008 Business Bldg
Tues/Thurs 8-9:15 (yes, AM!)
Archaeological evidence for the existence of domesticated fowl in the Indus Valley (India) has helped to date the domestication of the chicken to approximately 2000 B.C. Almost 4000 years later, the chicken accounts for nearly 80% of the major domesticated animals in the world with a total population of nearly 20 billion! This remarkable increase in the population of chickens is inextricably linked to the unprecedented increase in per capita consumption of poultry. By 1996, Americans consumed in excess of 100 lb. of poultry per capita -- of which >80% was chicken.
The poultry industry, both in the US and globally, has gone through many changes over the last 50 years. The industry has matured from a 'backyard-flock' mentality, supplying the 'Sunday' chicken dinner, to sophisticated mass production on poultry meat and eggs. Vertical integration and the application of sophisticated management techniques have accounted for the huge boom in production efficiency. Further, the international demand for poultry has only just begun. Annual U.S. exports of poultry are rapidly approaching the $1 billion mark, and 10% annual increments may be expected over the next decade.
Sainsbury, D. (2000) Poultry Health and Management. Blackwell Publishing Company, Oxford, UK.
Smith, P. and C. Daniel
(2000) The Chicken Book. The
University of Georgia Press, Athens, GA.
(This book is
probably
available, used and cheap, from last semester. It's a great
book for anyone interested in poultry.)
Ensminger, M. E. (2002)
Poultry Management, 3rd Edition.
Prentice Hall Publishing.
(reprints may still
available at the PH website)
Stull, D. D. and M. J. Broadway (2004) Slaughterhouse Blues: The Meat and Poultry Industry in North America. Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, Belmont, CA.