Avian Science Research Centre

Ensuring that poultry production has the minimum effect on the environment and complies with current leglislation, such as IPPC.

The client groups include: commercial organisations, government funded bodies and  research institutes.    

Areas that are covered include:

• Minimising nitrogenous waste by nutritional and/or management strategies
• Reducing the amount of phosphorus in poultry waste using digestive enzymes 
• Minimising the levels of medicants in poultry waste
• Reducing the use of pesticides against poultry ectoparasites
• Investigating the optimum diets and nutrition of organic poultry

Some recent and current projects include:

• Development of a vaccine against poultry red mite
• Investigating naturally occurring alternatives to pharmaceutical products
• Evaluating the nutritive value of brewing by-products in chickens
• Determining the potency of phytochemicals such as essential oils against chicken pathogenic microbes

The benefits to be gained include:

• Improving performance
• Minimising production of potential pollutants 
• Reduction in the use of therapeutic agents in poultry production
• Reduction in exposure of the consumer to drug residues in poultry products
• Cost effective strategies in meeting environmental regulations