The European experience in poultry welfare--a decade ahead.

Farm animal welfare is a major issue in Europe, which resulted in regulations and development of research dedicated to animal welfare, especially on standard poultry production, which is often considered as resulting in very poor welfare. The effect of selection is also often questioned. Indeed, capacities of adaptation have been very little considered during the first years of commercial selection and thus have been reduced.

Visfatin gene expression in chickens is sex and tissue dependent.

The present study investigated the expression of visfatin mRNA in various tissues of male and female broiler chickens. We also studied the effect of leptin, cerulenin, and food deprivation, known effectors of energy balance and insulin action, on visfatin gene expression in chickens. Using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Northern blot analysis, we detected chicken visfatin mRNA transcript in the kidney, hypothalamus, gizzard, liver, pancreas, proventriculus, breast and leg muscle, ovary, testis, lung, intestine, adipose tissue, and heart.

Effects of BDNF, T3, and corticosterone on expression of the hypothalamic obesity gene network in vivo and in vitro.

Hypothalamic neuropeptides, neurotrophins, and systemic hormones modulate food intake and body composition. Although advances toward elucidating these interactions have been made, many aspects of the underlying mechanisms remain vague. Hypothalami from fat and lean chicken lines were assessed for differential expression of anabolic/orexigenic and catabolic/anorexigenic genes.

Effects of the rate of muscle post mortem pH fall on the technological quality of turkey meat.

1. This experiment evaluated the influence of the rate of post mortem pH fall on the processing ability of turkey meat. 2.

Post mortem muscle metabolism and meat quality in three genetic types of turkey.

1. A standard (FG, fast-growing), a black local or 'label', type (SG, slow-growing) turkey line, and the crossbreed between these two lines were compared for muscle post-mortem metabolism and related meat quality traits. 2.