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WORLD OSTRICH ASSOCIATION "To Represent The International Ostrich
Industry Through Communication, Dissemination of Information and Provision of
Industry |
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Newsletter No. 50 – May 2007
1. Scientific Referencing 2. Feeding Broiler Breeders for Chick Quality 3. Newly Hatched Chicks and Early access to Feed 4. Breeding for Meat Quality and High Yield Products 5. How Animal Welfare Affects Shopping in
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1. Scientific Referencing Quote: References are very much a double-edged sword, or perhaps a bazooka. In the wrong hands, they can do far more harm than good. And in the, essentially, unchecked system that we now have, one careless reference can end up taking on a life of its own. It gets stuck in the medical information ‘machine' replicating itself like some malevolent computer virus, gradually infecting all data and turning it into useless mush. End Quote[i]
A medical doctor, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, made this statement discussing issues as they affect our health, but the statement is true in many fields of science. Over the years, we have warned of the problems scientific referencing has created in our ostrich industry.
Research in ostrich production only started in the late 1980s. We witnessed a number of scientists entering the industry, as Ostrich appeared to offer excellent career prospects as a new industry, developing globally. During the early to mid 90s, there was a proliferation of papers published by scientists. Very few were peer-reviewed, and even if peer-reviewed, any hypothesis or experimentation had not had the test of time to prove the accuracy in practice.
As Ostrich developed into new countries, the scientists in these countries would look for any information published on ostrich as they assumed the published data was proven accurate. The practice of referencing in this way has contributed to the ongoing publications of misinformation as it applies to ostrich.
2. Feeding Broiler Breeders for Chick Quality[ii] Aviagen is one of the largest poultry companies in the world. All are aware of the tremendous advances made in the efficiency of poultry production. The article discusses nutritional aspects to achieve high production on chicken that of course do not apply to Ostrich. However, the introduction is just as relevant in ostrich production.
Quote: For a chick to fulfil its genetic potential as a broiler chicken, it is imperative that it has the best possible start in life.
For successful broiler production, a chick requires good bodyweight, with excellent nutritional reserves at day old. It needs to be in excellent health with a fully functioning immune system. From this starting point, providing the broiler with suitable environment and nutrition will enable optimal performance to be achieved.
The developing embryo and the hatched chick are completely dependent for their growth and development on nutrients deposited in the egg. Consequently, the physiological status of the chick at hatching is greatly influenced by the nutrition of the breeder hen.
In reviewing breeder nutrition, it should be remembered that nutrient supply to the broiler breeder is a sum of two parts, namely nutrient content of the diet and quantity of feed supplied to the breeder birds. Both parts need to be balanced to ensure correct daily nutrient supply.” End Quote
The importance of adequate breeder nutrition can never be underestimated, it is critical to the success of chick rearing and the commercial viability of any livestock production industry.
Quote: “It is also very important to realise that the cost of feeding the breeder appropriately to ensure good nutritional status of the chick is very low when viewed on a per chick basis and compared with the total feed cost of raising a broiler to slaughter weight. Calini (2006) calculated that the cost of breeder feed contributing to the production of a chick is equivalent to only 7% of the total feed cost for a broiler grown to 2.5Kg. This illustrates the value of ensuring the best possible nutrition of the breeder. End quote
The lack of adequate nutrients provided to our Ostrich breeders currently a significant problem with Ostrich production. It is the number one reason that conversion of eggs to chicks is very poor, chick mortality high, food conversion poor and too many days taken to reach slaughter weight – adding significantly to costs of production.
The paper “Cutting the Costs of Production”[iii] demonstrates how the breeder feed costs per chick can be more than halved even if the cost per kilo of breeder feed is doubled to provide adequate nutrients from the right sources. This is the impact of Ostrich’s low daily intake of feed and their high production potential when the nutritional base of the feed is formulated in a “production livestock” manner.
For our industry to become competitive, all producers must recognise the need to feed breeders adequately to achieve the full genetic potential.
3. Breeding for Meat Quality and High Yield Products[iv] This is another article written by a major poultry genetic specialist company. The introduction states:
Quote: At Cobb, we understand how the quality of these traits impacts on our customers’ profits and for the last two decades we have invested millions of dollars in developing a higher yielding broiler, with breast meat yield increasing 6% of live weight. Our research and development team will continue progressing to keep pace with demands for increased yield and meat quality as well as various aspects of fillet shape, all in an effort to increase white meat yield and sizing yields for our customers. End Quote
This is discussing the increased weight of breast meat as a percentage of liveweight because it is more valuable than the leg and wing meat. Take the Fan – OS1046 as an example with Ostrich as a high value muscle because its size makes it a very versatile muscle. This muscle currently varies enormously and the longer, deeper framed birds will produce a much larger Fan than birds of a more torpedo shape and poor frame development. The article “The Potential Meat Yield of Ostrich”[v] proves that as an industry, we can more than double the current average meat yields of ostrich and we can do it in many fewer days to slaughter than is the current average.
4. Newly Hatched Chicks and Early access to Feed[vi] Quote: The small intestine of the newly-hatched chick is immature and undergoes significant morphological, biochemical, and molecular changes during the 2 week post-hatch.
The timing and form of nutrients supplied post-hatch is critical for development of intestines. It has been shown that early access to feed accelerates the rate of yolk utilization and enhances growth of the intestinal tract.
Usual hatchery practices result in a 24-72 hr transition between hatching and placing of chicks on the farm. The delayed access to feed can lead to a depression in intestinal function, which may negatively affect subsequent performance of birds.
Studies have also shown that providing developing embryo with exogenous nutrients (in ovo feeding) may enhance intestinal tract development and lead to higher body weight in ovo fed chicks. End quote
The issues raised in this discussion are:
- The importance of chick access to feed as soon as possible after hatch - The reduced performance of chicks as a direct result of the delay when provision of feed is delayed due to the time taken from hatching to transfer to rearing farm. - Studies proving that improved breeder feed to enhance embryo development in the egg may lead to higher body weight in chicks at hatch.
These issues are all very relevant for Ostrich production and confirm again the critical importance of adequate breeder nutrition.
5. How Animal Welfare Affects Shopping in As countries become increasingly
wealthy, the methods of production and welfare of the animals providing the
food we eat become increasingly important. As a result, the EU funded a
major study – The Welfare Quality® study. The results are now published and show that across
Copies of the full study are available at http://www.welfarequality.net/everyone.
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Copyright © of the World Ostrich Association, All Rights Reserved |
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[i] “The Death of the Reference”, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, http://www.thincs.org/Malcolm.htm
[ii] “Feeding Broiler Breeders for Chick Quality”, by Aviagen http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/793/feeding-broiler-breeders-for-chick-quality
[iii] “Cutting the costs of Production”, Fiona Benson and Daryl Holle, http://www.blue-mountain.net/research/cutcosts.htm
[iv] “Breeding for Meat Quality and High Yield Products”, By Dr Danny Lubritz, Cobb geneticist http://www.thepoultrysite.com/articles/803/breeding-for-meat-quality-and-high-yield-products
[v] “Potential Meat Yield of Ostrich”, Fiona Benson, http://www.blue-mountain.net/research/potmeatyield.htm
[vi] “Newly Hatched Chicks and Early Access to Feed” by Mojtaba Yegani, http://www.worldpoultry.net