Using a scooper to pour food into the feeder for the broiler chickens.

Author: Ashley Ault | Major: Biology | Semester: Fall 2022

Hello, my name is Ashley Ault and I am from Kansas City, Missouri. I am a senior undergraduate student entering my last semester of undergraduate. I am a part of the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. I will graduate in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Spanish. My mentor, who is also my honors thesis director, is Dr. Alrubaye. He is an Assistant Professor of Poultry Science and Biological Sciences and Associate Director of the Graduate Program of Cell and Molecular Biology. My research under Dr. Alrubaye took place during the Fall 2022 semester.

The research trial I participated in took place from September 4-October 16 for a total of 42 days. It took place at the University of Arkansas Poultry Research Farm in house A232E. Broiler chickens were used in the research study which are chickens that are raised to produce meat. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of DSM feed additives on feed conversion and body weight gain in broiler chickens. Basically, this means that the broiler chickens were fed different diets to see which chickens would weigh the most.

This research trial began with 1,800 young broiler chickens. It was set up with 90 different pens and in each pen were 20 chickens. Every pen had litter flooring, a feeder, and water. The feeder and water were on opposite ends of the pen to force the chickens to move around to both sides of the pen. There were 9 different diets, so each diet had 10 pens. Diet 1 was the positive control diet with no feed additives. Diet 2 was the negative control with a reduced diet. The rest of the diets, 3-9, contained feed additives.

At the beginning of the trial, the chickens were weighed and their initial weight was recorded. The amount of food given to each pen was also weighed. As food was added to each pen throughout the trial it was weighed. The chickens were weighed in total four different times. On day 1, day 15, day 29, and day 42.

The feed conversion rate (FCR) was used to measure which diet helped the chickens grow the largest. The Positive Control Group was calculated to have FCR mean value equaling 1.43.  This was the lowest FCR mean. The highest FCR mean was Treatment 3 with a mean value of 1.49.

Now, I am going to talk about a typical day at the farm. The research group met at 8:00 am every day at the farm. The most important thing upon arriving was to make sure to avoid any contamination when entering the farm. First, I washed my tires with a disinfectant spray to avoid bringing outside contamination onto the farm property.  Second, before entering house A232E building, I disinfected my shoes by stepping in a powdered footbath and then placing on shoe covers. Finally, I put on a mask and gloves so I would not spread germs to the chickens. The next thing was to check the chicken house environment. First, I checked the temperature to make sure it was not too hot or cold inside the house. The temperature for that day was recorded on all the sheets for every pen. Second, each pen was examined for proper food and water levels. If necessary, more food was scooped and placed in the chicken feeders and the water levels were adjusted for sufficient flow. It was important that there was enough food and water or else this could cause the chickens to die. Upon final inspection of all the pens,  It was imperative any dead chickens were removed from the pens. After removal from the pens, the chickens were weighed, recorded as either Sudden Death Syndrom SDS or Dead On Arrival DOA, and the carcasses were disposed of in the incinerator.

I would like to thank the Honors College for providing me with the Honors Research Grant which helped fund my research.