Growing consumer demand for animal welfare and environmental sustainability in the poultry industry is driving the adoption of outdoor access for broiler chickens in the United States. However, shifting to outdoor access from conventional housing may pose tradeoffs for animal welfare, meat quality, and food safety. Research comparing conventional and outdoor access housing on these attributes has not been reviewed for approximately a decade. We reviewed and compared animal welfare, food safety, and meat quality outcomes in conventional versus outdoor access broiler production, focusing on recent research. Despite the prevailing notion that outdoor access improves animal welfare due to more behavioral opportunities, the utilization of the range is highly variable and affected by a variety of environmental, management, and bird characteristics. Outdoor areas containing vegetation and tree cover promote use by the birds, and slow-growing breeds appear to be best suited for these production systems. Typically, welfare-related health outcomes (i.e., footpad dermatitis, mortality, and lameness) are improved with outdoor access. However, birds with outdoor access are at a higher risk for endo- and ectoparasitic infections. Antimicrobial resistance is typically lower on outdoor access farms, and birds with outdoor access have more diverse microbiomes. There are mixed results for the prevalences of Salmonella and Campylobacter between conventional and outdoor access farms. Meat quality varies in complex ways related to rearing system, age, breed, diet, and behavior. Meat from outdoor access broilers may present better taste or flavor, yet there can be tradeoffs for texture and moisture, particularly for older, slower-growing breeds that are typical of outdoor access production. Taken together, studies to date indicate multiple benefits and tradeoffs for animal welfare, food safety, and meat quality. Variations in management between farms and certification criteria result in inconsistent outcomes. The majority of outdoor access research has been conducted outside of the United States. Region-specific research accounting for geography, climate, and available breeds would be beneficial for improving outdoor access production outcomes in the United States.

The objective of this study was to model the effect of temperature, pH and water activity (a_w) on the growth/no growth response of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). A cocktail of six-serogroup STEC was inoculated into brain heart infusion broth (BHI) with 48 combinations of different pH and a_w, and the inoculated medium was incubated at one of ten temperatures. After 62 days of incubation, growth was determined by turbidity and plating on tryptic soy agar. Binary data (0 [no growth] or 1 [growth]) were fitted into a nonlinear logistic regression and the parameters were estimated. The model was validated with independently produced data from seven serogroups of non-O157 STEC, a cocktail of E. coli O157:H7, and two panels of six-serogroup of STEC. The non-O157 STEC did not grow at temperatures ≤6 °C and ≥47 °C, and the highest tolerance to pH and a_w occurred at 25 °C. Although slight difference in the growth/no growth response was observed among different groups of STEC, the developed model can be applied to all the STECs with an average concordance of 92.3%. This work provides valuable insight into the growth/no-growth response of STEC under various environmental conditions.

Food safety is a major concern for commercial poultry producers and consumers. Currently, there is also pressure from retailers and legislators to increase the space per hen in cages. Five different density treatments consisting of six (208 in²/bird), nine (139 in²/bird), twelve (104 in²/bird), fifteen (83 in²/bird), and eighteen birds (69 in²/bird) per cage were examined in colony cage environments. Microbiological tests were performed at 39, 55, and 68 weeks of age. The populations of total aerobic bacteria; E. coli/coliform; Enterobacteriaceae; and yeasts and molds from an eggshell rinse, egg content, and cloacal swabs were enumerated. The prevalence of Salmonella spp. in these samples was also monitored. Overall, no bacteria were detected in any of the egg content, and there were no differences (p > 0.05) between treatments for the shell rinse. Stocking density did not influence the eggshell microbiota of the hens. Hens housed at 104 in² per hen showed higher levels of total aerobic bacterial counts from the cloaca compared to hens at 208 in² and 69 in² per hen. Hens housed at 139 in² per hen had the highest level of cloacal molds. This research demonstrates that stocking density does not influence eggshell microbiota or Salmonella contamination of the eggshell or cloaca, thereby indicating that allowing more space per hen will not positively or negatively affect the prevalence or concentration of foodborne pathogen-associated bacteria in or on the eggs.

Estudio recapitulativo- Cochlosoma anatis en la avicultura comercial y su impacto en esta industria. Cochlosoma anatis es un parásito protozoario flagelado clasificado dentro de la familia Trichomonadidae y es el agente causante de la coclosomiasis, que es una enfermedad entérica de pavos, aves acuáticas y otras aves silvestres. Los signos de la coclosomiasis consisten principalmente en diarrea acuosa, aves con letargo, disminución de la ganancia de peso y morbilidad generalizada de las parvadas, lo que provoca su falta de uniformidad. La distribución conocida de C. anatis gira en torno a zonas de granjas de producción de pavos en el sudeste de los Estados Unidos, principalmente en Misuri y Arkansas, pero se ha notificado su presencia en otros estados y en algunos otros pa'ıses. El diagnóstico se confirma mediante el examen de raspados de mucosa entérica con microscop'ıa óptica. Tras el retiro de la aprobación de medicamentos antiprotozoarios eficaces para su uso en la producción animal comercial, la coclosomiasis se ha convertido en una preocupación importante para los profesionales de la industria de pavos comerciales. La transmisión de C. anatis se produce por v'ıa fecal-oral, pero es frágil fuera del hospedador, lo que sugiere la participación de un vector en la introducción de la enfermedad en granjas susceptibles. La investigación sobre la patogenicidad, la transmisión y el efecto ambiental de C. anatis ha sido limitada, lo que crea un vac'ıo en el conocimiento de la coclosomiasis. En el futuro será necesario investigar más a fondo las formas de prevenir y tratar la coclosomiasis, con la necesidad de enfocarse en la patogenia de la enfermedad, los patrones de transmisión y los métodos de profilaxis y tratamiento.