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Author: Claire Caples | Major: Animal Science | Semester: Fall 2024
Hey y’all! My name is Claire Caples. I recently graduated from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Science with a major in Animal Science and a minor in Agricultural Business. I had the pleasure of conducting my research under Dr. Shawna Weimer, who works for the Poultry Science department. My research project was over the effects of incubation relative humidity on broiler chicks. There was little to no research specifically pertaining to the effects of varying incubation relative humidity, so this research is opening the door to furthering our knowledge of how relative humidity levels impact the development of broiler chicks. I started my project in the spring of 2023, and have been continually working since then. I am proud to say I successfully defended my thesis in March of 2025, and sadly wrapped up my time with the honors college early this May.
My specific research was a small part of a larger overall project. I focused on how the relative humidity affected the leg health and fearfulness of the birds. We evaluated the effects of high (80%), low (55%), and ideal (65%) relative humidity levels during the hatching phase of incubation (embryonic day 18-21) on broiler fear behavior and leg health. This experiment was conducted at the University of Arkansas Poultry Research Farm. Eggs were incubated using three different relative humidity levels: 65% (control), 55% (low), and 80% (high). 30 chicks were randomly selected and subject to two behavioral tests called ‘Emergence’ and ‘Isolation’ tests, we also assessed their leg bone morphology. This was designed so that we could observe and analyze both the physical and behavioral effects of varying humidity levels during incubation. One of my findings from this research warranted another study, so they are currently looking deeper into how relative humidity affects the bird’s vocalization frequency and escape attempts during the Isolation Test.
I found my mentor by looking at the Dale Bumpers faculty directory. I reached out to a few professors who had backgrounds I was more interested in learning about. Dr. Weimer was the first to respond, and I am beyond thankful that she did. She was amazing to work with and I consider her a friend. When we talked about determining my research project, she was already heading a project over broiler welfare and let me take on a portion of it. I have learned so much more than I thought I would through her and my project. The most resourceful skill I learned was how to use an image processing data software called ‘ImageJ’. That was the first time I had touched any sort of higher level processing software. When I started this project, I was in 18 hours while also going to the lab every week to work on my project. It definitely taught me how to balance my time well. I had help with collecting and analyzing data from my mentor, her assistant and other students in her research lab. Although some were confused as to what an animal science student was doing in the poultry science department, I am very thankful for the connections I was able to make within the POSC department. I could not have done it without them and I would do it all over again!
As for what is next in my life, that is to be determined. I am currently interning at Tyson Foods. I work at corporate headquarters under the central research team as the shelf life intern. I am hoping to go full time with the team I currently work with, but we will see how things work out. I strongly believe that my research experience from my honors project helped me secure my internship. An unsolicited piece of advice to any upcoming honors students: go outside your comfort zone to broaden your knowledge and expand your networking pool. It is worth it, I promise.