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The increasing human population and cognate demands on wholesome and nutritious foods have exerted an indelible impact on modern agricultural practices. In addition, producer and consumer awareness has shaped a modern agricultural stewardship that accounts for affordability without jeopardizing public health, resource conservation, animal health and humane farming ethos. Therefore, now more than ever, there is a need to optimize agricultural production to achieve sustainability and food security and safety. Indeed, this also applies to poultry production, which is continuously evolving in breadth and practice. For example, broiler farming has witnessed a continuous improvement, which is evidenced by producing heavier birds in shorter growth cycles. Specifically, a 1.13 kg chicken was produced in 112 days in 1925 in comparison to 70 days in 1950. As of 2010, production of a 2.27 kg chicken is possible in less than 50 days (Krishnasamy et al., 2015). The expansion in the poultry industry and consumer demand for animal proteins were also evident in a recent Census of Agriculture report that showed that there were 233 770 poultry farms in the United States in 2012. Furthermore, approximately 96.4 billion eggs, 8.69 billion broilers and 233 million turkeys were produced in 2015, and the combined value of production was estimated at $48 billion (United States Department of Agriculture, USDA, 2015). |
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