PoultryWorld - Boosting turkey reproductive output
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A Penn State research team received a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to begin the development of new strategies for turkey breeding, according to Penn State News.
The research will be conducted at the Penn State Poultry Education and Research Center and at the Huck Life Institutes of the Life Sciences.
Lead researcher Paul Bartell, associate professor of avian biology in the College of Agricultural Sciences, explained the restraints of turkey reproduction due to seasonal breeding, which is common in most animals.
The researchers have evolved neurobiological mechanisms for measuring day length and then for converting that information to effectively modulate their reproductive activities, according to Bartell.
IMAGE: Ashli Moore
Reproduction in turkeys is initiated by increased daylength and becomes limited by the onset of “broodiness,” eventually resulting in the termination of egg laying. Hens lose their sensitivity to the reproductively stimulating effects of long days, even under ever-increasing daylengths. Loss of productivity is costly, as birds must be cared for until coming back into production.
In birds, photoperiodic information is sensed directly in the brain by specialized photoreceptors. Although the site or sites of these photoreceptors are unknown, scientists have suggested several brain areas that may house these photoreceptors, according to Bartell. Researchers will attempt to uncover the neuronal mechanisms and hypothalamic structures involved in photoperiodic regulation of reproduction in turkey hens.