Effects of riboflavin supplementation level on health, performance, and fertility of organic broiler parent stock and their chicks.

Data from breeder hens and chicks are particularly critical for the development of vitamin B2 recommendations for organic poultry. To test safe thresholds of supplementation, 100 breeder hens (Hubbard JA 57 K) and ten cockerels were allocated to ten housing groups, with each receiving supplementation of either 4.0 (treatment CON) or 2.

Poultry litter as a source of gastrointestinal helminth infections.

The aim of this study carried out in 6 commercial layer houses was to examine the effect of litter management on water content, helminth egg count and litter infectiousness with the intestinal nematodes Ascaridia galli, Heterakis gallinarum, and Capillaria spp. Three types of litter management were established in each layer house in parallel: in compartment A, litter was left undisturbed, in compartment B, wet litter was replaced and in compartment C, new litter material was added weekly. Dry matter (DM) contents of the litter and parasitological parameters (helminth egg concentration in litter samples, faecal egg counts (FECs) in the permanent layer flocks, helminth prevalence and burdens in two series of tracer animals) were determined every 4 weeks during the first 32 weeks of one laying period.

Do stocking rate and a simple run management practice influence the infection of laying hens with gastrointestinal helminths?

The aim of this experiment conducted at four sites in Switzerland was to investigate the transmission and infectivity of the two main helminth parasite species of poultry (Ascaridia galli and Heterakis gallinarum) in outdoor runs with two different stocking rates. Additionally, the influence of a simple management practice (mowing of run) on helminth transmission was studied. Three run types were created on each site: runs C served as control (stocking rate 10 m(2)/hen, no management), runs B corresponded to runs C but were managed (10 m(2)/hen, management).