Welcome to the first issue after the removal of automatic print copy for all members. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have opted for online access to the journal only, as this will represent a major saving in costs of production for WPSA, money that is most definitely more usefully employed elsewhere in the organisation. We do understand that some members still wish to receive a print copy – and have always supported that for specific cases. We have no plans to reduce the circulation of the Journal at all – but just to streamline things to make best use of finances.

This year is shaping up to be busy again – with many conferences being announced in the events section. In addition, there is increasing focus on the African Network, which will yield some interesting outcomes and directly impacts on the main tenets of the organisation – supporting developing countries and their specific needs. In my limited work with the African Poultry Network, I have found some excellent enterprising researchers who are very dedicated to their work and provide necessary services in various countries.

The Journal continues to attract more papers on varying topics, which is excellent. However we are getting some very long papers coming in, which need to be split up into sections in order for us to keep control of the size of each issue (especially for printing) from the publishing side. However, authors with longer papers are most welcome to contact me directly to discuss how best to proceed. We aim to help people as much as we can within the Editorial Office!

The 2013 Board and Editorial meetings will be held at the Italian conference in mid-September – so anyone wishing to contact me on specific issues can do so then. My Editorial Board are a varied group who are all very active in contributing to supporting the Journal for which I am eminently thankful. It is a chance to meet up with old friends and colleagues as well – and I am very much looking forward to it. Even in these times of recession, conference attendance is still very important, not only for presenting research data but also to network with other poultry scientists. I especially appreciate the work brought to conferences by students, as often they are working in novel and cutting edge research, giving me access to some interesting papers. Hopefully the savings in print and post costs enabled by recent changes in Journal dissemination will help promote attendance at WPSA events.

Dr Lucy Waldron

Editor

The role of the avian caeca in the maintenance of gut health, fermentation of undigested nutrients, re-cycling of nitrogen from urine, and modulation of the gut microflora is not well understood. Thus, this review details the function of the avian caeca from anatomical, physiological, microbial and nutritional points of view in the context of poultry production. Due to anatomical and physiological adaptations, only small and/or soluble particles will be refluxed into the caeca together with urine and digestive fluids. Here, salts and water will be reabsorbed, and uric acid and carbohydrates will be fermented by the abundant microflora to ammonia and volatile fatty acids. Thus, the caeca may play a role for the nutritional status of the bird, although the quantitative significance for high-yielding domesticated poultry remains to be elucidated.

The pigeon is one species among the numerous domestic animal types that contribute to the economy of Turkey as food and work, and provide diversion and pleasure for the nation's people. Pigeons are kept at the household level, usually in small numbers, by many hundreds of thousands of Turkish families, yet they have been subject to little study. This paper collates much of the information available (almost all in the Turkish language) to provide a brief history of the bird in Turkey. An inventory of the nine groups and 72 breeds that have been identified is presented. Some of these breeds are international in status, some are widespread in Turkey and some have only local distribution; many breeds have synonyms which are used in their areas of distribution. There is little government or academic support for pigeon breeders. The private Pigeon Breeders Association of Turkey and the Turkish Pigeon Federation are umbrella organisations for a number of breed clubs. In an initial attempt to standardise the national pigeon genetic resources, two of the more widespread breeds have been registered with the Animal Breeds Registration Committee of the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock.

This paper describes an innovation trajectory for sustainability in egg production in The Netherlands in the period 2002-2012. In the approach as well as in the analyses, insights from scientific disciplines that have studied transformations towards sustainability were adopted. Central stage is the project ‘Keeping and loving hens’ and its outcome, by a variety of follow up activities, in terms of technical changes as well as rearrangements of key players in the Dutch egg sector.

The ‘Keeping and loving hens’ project was meant to contribute to a change in the Dutch egg sector towards sustainability by explicating and integrating the basic needs of the hen, farmer and citizen in an interactive design process with stakeholder involvement. At the end of the project, various other projects and activities by different key players has taken place, several of which have been evaluated and published. Together they provide a detailed description of a pathway of change. The multiple design goals included income for the farmer, acceptance by the public and improved animal welfare. Analyses has shown that designing well-founded images for laying hen husbandry systems created a learning network for sustainable egg production and elicited entrepreneurial innovations which gained the support of both animal welfare and retail organisations. Furthermore, it prompted government to develop additional policy instruments to support innovation for sustainable development. By early 2012, four laying hen farms in The Netherlands had adopted the principles developed in the project including functional areas for hens, coverable runs, no beak trimming and visitor's facilities to improve local embedment. Their production represented about 0.4% of total egg production in The Netherlands. The most important outcome, however, was a realignment of key players including farmers, retail, animal welfare organizations and government. Together they contribute to a pattern of emerging supply chains characterised by improved animal husbandry at the farm level in combination with an emerging market that is prepared to pay a premium for these products.

The metabolisable energy of corn can vary by more than 400 kcal/kg in poultry. Chemical, rather than physical kernel characteristics may be more accurate for predicting nutrient and energy availability. Factors that affect variability include genetics, agronomic conditions, proximate composition, pre- and post-harvest processing variables, and the presence of anti-nutritional factors. Variation in the nutritional value of corn may be better identified when the relationship between protein and starch are considered rather than by total content or predicted digestibility values alone. Recently, the use of near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy has made rapid valuation of corn based on chemical kernel characteristics a possibility. Prediction equations may be useful for formulating diets to more closely approximate actual metabolisable energy content for poultry.

The zootechnical performances of broilers at the end of the rearing period depend in part on the quality of day-old chicks at placement. The quality of day-old chicks is highly affected by the incubation conditions, by hatch time (which determines the time spent in the hatcher under high temperature and humidity), and by the handling of chicks after hatch. This article first presents an overview of the most relevant pre-incubation factors that affect chick quality: egg size, egg weight, quality of eggs, sex of embryos, age of breeders, and conditions and duration of egg storage. It then reviews the most important incubation factors that affect hatch time, hatchability and hatch window (temperature, humidity, turning, ventilation and concentration of gases). Finally, the effect of early post-hatch handling (including processing and especially transportation of chicks) as a possible source of stress influencing the quality of chicks at placement is discussed.

The quality of poultry feed is an important precondition to achieve optimal production results, and the preservation of the health status of animals, especially in intensive livestock production, hence it is necessary to control both raw materials and finished feed mixtures. The presence of fungi (moulds) in food for animals is a natural phenomenon, not an exception. Sources of contamination of poultry feed with fungi and resulting mycotoxins vary, starting with raw materials (e.g. corn as the most common component) during harvest and transport, during storage of raw materials and finished products, as well as in the production process and manipulation of poultry feed. Mineral adsorbents are increasingly used in poultry production, especially in the nutrition of various types and categories of poultry, to control fungal contamination. Using different mineral adsorbents in poultry nutrition can prevent the losses due to mycotoxicosis. It can also prevent appearance of toxic residues in poultry products, improve production and reproductive ability of birds, and contribute to improving the quality of poultry products. In addition, the use of mineral adsorbents in poultry feeds has application in neutralising the harmful effects of mycotoxins in buildings where poultry is reared.

Enzyme supplementation of poultry diets is nutritionally, economically and environmentally justified. Enzymes are used to increase the energy value of feed ingredients and enhance the utilisation of protein, fats, carbohydrates and phytin phosphorus from plant materials, leading to a lower excretion rate of undigested nutrients into the environment and, hence, reduced environmental pollution. This is especially important regarding proteases, as the correct digestion of nitrogenous compounds in feed materials is essential for reducing N excretion – a major pollutant worldwide. Numerous studies have shown no adverse effects of enzyme supplementation in broiler diets on body weight, mortality, health, feed intake, FCR, nutrient digestibility, meat quality and production costs. However, there is still a large amount of uncertainty regarding the use of enzymes.

Feather pecking (FP) in laying hens remains an important economic and welfare issue. This paper reviews the literature on causes of FP in laying hens. With the ban on conventional cages in the EU from 2012 and the expected future ban on beak trimming in many European countries, addressing this welfare issue has become more pressing than ever. The aim of this review paper is to provide a detailed overview of underlying principles of FP. FP is affected by many different factors and any approach to prevent or reduce FP in commercial flocks should acknowledge that fact and use a multifactorial approach to address this issue. Two forms of FP can be distinguished: gentle FP and severe FP. Severe FP causes the most welfare issues in commercial flocks. Severe FP is clearly related to feeding and foraging behaviour and its development seems to be enhanced in conditions where birds have difficulty in coping with environmental stressors. Stimulating feeding and foraging behaviour by providing high-fibre diets and suitable litter from an early age onwards, and controlling fear and stress levels through genetic selection, reducing maternal stress and improving the stockmanship skills of the farmer, together offer the best prospect for preventing or controlling FP.

During food processing, proteins are subjected to different modifications, of which most are the result of proteolytic enzyme activity. Due to these mild and easily controlled reaction conditions, this method of modification has been commonly applied in producing high quality food products. Processing affects the conformation of the molecule and its biological activity. Limited hydrolysis leads to improvement of both the functional and nutritional properties of proteins, as well as their organoleptic characteristics. Proteolytic enzymes release peptides that frequently show different specific biological activities. Bioactive peptides govern the function of other compounds in the bloodstream, digestive, immune and nervous systems. Food sources of bioactive peptides exhibiting anti-hypertensive, anti-tumour, antioxidant or antimicrobial activities include milk, eggs and fish. Biopeptides with specific biological activities can be used in pharmaceutical, cosmetic or food industries as natural substances which prevent adverse changes, as food additives or as functional food ingredients with defined benefits to the consumer. The following paper reviews the role of hens eggs as a source of bioactive peptides, and how these can be used in functional foods.

The productivity and health status of household poultry are under continuous challenges from endemic, emerging and re-emerging diseases in many developing countries. A key success to efficient rural poultry disease control is to harness both current disease status and farmer's knowledge. Participatory disease surveillance is a re-emerging epidemiology concept that is practically based and gives local farmers a greater role in shaping identified health and production programs. The concept involves open communication and transfer of knowledge by applying a toolkit of methods guided by some key concepts and attitudes to establish current health and production status and to identify best policy intervention strategies. Surveys from a total of 90 villages with a focus group discussion involving at least 15 participants, were conducted. The profiling tools used in the study included relative incidence scoring, disease impact matrix scoring and visualization techniques while probing was used to check responses. Matrix scoring indicated Newcastle disease (ND) as the most important disease of poultry. ND, ectoparasitism and fowl pox were the most prevalent poultry diseases. Farmers in this region possess rich indigenous veterinary knowledge but lack access to modern veterinary facilities. The economic impacts of these poultry diseases are significantly high. Participatory disease surveillance has made tremendous contributions towards controlling livestock diseases and is now a global concept that needs to be fully adapted in Nigeria and other developing countries. This paper reviews the principal methodology of participatory epidemiology and highlights feedbacks from a field research in the Jos Plateau, Nigeria.

Food borne illness is one of the most widespread health problems in the world and an important cause of reduced economic productivity especially in developing and under developed countries. In addition, food safety of poultry products remains a serious problem in many countries in the world. Similar to many other countries, the development of food safety standards in Iran is handled by the government. The poultry industry in Iran has been and is under dynamic and progressive development. In spite of the advances in the poultry industry in Iran, the issues of food borne pathogens, and drug and chemical residues remain. Meat inspection at poultry processing plants has been successful, but obviously has certain limitations. More importantly, drug, pesticide, mycotoxin and other chemical residues must be monitored in poultry meat and eggs. This work has to be carried out in close collaboration with human and environmental health professionals, analysts, epidemiologists, food producers, processors and traders. Poultry veterinarians and the Iran Veterinary Organization (IVO) should play a decision-making role in the development of the poultry industry. Poultry veterinarians and IVO have a dual responsibility; epidemiological surveillance of poultry diseases and ensuring the safety of meat and eggs. Via their presence on farms and appropriate collaboration with farmers, poultry veterinarians play a key role in ensuring that birds are kept under hygienic conditions, especially conditions which have public health significance. Slaughterhouse inspection of live birds (ante-mortem) and the carcass (post-mortem) plays a key role in both the surveillance network for poultry diseases and zoonoses and ensuring the safety of poultry meat.

This study analysed the profitability of poultry feed marketing in Imo State with a view that potential investors would be more likely to invest in the business if they are convinced that the enterprise is viable economically. Imo State was selected for the study because of its high concentration of poultry feed marketers. A sample of 59 poultry feed marketers, spread across the state, were randomly selected from a sampling frame of 99 marketers. Data were collected with the use of a well structured and validated questionnaire and analysed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression techniques and profitability indices. The results indicated that the cost of initial purchase of the feeds constituted the greatest share of the total cost, at 95.18%. The rate of return to investment gave an index of 6%, implying that for every Naira currency unit invested the return to investment is six Naira thirteen kobo (N6.13K). Regression results showed that the cost of labour, storage and selling price was negatively and significantly associated with net income, while cost of initial purchase and wages showed a positive relationship with net income. No significant relationship was found to exist between net income, cost of transportation and rental. The major constraints to poultry feed marketing were found to be high cost of transportation, shortage of trading capital, and price fluctuations. It was therefore recommended that the government should provide good road networks to reduce transportation cost. The marketers should form cooperative associations (where they do not currently exist) for their common benefit, and as a source of facilities from the banks to solve the problem of capital shortage. To further reduce the cost of initial purchase, the government and other agencies should consider subsidising poultry feed.

The hen's egg, in the form of table eggs and egg products, forms a staple part of the world's total protein consumption. In the last century, there has been considerable research effort focusing on ways of improving egg production and enhancing the quality of eggs. More recently, and with the development and application of new molecular technologies, our understanding and knowledge of how an egg is formed, what it actually consists of, in terms of its major versus minor components, and what the functional roles of each of these components might be, have been greatly enhanced. For example, new previously unknown molecules with specific activity or functional properties have been discovered in the egg albumen and yolk, some of which have potential uses in pharmaceutical and other food related applications. This review paper, which is the collaborative effort of members of Working Group 4 - Quality of Eggs and Egg Products - of the European Federation of WPSA, describes the scientific research behind a number of these major advances and provides some insight to the focus of current research in this area.

The World’s Poultry Science Journal is indebted to Prof J.A. Castello, Prof D.K. Flock, Dr D. Grastilleur, Dr S. Cherepanov and Prof N. Yang for the translations of these summaries.