Networks to support family poultry production systems have been ongoing for around 30 years. This paper identifies the main groups involved and details their work. The future role of the work of the networks was examined during a participatory workshop held with professionals from the networks at the World Poultry Congress 2008. Workshop participants agreed that family poultry contribute significantly to the lives of millions of poor households throughout the world and made a commitment to advance ‘Poulet sans Frontieres!’

The paper recommends that an overarching network is required that would provide a forum for scientist information exchange, development of standard protocols and subsequent comparison of results. This network would also speed the dissemination of results and technologies identified to improve poultry production, which can then be passed to poultry keepers. WPSA was identified as the lead organisation for a new network in concert with a number of the networks and agencies closely involved (INFPD, IRPC, DNSP and FAO). It is envisaged that these proposals would be available for discussion by the small-scale family poultry farming (SSFPF) community in 2009.

Hexamethyl-p-rosaniline chloride (HRC), also known as crystal violet or gentian violet, is a water soluble, triphenylmethane dye with bacteriostactic, fungistatic and antihelminthic activities. It has a wide range of uses, from a treatment in humans to an additive for poultry feeds. In the poultry industry, this compound has been proven as a fungicidal agent in feed, a selective bactericide against gram-positive bacteria, and has demonstrated inhibitory effects against the activity and infectivity of various strains of viruses including Newcastle disease and fowl-plague virus. At normal inclusion rates (0.5 to 1 kg/MT final feed), commercial products such as GV-11 (Naremco, Inc.) failed to be detected in broiler meat. High levels of consumption of gentian violet can be toxic to animals, with the single dose LD50 for GV-11 determined to be between 2.5 and 5.0 g/kg body weight.

Japanese quail are minor production birds when compared to chickens which have become a leading animal model due to recent breakthroughs in chicken research, such as genome sequence and genetically modified primordial germ cells. It might seem, therefore, that the quail has little to offer that the chicken could not provide, both commercially and scientifically. With examples drawn from recent genetic studies on the quail at INRA, this paper shows that, on the contrary, research on quail may not only bring results which are chicken-complementary, but also provide new knowledge because of the proximity of the two genera Coturnix and Gallus.

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.

The production of copra meal in some parts of the world is abundant and cheap and hence its inclusion in poultry diets would benefit the poultry industry. Its use as a feeding material would also be beneficial for the coconut industry and the environment, through the reduction of copra waste. However, the nutritional and physical qualities of this by-product are poor, and consequently, there has been limited use of this material in poultry diets. Attempts to improve the quality of this feedstuff have been made through supplementation with amino acids and enzymes as well as physical treatments such as pelleting, soaking and grinding. This paper reviews some issues of using copra meal as a poultry diet and aspects of dealing with the problems.

Aggressive (i.e. over-) feeding of broiler breeder females in the period preceding onset of lay results in higher mortality and subsequent deleterious effects on egg and chick production (the ‘over-feeding complex’). An intriguing aspect of the over-feeding complex is its close parallel, albeit at a lower level, to the well known ‘Erratic Oviposition and Defective Egg Syndrome’ (EODES) obtained when feeding female broiler breeders ad libitum. This is consistent with many studies showing that partial restriction (quasi-ad libitum feeding) results in partial expression of EODES (quasi-EODES). To explain the strong deleterious effects caused by rather minor over-feeding during this critical transition period, we propose that the very severe feed restriction of the growing pullet needed to prevent the onset of EODES, combined with the genetic increase in breast meat proportion achieved by intense selection over the past two decades, results in a situation where, during the critical weeks of maturation leading up to the first egg, the body lean mass must increase greatly at the same time that the ovary is maturing. During pullet maturation, empirically determined recommended feeding plans optimally balance the need to provide the rapid increase in muscle mass needed to achieve body lean mass threshold for entry into lay, with the need to maintain the ovary in a state of sufficient restriction to avoid appearance of quasi-EODES. With feed intake delicately balanced in this manner, even minor over-feeding tips the balance in the direction of quasi-EODES resulting in the appearance of the over-feeding complex. This may have been exacerbated in the past decade by a shift in the physiological control of EODES from body weight to feed intake.

Chicken heterophils are major components of the innate immune system and constitute the first guard of defence against invading microorganisms. Heterophils in contrast to mammalian neutrophils, lack myeloperoxidase, an essential enzyme of oxidative antimicrobial activity and their antimicrobial activity depends mainly on the non–oxidative mechanism. Heterophils are equipped with very efficient non–oxidative mechanism against microorganisms where the cationic antimicrobial peptides are the most powerful molecules of this killing activity with their broad spectrum activity and the ability to kill microorganisms even with very small concentrations may constitute a new antibiotic class and the basis for new feed additives. These polymorphonuclar cells are the best model for killing activity based on oxygen independent mechanisms. Disorders in the non-oxidative antimicrobial activity induced either by genetic mutations or immunomodulation diseases have direct effect on the killing capacity of heterophils. This review focuses on the heterophils main activity, cationic antimicrobial peptides isolated from chicken heterophils with their remarkable antimicrobial activity and the protective effect of heterophils in different states.

The effect of phytate and phytase on the bioavailability of phosphorus has been appreciated for many years and phytase has been exploited commercially since the late-1990s to considerable global success. Although a number of authors have reported improved digestibility of amino acids, energy and other minerals (most notably calcium) by the addition of phytase to poultry diets, these so-called ‘extra-phosphoric’ effects of phytase are less well understood. Recent work has shed light on the underlying mechanisms by which phytase influences the apparent digestibility of amino acids, energy and minerals and much of the improvements are thought to be related to enhanced absorption of exogenous and re-absorption of endogenous amino acids. The synthesis and loss of endogenous protein is nutritionally expensive for animals and is negatively correlated with metabolisable energy, net energy, and the digestibility of nitrogen and amino acids. It has been estimated that as much as 50% of the total nitrogen present in the small intestine during digestion is of endogenous origin, resulting in negative digestibility coefficients in the proximal small intestine. Clearly the successful resorption of the secreted protein in the small intestine is critical to maintain favourable nitrogen balance and most endogenous proteins will eventually be digested and absorbed. However, a considerable proportion of endogenous secretions leave the terminal ileum and represent a net cost to the animal, the environment, and, importantly, to the poultry producer. Thus, dietary anti-nutrients that induce secretion and/or impair absorption e.g. tannins, trypsin inhibitors, or phytate can have substantial adverse consequences for productivity. The measurement and nutritional significance of endogenous losses in poultry, specifically with regard to the effect of phytate and phytase, are examined in the current review, in an attempt to explain the extra-phosphoric nutrient matrices assigned to commercial phytase products.

Poultry, unlike humans, have a fourth retinal cone that allows them to see in the UVA part of ultraviolet radiation. This ocular function is principally used by poultry to modify various behavioural functions such as feeding, peer recognition, mate selection, mating activity, and social encounters. Retinally perceived UVA controls the release of melatonin in the pineal gland of dark-adapted birds. Ultraviolet radiation has shorter wavelengths than visible light, and, as a result, is unable to penetrate to the hypothalamus to induce a photosexual response; UV is thus minimally involved in avian reproductive function. UVA and UVB have anti-rachitic properties which catalyse the synthesis of vitamin D3 from 7-dehydroxycholesterol in the skin of feet and legs, a function that prevents rickets, minimises the incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia, and normalises growth and bone ash in young birds fed diets deficient in vitamin D3; surprisingly, there is sufficient UVA in white fluorescent light to produce these benefits. UVC from the sun is filtered out by the atmosphere's ozone layer, so does not occur in sunlight, but artificially produced UVC has germicidal properties and has been shown to protect domestic fowl from aerogenic viral infections, however, vaccination has made this property superfluous to the modern poultry industry. Recently, the introduction of lamps that emit both visible light and UV has made the provision of UVA to poultry a practical proposition, and so it is opportune that the responses of poultry to UV radiation are reviewed and its relevance to modern poultry production assessed.

This paper reports the results of a seminar on poultry red mite (PRM), Dermanyssus gallinae. Eighteen researchers from eight European countries discussed life cycle issues of the mite, effects of mites on hens and egg production, and monitoring and control methods for PRM in poultry facilities. It was determined that PRM probably causes more damage than envisaged, with the cost in The Netherlands alone reaching 11 million euro per annum. However a great deal is still unknown about PRM (e.g. reproduction, survival methods, etc.) and that PRM monitoring is an important instrument in recognising and admitting the problem and in taking timely measures. Currently, the most promising control method combines heating the hen house in combination with chemical treatments. Future areas of development which show promise include the use of entomopathogenic fungi, vaccination and predatory mites. The final aim is to solve the problem of D. gallinae in housing systems for laying hens.