1. A Simple Guide to the Nutritional Requirements of Poultry

Our most popular feature of this year takes you through the major ingredients poultry require in their diets to establish and maintain a healthy flock. That includes water, carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals, but different diets are needed for different stages in a bird's life.

2. Role of Probiotics in Poultry Health

Continuing on the theme of health, this article looks at the role of probiotics,which help poultry establish a good population of beneficial microorganisms in their guts. These substances are currently in favour as many producers around the world look for ways to considerably decrease, or cut out completely, the use of antibiotics in raising poultry.

3. Can Providing Feed and Water on Hatching Improve Chick Health?

In this article, Treena Hein looked at how health and productivity of chickens could be improved by making feed and water available to chicks as soon as they hatch. Scientists believe this aids early intestinal development and growth rate, while potentially reducing stress and susceptibility to disease.

4. Chicken Producers Don’t Use Growth Hormones - Here are the Reasons Why

Some chicken companies in the US have caused confusion in the past few years by putting 'hormone-free' on labels, even though it's illegal to use growth-promoting hormones in chickens there. But even without these laws, use of these substances in chicken production would not be cost-effective, as this article explains.

5. Myths About Poultry House Disinfection Busted

How can you make your disinfection and biosecurity measures more effective? One place to start is to check your existing procedures are working well. However, disinfection will not work against some threats to your poultry. Glenneis Kriel talked to Prof Robert Bragg, lecturer at University of Free State’s Department of Microbial Biochemical and Food Biotechnology in South Africa, about these issues.

6. Global Poultry Trends - Developing Countries Main Drivers in Chicken Consumption

This article in our popular Global Poultry Trends series by industry analyst Terry Evans looks at data from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on poultry consumption in the Americas. He outlines the key factors boosting the demand for poultry meat and in particular chicken in future, which will be changes in the human population, real incomes, chicken prices and also changing dietary preferences.

7. Healthy Chickens, Healthy Flocks

If you're a backyard poultry keeper, this article gives some great tips on how to look after your small flock. That includes feeding the birds a healthy diet, keeping the coop secure against predators and implementing biosecurity measures. In this article by Christine Heinrichs you can also find a list of all the key items a smallholder should have in their poultry first aid kit.

8. Global Poultry Trends - Chicken Trade Growth Slows

This article in our Global Poultry Trends series from January highlights the key relationships between different countries in the Americas and the rest of the world, in terms of their chicken imports and exports. The Americas is the world's key exporting region accounting for 7.7 million tonnes or 61 per cent of the total of fresh/frozen chicken meat in 2012.

9. Should Eggs be Refrigerated?

How does egg storage method affect the risk of Salmonella infection in their consumers? Should supermarkets store eggs in fridges? The Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL) has looked into the scientific evidence. Apparently, moisture is key to this debate.

10. Healthy Water, Healthy Birds

This article describes the main items you need to test for in your water supply, to maintain a healthy flock. That includes pH, heavy metals, minerals and microbes.