Author: Kyle Burks          Major: Biology

Daily feeding of the broiler chickens

My name is Kyle Burks, and I am a junior biology major and chemistry minor in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas. I was awarded an Honors College Research Grant for the Spring and Fall semesters of 2021, and I am conducting research with my research mentor, Dr. Alrubaye, in the department of biological sciences. In the next year, I plan to continue my research throughout the summer and school year, complete and present my honors thesis, and graduate in the Spring of 2022.

My research focuses on the major animal welfare issue of bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) lameness in the commercial broiler industry. Bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis is the death of tissue in bone and cartilage due to the presence of bacteria. Bacteria can translocate from the respiratory system or gastrointestinal tract into the bloodstream, where they end up in bone microfractures and result in necrosis. This bacterial infection coupled with the mechanical stress of fast growing bones, such as the femur and tibia, result in BCO lameness and reduces the birds’ ability to walk or stand. Previous research that I
worked on in Fall 2020 evaluated whether the administration of selected Biomin probiotics would reduce BCO lameness in broilers and increase their welfare in the commercial broiler industry, and it found that the feed additive Availa-ZMC reduced the prevalence of clinical lameness. During the Spring 2021 semester, my research with Dr. Alrubaye focused on a new feed additive, microalgae, and its effect on BCO lameness. The University of Arkansas farm, where our research takes place, housed 24 groups of 60 broilers. There were four different
feeds implemented into the experiment. The treatments included a control feed, feed treated with Availa-ZMC, feed treated with microalgae, and feed treated with both Availa-ZMC and microalgae. As an honors undergraduate researcher, my duties have been mainly to manage the broiler chickens, which includes providing food and water, maintaining a clean lab environment, and necropsying the euthanized clinically lame birds. However, our current lab work includes extraction of bacteria from necrotic tissue of the lame birds, culturing, DNA extraction, and PCR in order to identify the microorganisms causing BCO lameness. This process will establish how effective the microalgae feed additive treatment was.

My first interaction with my mentor was when I enrolled in Dr. Alrubaye’s general microbiology lecture in the spring of my freshman year. That class ended up being one of my favorites because of Dr. Alrubaye’s philosophy on learning and his consistent encouragement. Because of this, when I began looking for honors research opportunities nearly a year later, Dr. Alrubaye was one of the first people I contacted after browsing the University’s Biology Department directory. My family has had a chicken coop that we have used to collect eggs for as long as I can remember. This direct connection to Dr. Alrubaye’s research as a poultry microbiologist and my general passion for animals is what made me decide that researching the effect of feed additives in reducing the incidence of clinical lameness in broiler chickens was the right choice.