Poultry grant to Arkansas
The U.S. Poultry and Egg Association recently awarded a $110,000 grant through its USPOULTRY Foundation to fund research addressing animal welfare in commercial broiler farms.
The research, “Effect of Variable Light Intensity Program on Broiler Gait Score, Stress and Central Positive Welfare in Commercial Broiler Farm” is a joint project of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture and Tyson Foods.
Light intensity has been shown to affect the activity of birds, but most studies have focused on constant light intensities to determine their effect on welfare. This project will provide objective measures to evaluate the impact on broiler welfare (i.e., lameness, stress and behavior) by light sources and intensity.
Karen Christensen, Ph.D., senior director of animal welfare for Tyson Foods, and primary investigator for their animal welfare research, and Seong Wook Kang, poultry research associate for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the research arm of the Division of Agriculture, will collaborate on the project.
The topic and request for proposal were selected by the USPOULTRY Board of Directors for funding through the Board Research Initiative program. The Foundation Research Advisory Committee evaluated numerous research proposals and recommended several proposals for consideration. The board then selected the specific projects to fund.
