Chickens are many things: sources of meat and eggs, lovable pets, amusing images on merchandise, and a source of comfort at the end of a hard day. Whether we're considering joining the growing flock of backyard chicken-keepers or simply cheered by leafing through images of gorgeous poultry, our love for chickens is strong. The trend for backyard chickens has surged during the pandemic. Amazon searches for chick supplies are up 758%, with local hatcheries recording a 500% demand increase, as people look to reduce environmental impact, improve food traceability, connect with nature, or simply to relish the pure joy of chicken company. The Collins Backyard Chicken-keeper's Bible is the fourth title in this stunning and engaging series, and the perfect smallholder companion to The Beekeeper's Bible. It is packed with everything you need to fully embrace your new chicken-keeping lifestyle. A sumptuous aesthetic is paired with practical tips on identifying backyard breeds and supporting good chicken health, from basic brooding to common ailments, the best backyard breed for you to the right equipment for starting your own home flock, packaged into a beautiful, illustrative gift book. Discover the soft cuddliness of a bantam Silkie, the superb egg-sitting skills of a Plymouth Rock, the best method for constructing a chicken coop, and how to keep your chickens happy and thriving. With The Collins Backyard Chicken-keeper's Bible, discover more about these magnificent and beloved creatures.

Livestock Ration Formulation for Dairy Cattle and Buffalo provides an interdisciplinary, integrative perspective and optimization on dairy cattle feed formulation problem solving. It helps dairy farmers by introducing them the right frequency and right amount of balanced diet to be fed to cattle's and buffaloes at different body condition so that their feeding cost should be decreased and there should be increase in income for dairy farmers, as they don't have enough knowledge of feeding practice. It helps animal nutritionist to work for dairy farmers which have very limited feed resources to fulfil nutrients requirement in terms of crude protein (CP), total digestible nutrient (TDN), calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) by developing a software programme to plan a balanced low budget diet. It includes the Linear and Goal programming model for non-pregnant dairy buffalo is been solved using Hybrid Real Coded Genetic Algorithm and the results are compared with Real Coded Genetic Algorithm (RGA) considering different versions like RGA without crossover, RGA without Mutation, RGA with crossover and mutation. These models can also be applied with other nutritional models like CNCPS, INRA. This book is a step forward in that direction to provide least cost diet formulation based on nutrient requirement of the cattle and buffalo, which is been calculated according to Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR, 2013) and NRC (2001) on dry matter basis, provides a clear and precise platform for other researcher in Animal Nutrition field which also give initial platform to build a software and android application to formulate least cost ration Based on data and algorithm used in this book, which helps Dairy farmers directly to feed balanced diet at cheap rate. Features: It is a good reference to local dairy farmers by introducing them to the right frequency and right amount of balanced diet to be fed to cattle and buffaloes at different production cycles. It will provide basic platform and some solutions to built-up software about cattle nutrition development and least cost formulation for end-user. It has several techniques for optimizing animal diet formulation but a good balance between coding/programming and animal nutrition is incorporated towards application of soft computing technique to improve the quality of the solution due to rigidity of the constraints.

The Emma Bridgewater factory in Stoke-on-Trent is a mecca for lovers of its iconic pottery; but tucked within is a walled garden bursting with nectar-rich, jazzy-toned flowers and rare-breed chickens. This is where Arthur Parkinson - gardener, florist and poultry keeper - used to work his magic. Inspired by his friend, gardener and florist Sarah Raven, and childhood hen-keeping pen pal the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, Parkinson's domain was one of resplendent flowers, platoon feather-legged hens, handwritten blackboards, flower arranging and wasteland foliage foraging - all carried out in one of the most unlikely places a garden could happen to exist: a working pottery.

This volume offers a holistic understanding of the environmental and societal challenges that affect reindeer husbandry in Fennoscandia today. Reindeer husbandry is a livelihood with a long traditional heritage and cultural importance. Like many other pastoral societies, reindeer herders are confronted with significant challenges. Covering Norway, Sweden and Finland - three countries with many differences and similarities - this volume examines how reindeer husbandry is affected by and responds to global environmental change and resource extraction in boreal and arctic social-ecological systems. Beginning with an historical overview of reindeer husbandry, the volume analyses the realities of the present from different perspectives and disciplines. Genetics, behavioural ecology of reindeer, other forms of land use, pastoralists' norms and knowledge, bio-economy and governance structures all set the stage for the complex internal and externally imposed dynamics within reindeer husbandry. In-depth analyses are devoted to particularly urgent challenges, such as land-use conflicts, climate change and predation, identified as having a high potential to shape the future pathways of the pastoral identity and productivity. These futures, with their risks and opportunities, are explored in the final section, offering a synthesis of the comparative approach between the three countries that runs as a recurring theme through the book. With its richness and depth, this volume contributes significantly to the understanding of the substantial impacts on pastoralist communities in northernmost Europe today, while highlighting viable pathways to maintaining reindeer husbandry for the future. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of both the natural and social sciences who work on natural resource management, global environmental change, pastoralism, ecology, social-ecological systems, rangeland management and Indigenous studies. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution- Non Commercial- No Derivatives 4.0 license.

"As a nutritionist I liked this book a lot. I like the setup of the book and how it starts with the gut microbiome and works through to the different ways to manipulate the gut bacteria, including enzymes and different kinds of fibre. I think this is a great book with a lot of advanced information." Dr Darlene Bloxham, Adisseo, USA The pig production sector faces many challenges, including the need to improve feed efficiency to reduce emissions from manure, finding alternative methods to prevent the onset of diseases affecting swine, as well as ensuring that the welfare of pigs is consistent with consumer and regulatory agencies' expectations. Understanding gut microbiomes as targets for improving gut health offers a comprehensive coverage on the wealth of research on the porcine gastrointestinal tract, its key role in pig health and nutrition, as well as its implications for improving feed efficiency and growth. This collection details how optimising the gut microbiome can contribute to an overall improvement in pig health. Edited by Professor Mick Bailey and Emeritus Professor Chris Stokes, University of Bristol, UK, Understanding gut microbiomes as targets for improving gut health will be a standard reference text for pig/swine scientists in universities and research centres, pig feed manufacturers, and government and private sector agencies advising pig farmers on health and nutrition.

Join Andy the Ant as he treks through an exciting adventure inside a beehive with his new friend, Beatrice the Bee. The author weaves a fun and educational story about beekeeping. Although this charming story is designed for elementary children, adult readers may learn a thing or two as well The book is loaded with fun-filled information about the duties of a beekeeper, the various jobs bees have, how bees make honey, why bees dance, and more. Andy the Ant Learns the Buzz on Bees provides highlighted vocabulary words throughout the story. Activities in the back of the book include some tasty honey recipes for kids to try at home. Parents, children, and teachers will be "abuzz" with all the un"bee"lievable facts of this charming and informative story. It is an excellent science resource for the little scientists in your life.

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on poultry housing systems. The first chapter reviews current poultry housing systems and the recent emergence of enriched cages and cage-free systems. It explores the impact of conventional cages on bird health and welfare, looking primarily at bone health. The second chapter examines the impact of different housing systems on the safety and quality of eggs. It reviews how hen housing and flock management can affect indicator populations, foodborne pathogens and chemical contamination. The third chapter considers the relationship between housing conditions and management in the rearing and production of broilers. It reviews the major welfare issues related to the housing of broilers, including feed and water restriction. The fourth chapter discusses current environmental enrichment strategies implemented in poultry production. The chapter details the benefits of these strategies, as well as their role in contributing to more sustainable production models. The final chapter reviews current knowledge on perching behaviour of chickens, as well as the associated risks to bird health and welfare that arise with the use of elevated structures, such as keel bone damage.

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on ensuring animal welfare during transport and slaughter. The first chapter examines the impact of transport on beef and dairy cattle, as well as the effects of transport on carcass quality issues, such as bruising and dark cutting beef. It details how conditions can be optimised to ensure the welfare needs of the animal are met during all stages of transport. The second chapter reviews the legislation and codes of practice surrounding the transport and slaughter of cows to be culled as a result of disease or the development of health conditions such as lameness. The third chapter considers the effects of transport, handling and slaughter practices on pigs as well as physiological effects on carcass and meat quality. The fourth chapter explores current approaches used to stun poultry before slaughter, including electrical stunning and controlled atmosphere stunning. The chapter reviews the associated risks and benefits of each approach to overall bird health and welfare. The final chapter reviews the main welfare issues associated with management of sheep once they leave the farm, including transport by road and sea, use of holding facilities as well as handling and stunning of sheep at abattoirs.

Commercial Poultry Production on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore traces the beginnings and development of commercial poultry production in this very important region. African Americans were mainly involved in poultry production on the labor supply side, which was crucial to the expansion of the industry. Commercial poultry production expanded through vertical integration, acquisitions, mergers, and consolidations and became the dominant economic activity on the Lower Maryland Eastern Shore in the 1950s. Throughout the years, the industry has intermixed with public health and the environment. These integrations were problematic on several fronts, as the industry sought to maintain a much-needed economic lifeline for the region and yet protect public health and ensure a sustainable environment at the same time. In all, commercial poultry production has continued to fuel the local economy of the Lower Maryland Eastern Shore since its inception in the 1930s.

Alan Campion uses his own experiences to describe in plain terms how to go about setting up a hive, what to do during the first few years and what to expect from your bees.

As Britain industrialized in the early nineteenth century, animal breeders faced the need to convert livestock into products while maintaining the distinctive character of their breeds. Thus they transformed cattle and sheep adapted to regional environments into bulky, quick-fattening beasts. Exploring the environmental and economic ramifications of imperial expansion on colonial environments and production practices, Rebecca J. H. Woods traces how global physiological and ecological diversity eroded under the technological, economic, and cultural system that grew up around the production of livestock by the British Empire. Attending to the relationship between type and place and what it means to call a particular breed of livestock ""native,"" Woods highlights the inherent tension between consumer expectations in the metropole and the ecological reality at the periphery. Based on extensive archival work in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia, this study illuminates the connections between the biological consequences and the politics of imperialism. In tracing both the national origins and imperial expansion of British breeds, Woods uncovers the processes that laid the foundation for our livestock industry today.

"...this book covers a range of algal phyla, specialised algal bioprocessing and application topics that make it very interesting for a broad audience. Each chapter covers a theme in such a way that can easily be read by a non-specialist but, as the authors incorporate recent published papers, the book will also be interesting for experts...I also recommend the book for entrepreneurs and technical staff working in different algal-based operations." (Journal of Phycology) As the global demand for meat increases due to population and economic growth, more pressure has been placed on the animal feed sector to support sustainable livestock production, whilst also ensuring the nutritional value and palatability of feed. With traditional sources of protein, including oilseeds and distiller grains, considered as major contributors to climate change, there is growing interest in establishing alternative, more 'climate-smart' sources of protein, such as seaweed and other forms of microalgae that can supplement livestock diets. Seaweed and microalgae as alternative sources of protein summarises current advances in utilising macroalgae and microalgae as alternative sources of proteins. The collection reviews processes of protein formation in macroalgae and microalgae, macroalgae farming and processing as well as microalgae bioprocessing. Chapters also discuss the practical application of seaweed as an alternative protein source in ruminant, pig, poultry and fish diets. Edited by Professor Xin Gen Lei, Cornell University, USA, Seaweed and microalgae as alternative sources of protein will be a standard reference for researchers from universities or other research centres involved in macroalgae/microalgae production and livestock nutrition, companies involved in the manufacture or supply of animal feed or livestock nutrition services, government and other agencies regulating the animal feed sector, as well as farmers interested in furthering their knowledge on recent developments in the animal feed/livestock nutrition sector.

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on decision support systems (DSS) in agriculture. The first chapter provides a review of DSS in agriculture, whilst addressing the key questions surrounding their use for farm soil and crop management. The different aspects of agricultural DSS design, implementation and operation are also discussed. The second chapter assesses the role of DSS for pest monitoring and management through information technology such as, remote sensing, GIS, spectral indices, image-based diagnostics, and phenology-based degree day models. The third chapter discusses the potential of implementing DSS within the growing mechanisation in greenhouses. It examines differences in development and application of deterministic explanatory and data-based models for real-time control and DSS. The fourth chapter explores the key issues associated with deploying DSS in precision agriculture, whilst also considering their human and social aspects. The chapter also considers how future research on DSS can be moulded to improve productivity in a precision agriculture setting. The final chapter outlines the importance of a participatory approach in DSS development, whilst also offering examples of climate-based DSS for crop and land management, pest and disease management, and livestock (dairy) management.

This collection features three peer-reviewed literature reviews on pre- and probiotics in poultry production. The first chapter summarises the safety and efficacy of individual monocultures for prophylactic and/or therapeutic efficacy against Salmonella infections in poultry under both laboratory and field conditions. The chapter also considers the development of novel, cost-effective, feed-stable, direct-fed microbials with potential for widespread utilisation and improved production, delivery and clinical efficacy for animal use. The second chapter discusses the establishment of prebiotics as a series of feed compounds that serve as specific substrates for gastrointestinal tract (GIT) bacteria. The chapter reviews the impact of prebiotics on bird health, GIT function, and prevention of foodborne pathogen GIT colonization. Particular attention is drawn on the impact of prebiotics on the avian intestinal microbiome, cecal microbiome and the avian upper GIT. The final chapter considers current concerns surrounding the application of probiotics in poultry production, primarily due to mixed experiences of their effectiveness and lack of knowledge regarding the scientific basis for their modes of action. In contrast, prebiotics have been readily accepted by the sector. This chapter summarises recent research on the effects of both types of treatment, their possible modes of action, as well as the strengths and limitations of their use.

This specially curated collection features five reviews of current and key research on crops as livestock feed. The first chapter reviews the impact of feeding ruminants cereal grains on animal physiology and health. The chapter explores the use of starch-containing cereal grains as a feedstuff to improve animal efficiency and performance, as well as to reduce the environmental footprint of ruminant animal production. The second chapter discusses key environmental trade-offs in the use of crops as livestock feed. It reviews key elements in trade-off analysis and explores opportunities for making better use of existing feed resources and producing more feed biomass of higher fodder quality. The third chapter reviews ways of optimising the use of barley for animal feed, from production and breeding through to the application of new technologies such as near infrared spectroscopy and molecular markers. The fourth chapter reviews the use of sorghum as an important source of fodder and forage. It reviews the different types of sorghum used for forage and other applications, and then provides a detailed discussion of the use of forage sorghum as feed for ruminants. The final chapter discusses the use of soybean meal (SBM) as an animal feed. It assesses the nutritional content of SBM, as well dealing with its anti-nutritive compounds in optimising its use.

Histopathology Atlas of Acute Radiation Syndrome and Delayed Effects in Rhesus Macaques: Kidney, Lung, Heart, Intestine and Mesenteric Lymph Node provides a thoroughly illustrated review of the tissue damage and reparative changes associated with standardized irradiation doses in rhesus macaques. In addition to time-sequenced, routinely stained histologic sections, the book presents results of numerous histochemical, immunohistochemical and chromogenic in-situ stains that provide insights into the pathogenesis of radiation-associated tissue injury and repair. This book is compiled and written by a board-certified veterinary pathologist with more than 40 years of experience in the interpretation of experimentally induced tissue alterations in laboratory animals. This is an important resource for researchers in the field of animal science radiation injury, including radiation oncologists and individuals involved in disaster preparedness related to accidental or deliberate radiation exposure in large populations.

Increasing concern about over-reliance on antibiotics (resulting in antimicrobial resistance), as well as broader concerns about animal welfare, have put greater emphasis on preventative measures in maintaining the health of farm animals. Herd health management (HHM) programmes take a population approach based on quantitative epidemiology which makes it possible to assess disease risk and, as a result, prevent and manage diseases more effectively. Improving dairy herd health reviews key challenges in dairy herd health management, such as effective monitoring and diagnosis of infectious diseases, as well as recent developments in areas such as disease prevention and disease surveillance. This collection reviews HHM issues across the dairy cow life cycle, from reproduction and calf health to the transition stage and replacement of stock. Later chapters discuss the successful implementation of HHM programmes in specific instances, from maintaining udder and hoof health, to preventing metabolic disorders, bacterial and viral diseases, as well as parasitic infections.

Self-sufficiency and organic living have never been more prominent and hen keeping is becoming increasingly popular. Part of a growing series of authoritative and inspirational titles, this book provides an introduction to some of the key aspects of aspiring to a self-sufficient lifestyle by keeping your own chickens and benefiting from the produce.You don't need a large garden to keep poultry and an average family only needs a couple of hens to keep them well stocked in fresh eggs all year round. The set-up costs are minimal and you don't need a whole host of expensive gadgets or equipment to care for your chickens.Packed with information on poultry keeping (housing, food and water, daily care, disease prevention and cure, encouraging egg production and breeding), there is also comprehensive information on breeds and a list of useful contacts should you need them.

The magnitude of the food-waste disposal problem cannot be understated. Utilisation of food waste is of concern to the food processing industry, consumers, environmentalists, and regulators of handling and disposal systems. Food waste is not consistent in quality, is usually high in moisture content, and is only available locally. This book focuses on the challenges of utilising both wet and/or processed food waste. The regulatory environment relating to food waste, the perspective of the end-users, and practical use as animal feed is also discussed. One of the goals of this publication, other than to give a clear explanation of the subject of food waste and its uses as animal feed, is to stimulate a need for research.

The animal feed sector faces increasingly complex challenges. It needs to improve feed digestibility/efficiency whilst also promoting growth and enhancing both product quality and safety. At the same time it has an increasingly important role in helping to promote animal health, welfare and the sustainability of farming. Developing animal feed products reviews advances in optimising the key stages in developing successful new animal feed products, from assessing feed ingredients, product development and processing to maintaining quality and safety. The collection features authoritative discussions by leading experts on the relationship between nutrition and animal health, as well as how best to implement risk management systems for the prevention and control of contaminants present in animal feed. Edited by Dr Navaratnam Partheeban, Royal Agricultural University, UK, Developing animal feed products will be a standard reference for companies involved in the manufacture of animal feed, as well as researchers in livestock nutrition, government and other agencies regulating the animal feed sector.

Recent IPCC reports have highlighted the environmental impact of livestock production as a major source of non-CO2 emissions: methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ammonia (NH3). The livestock sector must react to these reports and develop or implement methods that can reduce greenhouse (GHG) emissions from livestock production. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production provides authoritative reviews on measuring GHG emissions from livestock as well as the range of methods that can be applied to reduce emissions, ranging from breeding to animal health and manure management. The collection also reviews nutritional approaches such as improving forage quality and the use of plant bioactive compounds and other feed supplements to limit emissions by modifying the rumen environment. Drawing in an international range of expert authors, Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production summarises what we can do to make livestock production more sustainable and viable for the future. It will be a major reference for the livestock (particularly dairy) science research community, environmental scientists, government and other agencies tackling the challenge of climate change, as well as companies involved in livestock production and processing of dairy and meat products.