Bailey Feeding the Chickens

Author: Bailey Herberger | Major: Animal Science | Semester: Spring 2023

Hi everyone, my name is Bailey Herberger, and I am an Animal Science Pre-Vet major with a minor in Agribusiness. I worked with my mentor Dr. Alrubaye in the 2023 spring semester to evaluate the impact of different feed additive treatments on the incidence and severity of bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis and lameness in broiler chickens. My project is simply one trial that is part of an overarching experiment into researching and developing a vaccination against this disease, which is the hope of this research. Personally, I hope that involvement in this research project will allow me to gain hands-on experience in a research setting, as well develop the skills and knowledge required to perform necropsies, sample collection and data analysis.

During the fall semester of 2022, I took Dr. Alrubaye domestic animal microbiology class and learned about how different bacteria have a unique impact on an animal depending on the species. It was during this class that I learned of Dr. Alrubaye’s ongoing research into developing a vaccination towards bacterial chondronecrosis in broiler chickens. I was eager to join this ongoing research because it aligned with my desire to improve animal health and welfare and the reduction strategies researched throughout this project would allow me to do so. I thought that a preventative measure against this disease was important not only in the impact that it would have on broiler health, welfare, and overall quality of life, it would also have an impact on broiler production from an economic standpoint.

I joined Dr. Alrubaye’s research project during the spring 2023 semester and began developing, conducting, and collecting data for my specific thesis from January to February of the spring 2023 semester. I worked alongside Dr. Alrubaye to develop my honors thesis on the impact of selective feed additive treatments at reducing the severity and incidence of bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis causing lameness in broiler chickens. Bacterial chondronecrosis is the septic decay of the skeletal system, commonly found in the femur and tibia in poultry. It has been shown that this disease causes significant economic loss and is one of the leading causes of broiler death in commercial broiler production.

In order to evaluate the impact that these feed additive treatments would have on the severity of the disease, we had five different treatment groups and two control groups. Data collection for this trial took place through blood and tissue samples collected from decreased broilers in equal amounts from each of the five treatment groups and the control groups. The broilers used for data collection in this research took place through necropsies of culled broilers (due to lameness) or broilers that were found dead upon arrival. The condition of the right and left femoral head and tibia was recorded along with pen number and treatment number, and after completion of the trial all the collected data was entered into an excel sheet for analysis. After consolidation of the data into a central document it will be analyzed alongside the data conducted from previous trials in this experiment. All of this data will hopefully be compiled and used towards the development of a vaccination towards bacterial chondronecrosis. After the completion of the spring semester trials, we will begin developing the trials planned for the fall semester and begin gathering supplies and research assistants.

I hope to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. I believe that my love for animals and passion for improving the quality of animal lives was impacted by my involvement in this research project.  This research helped reinforce the desire that I have to be a hands-on practitioner of animal medicine and helped me to solidify my plans to apply for veterinary schools when the time comes.