The constant economic pressure on poultry producers to lower their costs and increase the quality of their products has been a big challenge in today's competitive world. Moreover, the confirment of turkeys has been linked with several kinds of breast skin lesions, mainly enlarged sternal bursa (ESB), or breast blister, and focal ulcerative dermatitis (FUD), or breast button. Both of these conditions (particularly ESB) are believed to cost the turkey industry large amounts of money each year because of the need to trim the breast and the consequent downgrading of the carcass. In addition, they cost the processing plant time by slowing down the production line beacuse of the need to employ more personnel to carry out the work of breast trimming. This paper reviews investigations into the possible causes of the lesions and concludes that many factors (strain, early body weight, photoperiod, stress, litter and floor type) influence their development.

The egg yolk contains several substances of potential therapeutic value, some of which are already used in commercial products. A number of scientific papers dealing with their properties and applications have been published. In this review we present some current and possible applications for egg yolk lipids, lipoprotein, phosvitin, sialic acid and antibodies (IgY). Moreover, we discuss the possibilities of increasing the yield of yolk and simultaneously the yield of these substances by both management and breeding approaches.

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is based on the principle that the chemical bonds in organic molecules absorb or emit infrared light when their vibrational state changes. In the near IR part of the spectrum, large changes in vibrational state are observed (overtones), while in the mid IR region, primary vibrations are produced. The latter yields sharper, more clearly defined peaks that are better suited for quantitative purposes. Raman spectroscopy, in which the decay of the vibration is observed after strong excitation of the sample, is a variant on mid IR spectroscopy. A major challenge in applying IR spectroscopy to animal production is sample presentation. Transmission is the most powerful method well suited to liquids and gases but is inappropriate for undiluted solids. Although reflection offers an alternative for solids, it is less than ideal for quantitative purposes as the path length is not known. For pastes and opaque liquids, attenuated total reflectance offers good possibilities for the future as it acts like a transmission device but sample application is simple. A novel method is photo-acoustics in which the heating of a sample (as it absorbs the IR light) is measured using a microphone. IR spectroscopy is typically fast and easy to use. In feedmills it allows the quality (e.g. proximate and nutritionally relevant parameters such as metabolisable energy) of feed ingredients and complete feeds to be monitored. In meat processing IR spectroscopy offers the opportunity to assess meat and fat quality, and perhaps even palatability (texture and flavour). New developments in IR spectroscopy will expand its applications further. These include hand-held instruments that may find use in determining digestive disorders among birds in the field, fibreoptics that will allow instantaneous measurements to be made in almost any part of a plant, tunable lasers (with their much stronger signals) that will make IR spectroscopy much more powerful, and imaging IR spectroscopy which may be used to determine the homogeneity of meat (e.g. colour). IR spectroscopy, with its speed, ease of use and versatility, could be about to become one of the most powerful analytical techniques available to the animal production industries. It promises to allow for improved quality control in virtually every aspect of production, from feed manufacture to final product evaluation.

Although in the western world there has been a long term decline in the consumption of eggs, Asian egg consumption is on an upward trend, even in developed Asian nations like Japan. However, the latter part of the 1990s has seen a slower rate of growth in consumption. This study represents an attempt to analyse the present state of affairs by estimating the income elasticity of demand for eggs in selected countries. The annual increase in the consumption of eggs is high because of the very low consumption in developing countries. Production is also on the increase as a result of improvements in local breeds and the ready availability of high yielding birds even in rural areas. Based on estimates, countries were categorised into three groups – those of high income elasticity (Malaysia, China), medium elasticity (Sri Lanka, Pakistan) and low elasticity (Japan, Korea). Increasing disposable household income will continue to result in an expansion in the production and consumption of eggs in Asia. By the year 2010 over 60% of the world's population will live in Asia; furthermore, the growth in disposable income and purchasing power coupled with rapidly changing food habits will make eggs one of the more popular protein-rich foods with both the rural and urban populations in Asia.

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and the extent of leg problems in broiler chicks reared in conventional production systems in Denmark. The survey, which was designed as a cross-sectional study, included 28 broiler flocks (8% of the total number of flocks in Denmark); 2800 chicks in total (100 chicks per flock) were investigated for the occurrence of leg disorders in relation to animal welfare. The leg disorders included impaired walking ability, tibial dyschondroplasia (TD), varus/valgus deformations, crooked toes, foot pad burns, and asymmetrical development of the tarsometatarsus. The mean prevalence of impaired walking ability (gait score > O), tibial dyschondroplasia (TD score > 0), varus/valgus deformations, crooked toes and foot pad burns was 75.0%, 57.1%, 37.0%, 32.6% and 42.0%, respectively. The risks of the occurrence of these leg problems were significantly influenced by body weight and sex of the chicks. For birds with impaired walking ability (corresponding to gait scores > 0 and >2), significant interactions were found between body weight and sex. Positive correlations (r > 0.20) were found between gait score and TD score, gait score and varus/valgus deformations, TD score and varus/valgus deformations, varus/valgus deformations and body weight, crooked toes and body weight, and between varus/valgus deformations and body weight. Only weak correlations were found between the relative asymmetry in the length, thickness and diameter of the tarsometatarsus and the other leg problems measured. It was concluded that the prevalence of leg problems in broilers in conventional production systems is very high and compromises the welfare of the birds. One of the main factors responsible is their high growth rate.

Two World Poultry Congresses have beeb held in the United States, in 1939 and 1974. The USA Branch of the World's Poultry Science Association was not formed until after the first of those. In order to recognise the contributors of the many who have been active, this review of the history of the USA Branch was prepared. It gives the objective of the organisation, the officers during the 35 years and a list of some of the more important activities.