover, such as trees, can provide shelter and increase range use, but may not be practical for use in all free-range operations. A study was conducted to determine whether constructed enrichments that simulate natural structures increase range use and impact behavior of meat chickens.

Performance, livability, and carcass yield of slow- and fast-growing chicken genotypes fed low-nutrient or standard diets and raised indoors or with outdoor access.

Two experiments were conducted to assess the effect of genotype, production system, and nutrition on performance and livability of meat chickens for niche markets. Slow-growing (SG) and fast-growing genotypes (FG) were raised for 91 and 63 d, respectively, in experiment 1 (females) or 84 and 56 d, respectively, in experiment 2 (males). In each trial, SG were placed before FG to achieve a similar BW at processing.