Around 10% of all table eggs number in the world come from quail and their meat represents about 0.2% of the global poultry production. The domestic quail population involved in production of meat and eggs represents around 11.8% of all productive birds, placing them second after laying hens. China, Spain, France, Italy, Brazil, the USA and Japan are global leading countries in quail farming. Contemporary domesticated Japanese quail, widely used in agricultural practice, originate from wild Japanese breeds (C. japonica). The wild Asian quail is similar to common quail (Coturnix coturnix) and until recently, was accepted as its subspecies (Coturnix coturnix japonica). In the scientific literature, several names for domestic quail are available, so readers can easily become confused as to which species is really meant - wild, domesticated or common quail. In order to avoid confusion of names and to emphasise changes resulting from domestication, the term ‘domestic quail’ and its corresponding Latin name Coturnix japonica domestica is more appropriate. Within the EU legal framework, domestic quail should be included in parallel to other domestic fowl species.

Water makes up over 98% of all molecules in the body and it is necessary for several biological processes. Water quality has been shown to influence animal's performance. In recent years, interest in water treatment technology has increased, particularly in poultry. Magnetised water is one of water treatment that has attracted poultry researchers and breeders, due to its low cost compared to chemical and physical water treatments. Water magnetisation changes water properties, making it become more fluid, alkaline and energised. Unfortunately, the information detailed in the literature provides opposite views on the effect of magnetised water on poultry's performance. However, magnetised water, particularly with high gauss (more than 1000 gauss/month) could improve health (immunity), growth (approximately +4 % in weight) for broilers and enhance some egg production traits for hens, such as eggshell thickness (approximately +9 %). This review provides information detailed in the existing literature on the influence of magnetised water on poultry health and production.

Feed cost is a major impediment to commercial poultry production in the South Pacific region because traditional feed ingredients (grains and oilseeds) are not grown in the region and imported at high price. As a result, meat has to be imported, which in Fiji increased by 69% between 2010 and 2011 (Diarra, 2017). Samoa was valued at about US$ 17 million or 87% of total cost of meat import in the country in 2012 and 2013. Several ingredients, which are available locally, could be included to reduce feed cost in the region. By-products of root/tuber harvest (peels and leaves), low value crops, fruits and by-products (peels and pulps), oil cakes (copra and palm kernel), by-products from the brewery, livestock/poultry slaughter, hatchery and fish processing and insect meal are readily available in most countries of the region. With adequate processing and correct diet formulation, these materials could replace reasonable proportions of the conventional energy and protein ingredients and reduce feed cost. Several factors including the type and source of material, processing method, diet composition, species, age and class of poultry affect the dietary recommendations of alternative ingredients. Currently however, the use of these resources in feed production in the region is limited due to lack of processing and analytical facilities, likely presence of antinutritional substances and poor knowledge on their nutritive value. Continued research into processing technology, regular training for farmers and extension staff and establishment of community owned feed processing units for optimum utilisation of locally available resources will benefits the poultry industry in the region.

Astragalus membranaceus (AM) is a member of the family Leguminosae which has been widely used as immunomodulatory agent. Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) possess promising biological activities like immune enhancing, anti-oxidant, anti-viral, anti-microbial and anti-parasitic activities. Researchers have studied the immune enhancing activities of AM in birds and reported that APS and sulphated APS (4 or 8 mg/kg of body weight) showed immunomodulatory effects broiler chicks infected with lipopolysaccharide and modulated the resulting negative effects. AM powder supplementation in broiler feed at levels of 0, 100, 200 and 300 mg /kg diet increased the immune organs weight and IgG level and improved the liver and kidney functions and antioxidant status. Dietary APS (10 g/kg) promoted the growth rate and the histology of jejunum of offspring chickens. The addition of crude AM at 0.5% in laying hen feed for 21 days was able to improve the composition of faecal microorganisms. The following review describes the structure and chemical composition of AM and its immunomodulatory role in improving the health status of poultry and its mechanisms of action.

Incidences of myopathies such as white striping (WS), woody breast (WB) and spaghetti meat (SP) in breast meat from young broilers have been observed globally over the past decade. Some industry reports suggest up to 20% WB occurrence in fast growing heavy broilers (~4.0 kg) with an estimated cost of more than US$500 million/year to the US industry alone, but may actually be far higher. The proportions and severity of the anomaly appear to be flock-dependent and are related to factors such as genetics, nutrition (e.g. protein level during the fast-growing phase), growth rate, activity of the birds at young age, sudden bursts of activity, number of embryonic stem cells and litter management. These three myopathies can appear together or individually, but it appears that they are all related. When meat is processed, these myopathies represent quality issues (firmer meat and/or lower water binding, aesthetics) but do not present a food safety issue. The poultry industry is now focusing on ways to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of these myopathies. Recently some improvements have been made as more is learned about the interactions between environmental and management (e.g., nutrition) factors, and some producers are already implementing new procedures. Breeding programmes are starting to show some promise and are expected to help reduce WB (estimated at 10% of birds per year) and deliver more solutions in the future.

Processing poultry results in considerable waste and/or by-products. Assuming a 70% yield during processing, the aggregate of waste from processing chickens for meat globally is 45.9 million tons. The nitrogen in processing waste and by-products globally is 1.3 million metric tons; equivalent to 49% of nitrogen in poultry excreta globally. If yield increased to 80%, as seen in the USA, there is a concomitant reduction in processing waste. If this were extended globally, there would be a 19.1 million metric ton reduction in processing waste. The global cost of processing chicken has been calculated as 51.3 x 109 MJ (equivalent to 0.06% of agricultural/food energy usage). The environmental costs of processing include energy, high quality (potable) water usage (estimated at about 30 litres per bird) and large quantities of organic solids and ‘dirty’ water as by-products together with contamination of surface and of ground water. There is a case for viewing poultry waste as a resource. These co-products could be used as human foods, high protein animal feed ingredients (after rendering), high value health related products (e.g. collagen, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulphate), bioenergy (e.g. biodiesel) and other products. The following review focuses on estimating the amount of processing waste and approaches to reduce processing waste, such as increasing yield and considering waste as a resource or, at least potential, co-product.

The aim of this review paper is to review the data on tea tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) as an antimicrobial, antioxidant and acaricidal in poultry production. Tea tree exhibits a wide spectrum of antimicrobial activities with minimal inhibitory concentrations between 0.12 and 4 mg/ml. Its modes of action against Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli (0.12 to 1.5 mg/ml), Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus (0.12 to 1 mg/ml), Aspergillus fumigatus (1.78 mg/ml) and yeast, Candida albicans (0.05 to 0.5 mg/ml) have been investigated using a range of different methods. As an antimicrobial, tea tree has high antifungal, bacteriostatic and germicidal activity (e.g. a decrease of 73.8% in Candida sp.), because of its components such as terpinen-4-ol, α-terpineol, linalool, α-pinene, β-pinene, β-myrcene and 1,8-cineole. Its bioactive compounds such as α-terpinene, α-terpinolene and γ-terpinene show high antioxidant activity when applied in concentrations of 100 and 200 µl/ml, while its essential oils demonstrated free radical scavenging activity of 60 to 80%. Tea trees insecticidal and acaricidal properties have been tested for tick control. The mortality of ticks (Ixodes ricinus) and poultry red mites (Dermanyssus gallinae) have been recorded at levels over 60% and 80%, respectively, when used in concentrations of 0.15 to 0.30 mg/cm2 during in vitro testing, and in vivo, when sprayed in poultry houses. When tea tree was used in a form of essential oils as a dietary supplement in concentrations of 50 to 150 mg/kg in broiler chicken diets, a significant increase in daily weight (by around 7%) and decrease in morbidity and mortality were seen. Additionally, when applied in laying hen nutrition, a significant increase in daily egg production has been recorded. Tea tree essential oils when supplemented in poultry diets have high positive effects regarding productivity performance, but this requires further field experiments to clarify standardisation of the material and effective inclusion levels.

In the face of reducing reliance on in-feed antibiotics, a greater emphasis has been placed on the development of vaccines. Adjuvants play important role in vaccine refinement. Apart from conventional adjuvants, others, like cytokines and toll-like receptors (TLR), have been evaluated experimentally. For example, Pam3CSK4, Polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid are used as immunostimulatory agents which upregulate the expression of type 1 IFNs against avian influenza. The use of TLR4 (lipopolysaccharide; LPS), TLR7 (Loxoribine) and TLR21 (CpG-ODN) agonists have shown good results when used as adjuvants with the avian influenza vaccine. The LPS (TLR4) was used as an adjuvant and liposome as intranasal antigen delivery system for Newcastle's disease (NDV) antigen, which induced significant increases in secretory IgA in tracheal lavage fluid and serum IgG levels. In a challenge study it provided 80% protection against virulent challenge. When resiquimod (TLR7) was used as an adjuvant with inactivated NDV, this potentiated the protective response to 100% against virulent NDV challenge, while protection was only 80% in the vaccine alone group. When 64CpG-plasmids (TLR21) were co-administered with inactivated AIV H5N2 vaccine in chickens, it led to a higher HI titre at two and four weeks of age, and provided 100% protection against virulent challenge of avian influenza. The TLR 3 agonist (poly I:C) showed good results against NDV and avian reovirus. Other TLR agonists and cytokines used against NDV include LPS, loxoribine, CpG-ODN and ChIFN-α, IFN- γ (with an in ovo vaccine). Immunostimulatory adjuvants like LPS, chicken TLR21, have been tried with Marek's disease vaccine, and TLR 5 agonist was used against Salmonella enteritidis and Eimeria tenella. Although the study of cytokines and TLRs in avian species is still in its infancy when compared to that of mammals, huge strides have been made in recent years. In this article, recent studies involving the assessment of immunostimulatory adjuvants in poultry are reviewed.

Junglefowl display adaptive characters like seasonal breeding, well-established social hierarchy, explorative behaviour, territoriality, aggression and short ranged flight, however, they are smaller, produce less and mature later than commercial breeds. Non-green junglefowl cocks display eclipse plumage – a reliable indicator of genetic purity and a trait that has been disappeared from chickens. Junglefowl show high sexual dimorphism, however, intra-sex level variation is considerably limited. There are conflicting reports on viability of hybrids from junglefowl, however, red junglefowl crossed with chickens invariably produce fertile offspring. Although junglefowl and chickens share common parasites and diseases, junglefowl exhibit high variability in natural immunity and are relatively resilient to infection. Junglefowl prefer secondary forests and village environs, demonstrating their propensity for human landscapes. Habitat preference and historical, ritual and leisure activities of ancient man might have resulted in junglefowl being recruited for domestication. Particularly, native chickens share a number of phenotypic characters with junglefowl, however, cosmopolitan chickens have experienced high phenotypic input from world-wide dispersal and adaptation to a wide range of management and breeding regimes. Based on morphological scores and behavioural ecology, red junglefowl resembles chickens and amongst the junglefowls, red and Ceylon junglefowl are closely related, whereas grey and green junglefowl have been found to be distant.

Man has been in interrelationship with wild water fowl for thousands of years. Yet, in that time, only two species of wild geese have been domesticated (13.3% of all true geese); the Greylag goose (Anser anser) in the fourth millennium B.C. and the swan goose (Anser cygnoides) in the second millennium B.C. From these two species, numerous breeds (181) have been developed. Compared to other domestic animals, the goose has varied less during domestication, aside from a few modifications in appearance, reproductive traits, internal organs and behaviour. It has increased in body weight, and hence became a non-migratory bird. Compare to the greylag goose (gander 2.8-4.1 kg, goose 2.5-3.8 kg body weight), the body weight of the Toulouse gander has increased by 331-421%, and the Toulouse goose by 286-364%. The African goose developed higher body weights (gander by 285-362%, goose by 292-311%) compared to the weight of the swan goose (gander 3.5 kg, goose 2.8-3.5 kg body weight). Conformation traits have changed, whereby the natural grey feather colour has changed to white in some breeds. Furthermore, sexual maturity has accelerated, and prolificacy increased. Egg production of a significant proportion of the European goose breeds has increased by 600-1000% compared to the greylag goose (5-6 eggs/goose). For example, egg production of the Chinese goose has increased by 875-1200% compare to the wild swan goose (5-8 eggs/goose), and the monogamous partnership typical of wild geese has turned into polygamous matings.

Decreasing heat increment through lowering crude protein (CP) level via supplemental amino acids (AA) have long been suggested as a nutritional practice to alleviate negative heat stress effects on broiler performance. However, there is a considerable body of inconclusive reports on optimisation of such practices, whereby bird performance remains unchanged. The exact mechanism underlying the impaired growth performance in birds fed with reduced-CP diets is not clear yet. Furthermore, adding the environmental temperature factor to the situation may complicate the solution. To date, there is no agreement on the extent of reducing CP level via AA supplementation so that growth performance remains unaffected. Evidence suggests that dietary CP could be reduced safely by 2.3% via essential AA supplementation during later ages, when birds are exposed to an average daily ambient temperature of ≤27.3°C. When Gly was added (a non-essential AA source), the margin of CP reduction could be increased to 5.1% without compromising the growth of broilers subjected to cyclic heat stress. Nonetheless, feeding broilers with a similar Gly-fortified, reduced protein diet failed to support optimal performance under hot and humid tropical climates in 1-21-d-old broilers and had a major impact on growth in broilers reared at 34°C. Regardless of supplemental AA composition or the level of CP reduction, the performance of broilers was negatively affected when birds were subjected to chronic heat stress conditions (≥30°C). These discrepancies can be attributed to a wide range of confounding factors, such as the extent of lowering CP level, types of AA used, age and environmental conditions. Accordingly, the addition of Gly may represent a good approach for reducing dietary CP levels for broilers raised under elevated ambient temperature. Reducing dietary CP is recommended when birds are exposed to moderate but not chronic heat stress conditions.

Slow-growing, male chickens raised with outdoor access have been found to be a nutritious protein source with 24.83% protein in breast muscle. They have an acceptable carcass quality with at least 20% less abdominal fat, 3% more breast yield, and 3% more thigh yield than the birds raised in confinement. Similarly, slow-growing male chickens grown with outdoor access have a good bone quality with femur weight, length and diameter (16.5 g, 96.7 mm, and 8.61 mm, respectively). Considering fatty acid profile as a meat quality trait, breast muscles of slow-growing birds grown with outdoor access compared to those without such access have significantly higher polyunsaturated fatty acids level (3.85 vs. 3.36%), lower n6:n3 PUFA ratio (7.8 vs. 9.22) and lower saturated fatty acids content (26.29 vs. 28.73%). Raising slow-growing male chickens in production systems with outdoor access has been confirmed to be beneficial for the animals, the producers, the consumers and the environment.

The poultry industry is mainly scared by affected by infections due to microorganisms which reduce the growth rate and cause economic losses. Currently, vaccines and antibiotics are utilised to combat these infectious microorganisms, but irresponsible use of antibiotics may pose health risks to consumers, and there is a need for drug-free alternatives. Nanotechnology could reduce such risks and can improve the wholesomeness of poultry meat. This review discusses the current status of nanotechnology as it relates to improving poultry health by using various nano-particles (NPs). Silver-NPs at a dose rate of 900 ppm have been used in poultry to improve their growth performance in terms of body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. NPs are thought to boost immunity in birds against numerous diseases. Gold-NPs improved the growth performance of poultry birds as well as detecting avian influenza virus with a detection limit of 2.2 pg/ml. Similarly, Copper-loaded chitosan-NPs supplementation at dose rate of 100 mg/kg feed improved growth performance, immunity, protein synthesis and caecal microbiota in broilers. Zinc oxide-NPs improved growth performance and showed anti-oxidative properties in broilers at the dose rate of 20 mg/kg. While, montmorillonite nano-composites at a level of 3 g/kg feed decreased the toxicity of aflatoxins in poultry birds. In conclusion, nanotechnology has the potential to reduce microbial load without resulting drug residues in poultry products, thus improving performance and immune status of poultry birds.

In evaluating the quality of table eggs and the developmental stages of embryonic eggs, spectroscopic techniques provide greater efficiency than traditional, time-consuming and laborious approaches. This review summarises recent developments in the spectroscopic analysis of table eggs, including the determination of the chemical composition (ratios of performance to standard deviation of 4.38, 2.25, 2.28, 2.31, and 3.03 for fat, moisture, and protein in egg yolk and moisture and protein in egg albumen, respectively, have been reported). A Haugh unit detection accuracy RMSEP (root mean square error of prediction) for quality of 6.29 was obtained by hyperspectral imaging) for table eggs and fertility detection (for white-shell eggs, fertility detection has been realised at a promising rate of 93.5%) and gender determination in hatching eggs. In conclusion, hyperspectral imaging generally outperforms visible or near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy when evaluating both consumption eggs and hatching eggs, and near-infrared reflectance Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy exhibit a strong potential for gender determination prior to hatching. Scientists have attained a correct sexing rate above 90% at 3.5 d of egg incubation without removing the inner shell membrane. In the detection of blood-spot eggs or fertile eggs, eggshell colour proved to be a negative factor.

Ducks are waterfowl belonging to the Anatidae family of cosmopolitan distribution. In duck production systems, obtaining ducklings at one-day-old is determinant for the productive chain. The egg production in some species of ducks reaches about 250 to 300 eggs per year. Obtaining one-day-old ducklings can be done by natural incubation with a broody female duck or artificially in an incubator. During artificial incubation, fertility and hatchability are the most important indicators that must be controlled, because they influence the supply of ducklings to the farm. Many factors are related to fertility and hatching, such as environmental conditions, production system, season, nutrition, management of broodstock, storage time of egg and cleaning of eggs before the incubation. According to some reports, Pekin eggs have greater hatchability than Muscovy eggs. The eggs of Muscovy have presented values lower than 22.7% of hatchability. The hatchability of Pekin duck eggs was 78.0% in the spring, while in summer it was around 46.5%. The best hatchability is observed during the winter (57.68%), as in the summer it decreases to 54.14%. The reproductive characteristics of flocks, age, external and internal quality of the egg, male female relation, and presence of lethal genes are factors that directly involve breeders. Larger sexual ratios between males and females of 1:4.3 to 1: 10 cause reduced egg fertility from 75.9% down to 49.6%. Successful production of day-old ducklings starts with the proper selection and management of breeding stock, proper post-lay handling of fertile eggs and the correct incubation process. There are different methods used to improve the hatchability such as dipping eggs in nutrients during the incubation period.

Ferulic acid is (FA) is a phenolic compound found in vegetables, fruits, cereals and coffee. It exists in both a free form and covalently conjugated to polysaccharides in the plant cell wall, polyamines, hydroxyl fatty acids, lignin, and glycoproteins. It has exhibited many vital biological properties, such as growth enhancing, antioxidant, antibacterial and immunomodulatory effects. It can be used as a food preservative and has a wide range of applications. FA has been reported to be a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent and is considered as part of a promising strategy for improving vascular cell-compatibility and blood compatibility as well. Additionally, dietary FA could improve the antioxidant capacity and, hence, meat quality in poultry. Supplementation of FA at 40 mg/kg or 80 mg/kg diet reduced the formation of hepatic MDA in case of carbon tetrachloride toxicity. The susceptibility of meat to oxidation in broiler chickens receiving oats at 200 g/kg diet as a source of FA was higher compared to the stability of meat in chickens receiving 200 ppm vitamin E. After examining the literature, it became apparent that the research on promising therapeutic effects of FA in poultry, in particular, is limited. So, the aim of this review was to indicate the importance of FA and its beneficial effects. In addition, this review includes information on the use of FA as a natural phenolic compound in poultry nutrition and its different applications in the poultry industry.

The European Union poultry meat market is the subject of numerous research studies due to its importance in the EU's total agricultural production, exports and food security. With 14.5 million tons of poultry meat production in 2016, the EU-28 is one of the world's leading producers of this kind of meat (approximately 12%). The Old Member States (EU-15) and the New Member States (EU-13) generate 73.8% and 26.2% of the total EU poultry meat production, respectively. The average poultry meat consumption in the EU-28 is currently approximately 24 kg per capita. In the last decade, the EU's poultry meat market has seen structural changes in production, consumption and trade that are the subject of the partial equilibrium model analysis. Results of mid-term projections for the poultry meat market through to the year 2030 showed a decrease in production volume in the EU-15, along with a slowdown of domestic and per capita consumption and a change of status from net exporters to net importers of poultry meat. Meanwhile, in the EU-13 there has been a steady growth in the volume of production and domestic and per capita consumption of poultry meat. The EU-13 Member States will remain net exporters through 2030, with a strong trend in export growth. Croatia, the youngest member state, follows trends in the domestic poultry meat market that are similar to the rest of the EU-13. Until 2030, Croatian poultry meat production is expected to increase by 43.02%, the domestic consumption by 29.37% and per capita consumption for 39.89%. Although Croatia will remain a net importer by the end of the 2030, the gap in net trade deficit is expected to decrease by 31.31%.

The red yeast Phaffia rhodozyma is considered as a useful source of astaxanthin (ASX) which is a carotenoid pigment widely used in the feed industry. Poultry cannot synthesise carotenoids, so they must obtain these pigments from diet supplementation with sources such as red yeast, as a source of ASX. Astaxanthin has health benefits including the protection against oxidative damage in cells, enhancement of the immune response and protection against diseases by scavenging oxygen free radicals. It has activities approximately 10 times stronger than that of other carotenoids and 100 times greater than α-tocopherol against reactive oxygen species. In recent years, Phaffia rhodozyma has become an important microorganism for its use in both the pharmaceutical industries and food. Dietary Phaffia rhodozyma addition at the level of 10 and 20 mg/kg in broiler diets positively increased weight gain by 4.12 and 6.41% respectively. The inclusion of ASX rich red yeast (100 mg/kg) in broiler diets for 14 days improved T-cell proliferation and IgG production by 111.1 and 34.6% respectively. However, the optimum level or feeding duration of dietary ASX rich red yeast addition for enhancing poultry productive, physiological and immunological responses has not been determined.

Duck production has the potential to play a major role in agricultural economy. Asian countries alone contribute 84.2% of total duck meat produced in the world. Driven by the demand of processed foods among consumers, the global duck meat market is expected to grow at a steady pace, reaching a value of about $11.23 billion in the coming years. Duck meat has higher muscle fibre content in breast meat compared to chicken, and is considered as red meat. Moreover, due to a higher fat content (13.8%) than chicken and a stronger gamey flavour, duck meat can be less appreciated by the consumer. Development and diversification of ready-to-eat duck meat products is expected to increase consumption levels. Hence, the status of duck meat production, physicochemical properties, processing, including traditional products, and development of novel value-added ready-to-eat products from spent duck meat is discussed in detail to explore its importance as an alternative to chicken.

Stress can exert modulatory effects on pain perception in animals, as exposure to a stressor can result in either the reduction or amplification of the perceived severity of pain. These phenomena are widely described as stress-induced analgesia (SIA) and stress-induced hyperalgesia (SIH). The two are mediated by the same underlying mechanisms, but occur due to different stressors and different responses from the pain pathway. SIA and SIH have been demonstrated with a variety of stress and pain stimuli in rodents, humans and other mammals. There is some evidence that SIA occurs in birds and that they have the neurological systems and brain regions necessary for SIH. Tonic immobility (TI) is related to SIA in mammals, and there is evidence the avian brain is compatible with TI having analgesic effect, but it could have a hyperalgesic effect. This review looks at the mechanisms and evidence of SIA, SIH and TI in mammals and discusses evidence relating to the occurrence of these phenomena in birds.