Author: c001os

Results from a Wageningen University & Research, Animal Breeding and Genomics (WUR-ABG) study published in Poultry Science suggest that both natural antibody (NAb) levels and resilience indicators are heritable and are under polygenic control in a brown layer line. Resilience is the capacity of an animal to be minimally affected by disturbances or to return quickly to the state it was in before exposure to the disturbance. Given that livestock are continuously exposed to environmental disturbances, for example fluctuations in temperature or pathogens, breeding (disease) resilient livestock is important for the sustainability and profitability of livestock production. Measuring general resilience of animals is not easy. However, the increasing availability of longitudinal production data allows estimating resilience indicators based on deviations observed from expected production levels. To evaluate an animal’s general disease resistance, levels of natural antibodies (NAbs) can be used as an indicator trait.

The researchers performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify genomic regions influencing NAbs and resilience indicators in a purebred Rhode Island layer line. Results suggest that both resilience indicators and NAbs are heritable and under “polygenic control”, meaning that they are influenced by many genes with a small effect. These observations provide further insight in the genetic architecture underlying resilience, which, in turn, may facilitate genetic improvement for resilience in layer lines. According to the authors, there is currently no simple interpretation of any of the resilience indicators and it is important to further refine and validate them in order to verify their practical relevance and to implement them in management and breeding practices.

With consumer concerns about sustainability at all-time high, retailers and foodservice are prepping for the dawn of the climavore. Will this new brand of consumers choose chicken? This will be a key topic at the 2023 Chicken Marketing Summit, where experts will discuss how consumer habits are changing. “A climavore is someone who makes a specific food choice based on the climate impact of that food choice,” said Corey Chafin, partner, Consumer and Retail, Kearney. For example, a climavore is someone who chooses chicken over beef, not necessarily because of taste, but because chicken is generally perceived as having a lower environmental impact. “It’s someone who’s fundamentally making a food choice – not necessarily all food choices – but a single food choice based on the climate impact of that food choice,” Chafin added. “One of the most important things that chicken companies can do to connect with climavores is to focus on building trust,” explained Erika Stewart, consultant, consumer and retail, Kearney. These consumers are looking to chicken producers to push toward sustainable outcomes. They also expect producers to take the lead when it comes to education. Furthermore, they’re looking for education in the form of positive reinforcement. Stewart says that meat industry actors need to communicate with this consumer group in a way that makes them proud of their food choices.

A multidisciplinary team of scientists at the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station are testing to see if hyperspectral images can be used to detect a chicken breast defect known as “woody breast” that costs the poultry industry millions of dollars annually and decreases customer satisfaction. Dongyi Wang, assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering, explains that hyperspectral imaging is a non-invasive sensing technique that combines a near-infrared sensor with a high-definition color camera to capture physical and chemical information.Woody breast detection with a hyperspectral camera system would take just a few seconds with a computer instead of grading by hand. “If hyperspectral imaging can be used in a poultry processing plant, that labor force could be diverted to another area.”

“Woody breast is still a safe product. It just can have a crunchy texture in some cases that is not appealing to customers, but it can be diverted for further processing into products like chicken nuggets, sausage, or chicken patties where the defect is not as noticeable,” said Casey Owens, the Novus International Professor of Poultry Science at the experiment station. Owens said one theory is that the fast-growing birds may be producing muscle faster than the blood vessels can support them, leading to muscle fiber damage and therefore increased collagen deposits. Chaitanya Kumar Reddy Pallerla, a food science graduate student working on the project, said each image with a hyperspectral camera takes up about 1 gigabyte of data. The photo is processed by a computer and correlated with a texture map indicating hardness levels in the fillet created with Owens’ previous research. Once calibrated, the system would rely on the images alone to detect woody breast. Wang said the hyperspectral camera, so far, has detected woody breast meat with about 84 percent accuracy. The goal is to accommodate high-speed sorting on a conveyor belt, or handheld portable devices, he added.