Brooke Bartz

One of my favorite daytime cooking shows discussed how the brown shell, the organic farm status and deep orange color meant that eggs were fresh. Wait a minute! None of those things are true indicators of freshness in eggs.

The term muscle myopathy is used to describe conditions associated with muscle weakness or changes in muscle mass in meat production. Fast growth rate is one of the many factors related to muscle myopathies in a multitude of farm production species.

Genetic selection, nutrition, stocking density, well-being, social interactions between birds and many other factors play a role in the production processes of poultry operations; however, the forgotten hero in the mix is feathers and their importance in the production process.

A similar "sweet sorrow" similar to that in William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is often experienced in animal welfare auditing.

For birds, a high heat index, and the resulting heat stress, is an issue that affects all of the concerns of animal management.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza has been the topic of hot news for over the past year in my realm of poultry production.