Researchers\nat The University of Queensland are investigating the benefits of essential\noils for animal welfare, productivity and sustainability in the Australian chicken\nmeat industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe most\ncritical period in a broiler chick\u2019s life is the first hours after hatching,\u201d nutritional\nchemosensing scientist and former veterinarian, Eugeni Roura, from the\nQueensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is\nwhen the young bird is more susceptible to environmental pathogens, yet its\ndefences and its natural gut microflora are not well established,\u201d Roura said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With\nfunding from AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program and the Department of Agriculture\nand Fisheries, the project\u2019s leaders, Marta Navarro and Shahram Niknafs, <\/em>are investigating if\nchicken embryos and hatchlings are better-equipped to fight disease-resistance\nby supplementation with essential oils sourced from Australian native plants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Researchers\nare trialling tea tree oil, lemon myrtle, eucalypt, nerolina, niaouli,\nlemon myrtle, anise myrtle, eucalyptus, and Tasmanian native pepper. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese have reported strong\nantioxidant or antimicrobial activities and have been extensively study here at\nUQ,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cWe aim to develop a nutritional program to minimise disease in\nchicks to enhance productivity and sustainability.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis may open new possibilities to target non-desirable\npopulations of bacteria in the chick\u2019s gut while it is still in the egg,\u201d she\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The researchers introduced essential\noils into the diet of breeders in the chicken meat industry, to see if important\nessential oil compounds were transferred through to the egg \u2013 and, if so, does\nit provide any significant benefit for the embryos\u2019 health and robustness? <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a chicken-or-the-egg scenario, another\nstrategy involved direct injection of essential oils and nutrients into fertile\neggs, using efficient and economical in-ovo <\/em>injection technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Meat quality was not part of the scope\nof the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nresearchers measured multiple parameters and indicators of gut health during\ntrials including microbiome composition, growth, and overall embryo development\nand oxidation status during embryogenesis, the stage of development following fertilisation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnce\nhatched, we measure the chick\u2019s growth and performance during the first 10-15\ndays of its life,\u201d Navarro said. \u201cAt the end of the project, we will perform a\ntrial with all the knowledge acquired during the project in commercial\nconditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Navarro hopes the project will produce\nnew information about the \u201camazing\u201d properties of Australian oils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe think the project will deliver a\ndual benefit because the essential oils needed for poultry supplementation will\nbe produced locally in Australia,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Researchers at The University of Queensland are investigating the benefits of essential oils for animal welfare, productivity and sustainability in the Australian chicken meat industry. \u201cThe most critical period in a broiler chick\u2019s life is the first hours after hatching,\u201d nutritional chemosensing scientist and former veterinarian, Eugeni Roura, from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[2163,2162,2164,2167,2165,2168,2166,57],"class_list":["post-2751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-agrifutures-chicken-meat-program","tag-chicks","tag-department-of-agriculture-and-fisheries","tag-eugeni-roura","tag-marta-navarro","tag-qaafi","tag-shahram-niknafs","tag-uq"],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":5,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":402,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":402,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"Researchers at The University of Queensland are investigating the benefits of essential oils for animal welfare, productivity and sustainability in the Australian chicken meat industry. \u201cThe most critical period in a broiler chick\u2019s life is the first hours after hatching,\u201d nutritional chemosensing scientist and former veterinarian, Eugeni Roura, from the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI) said.","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/File_004-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"full":["https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/File_004.jpeg",1600,1200,false]},"categories_names":{"5":{"name":"News","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?cat=5"}},"tags_names":{"2163":{"name":"AgriFutures Chicken Meat Program","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=agrifutures-chicken-meat-program"},"2162":{"name":"chicks","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=chicks"},"2164":{"name":"Department of Agriculture and 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