Disclosed herein transgene construct comprising (i) a first nucleotide sequence, wherein the activity of the protein encoded by said first nucleotide sequence causes death of germ cells in the presence of an exogenous induction agent and (ii) a second nucleotide sequence which targets said construct to avian germ cells, methods of using the same and a transgenic avian provided by such methods.

A promoter for high level and sustained expression is provided which can be used for gene expression of chosen sequences in general. In particular, a nucleic acid construct comprising a hCEF1 promoter operably linked to a sequence for expression is provided, where the hCEF1 promoter comprises: (i) a human CMV enhancer operably linked to a human EFI a promoter; (ii) a functional fragment of (i); or (ii) a functional variant of (i) or (ii).

The present invention relates to the use of an embryonated egg model grafted with tumour cells to investigate anti-cancer effectiveness or to screen immunotherapeutic molecules, in the absence of immune effector cells other than those in the grafted egg.

A poultry holding system that can be erected tool-free by assembling lengthwise and crosswise members on support posts. Multiple upright support posts are set up in an evenly spaced grid. The crosswise members and lengthwise members are constructed as U-profile rails, with through-holes in the horizontal sections of the U-profiles that allow the members to be assembled and supported on the support posts. The poultry holding system thus constructed can have at least two tiers, one above the other. The assembly components are designed to be particularly economical, which allows greater flexibility in the design and construction of the poultry holding system to accommodate the constraints of the particular facility.

A method for preparing an ammonia abatement additive for poultry litter that is formulated to assure activation in an interior environment having various relative humidity conditions. The method includes obtaining a blended litter amendment composition that, based on weight, is about 40% deliquescent salt and about 60% aluminum sulfate, relative to a total weight of the two components. The composition can be made by the user or received, already blended, from a third party. To this blended composition that has been obtained, additional deliquescent salt is added in an amount such that the total amount of deliquescent salt is effective to activate the alum-containing ammonia abatement additive at the targeted low relative humidity condition in the interior of a poultry house. The composition is a sub-component of the ammonia abatement additive which may or may not contain additional compounds. The specified relative proportions (i.e., 40% deliquescent salt and 60% alum) only consider the proportion of deliquescent salt and the proportion of alum relative to the sum of the two components, based on weight. If there are other, extraneous compounds included in the ammonia abatement additive, those extraneous compounds are not counted in the defined and claimed proportions.

An indirect selective breeding method of high-collagen meat geese includes : (1) obtaining a curve equation y=0.017x+0.026; (2) rearing goslings to young geese; (3) measuring the length, width, and height values of the knobs of the geese, and calculating to give the collagen content according to the curve equation obtained in step (1); (4) sorting the geese in descending order according to the collagen content and keeping the geese with collagen content ranked top 50% as breeding geese; (5) after the geese lay eggs, hatching the goose eggs into goslings; and (6) repeating steps (2)-(5) for selective breeding over generations. The indirect selective breeding method is simple and easy to implement. A new strain of meat geese with high collagen content can be obtained from selective breeding simply by measuring the length, width, and height of the knobs of geese of each generation.

An apparatus, systems, and methods of providing enrichment to poultry during raising or maintaining of the poultry. One or more light sources project beams to generate laser spots at and around the poultry. A control regimen moves the light spots relative the poultry in generally random fashion during timed sessions for each given time period (e.g. each day). The spot movement is designed to promote benefits to poultry and producer in correlation to experimental data related to animal welfare, health, and commercial value.

The present invention relates to transgenic avians and the eggs produced therefrom wherein the eggs comprise a genetic modification that facilitates in ovo gender sorting and a genetic modification that increases a production trait in the eggs or the avians produced therefrom. The present invention also relates to methods of identifying the gender of eggs before hatching and methods of sorting the eggs based on gender before hatching.

This disclosure provides, among other things, strategies for minimizing antibody diversification in a transgenic animal that uses gene conversion for antibody diversification. In some embodiments, the animal may comprise a genome comprising an endogenous immunoglobulin light chain locus comprising: (a) a functional immunoglobulin light chain gene comprising a nucleic acid encoding a light chain variable region; and (b) a plurality of pseudogenes that are operably linked to the functional immunoglobulin light chain gene and that donate, by gene conversion, nucleotide sequence to the nucleic acid encoding a light chain variable region, wherein the pseudogenes are upstream or downstream of the functional immunoglobulin light chain gene and encode the same amino acid sequence as the light chain variable region of the functional immunoglobulin light chain gene of (a). In other embodiments, the locus may have a tandem array of coding sequences for the light chain.

Modern broilers are selected for fast growth and a large proportion of breast tissue, contributing to a top-heavy phenotype, leg disorders, and inactivity as birds reach market weight. Therefore, the objective was to motivate broilers to move through environmental enrichment. Twelve hundred Ross 308 broilers were housed in pens of 30 for 6 wk; 600 birds were exposed to a novel laser enrichment device (LASER) and 600 were control. Each device projected 2 randomly moving red laser dots onto the floor 4 times/day for 4-min “laser periods”. Seven LASER and 7 control pens, with 5 focal birds/pen (n=70), were randomly selected to be video-recorded d0-8 and once weekly for the remainder of the trial. Videos were analyzed to measure broiler time-budget and behaviors such latency to feed and distance walked during laser periods. Focal birds were gait scored weekly on-farm. A test of the Human-Approach Paradigm was carried out on wk 1 and 6 on all pens. LASER birds were more active on d0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, moving 254% more on d7 (P≤0.05). Time spent active was increased in LASER treatment by 114% on wk 2; 157% on wk 3; 90% on wk 4; and 82% on wk 5. LASER birds spent more time at the feeder on d0, 1, 2, 5, 8, and on wk 1 and 5, with 84% more time at feeder than control on d5 (P≤0.05). LASER birds walked further during laser periods on d0-8, reaching 646.5 cm greater (d1), and on wk 2, 3, 4, and 5, with an increase of 367.5 cm on wk 2 (P≤0.05). Over wk 1-6, 60.54±7.4% of focal birds in the laser treatment were at the feeder during or within 5 mins following laser periods. The laser enrichment device was successful in stimulating broiler physical activity and feeding and did not negatively impact walking ability. Key words: broiler, environmental enrichment, well-being, lameness, behavior