AgMagSue Ann HubbardClinical Professor Mississippi State UniversityCollege of VeterinaryMedicine Pathobiology/Population Medicine Department

What do you do? I specialize in poultry. I help the poultry industry produce ahealthy and wholesome source of protein for families. I alsohelp people with backyard flocks keep their flocks healthy.

What is your education? I have a bachelor’s degree in Poultry Science, two master’sdegrees (one in Poultry Science and one in Avian Medicine),and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree, all fromMississippi State University.

What types of skills do you need for your job? Instead of working with an individual animal, I work witha population of animals. It takes certain skills to be ableto identify issues within a large population and makerecommendations that affect so many animals at one time.

Do you enjoy your job? I absolutely love it. Every day is a day with new challenges. Itis very fulfilling to be able to make recommendations that canaffect the safety of the food that I prepare for my family.

Kirby MauldinPoultry GrowerLaurel, Mississippi

What types of skills do youneed to be a poultry farmer? You need to be a jack of alltrades…a carpenter, a plumber,an electrician and more. You doa little bit of it all. You also must

know how to take good care of your chickens. I grow broilersin four houses for a total of 80,000 birds or 4 ½ flocks a year.I get them when they are hours old and keep them until theyare about 60 to 66 days old and weigh about 9 pounds. I growfor Wayne Farms.

Why did you become a poultry farmer? I have a Poultry Science degree from Mississippi StateUniversity. After I graduated, I worked for B.C. Rogers PoultryInc. (now Koch Foods of Mississippi LLC) in Morton for threeyears. My wife and I wanted to start our family, and I had anopportunity to move home to Jones County so I did. I havebeen farming for 17 years.

Do you enjoy what you do? I love it. I have the freedom to make my own hours and to beoutdoors most of the day. I’m not confined to an office anddesk. I also enjoy growing a delicious, safe, healthy productfor my family and yours.

POULTRY INDUSTRY

®

Poultry is a name given to domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs,meat, or feathers. Poultry is Mississippi’s number-one agricultural commodity.Most poultry farmers in Mississippi produce broilers. A broiler is a young chickenthat is usually less than 12 weeks of age and has been bred specifically for meatproduction. Last year, Mississippi poultry farmers grew 736,000,000 broilers.That’s a lot of chicken!

Baby chickens are called chicks. Female chickens are called pullets until they’reold enough to lay eggs and become hens. Pullets are usually under 20 weeksof age. Male chickens are called roosters, cocks, or cockerels, depending onwhere you live in the world.

A n a g r i c u l t u r a l n e w s l e t t e r f o r k i d s f r o mM i s s i s s i p p i F a r m B u r e a u F e d e r a t i o n

Eggcellent Eggs!

Mississippi’s Top Commodity

Faces of Mississippi’s

Did you know that America’s largest egg producer, Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., is headquarteredin Jackson, Mississippi? The U.S. produces about 75 billion eggs a year, about 10 percent of the world’s supply. Layersare mature female chickens used for egg production. A hen doesn’t need a rooster to lay an egg.They do so on their own. These eggs are the kind of eggs you buy in the grocery store to eat. Theyare called unfertilized. Fertilized eggs are raised on broiler breeder farms by parent stock. Theseare the eggs that hatch into chicks. These eggs are never sold in stores and are not meant forhuman consumption. The interior of any egg intended to be sold as food must be inspected. Thisis accomplished by shining a bright light through the shell. This process is called candling.The light highlights any irregularities, such as a developing chick.These regulations are mandatory, whether the eggs are intended for alarge grocery store or for the farmers market. Eggs with irregularitiesnever make it to your plate and are destroyed.

This issue ofAgMag is

compliments of:

You can cook many different things with eggs. The chef’shat, called a toque blanche (French for "white hat"), issaid to have a pleat for each of the different ways youcan cook eggs. Beyond basic scrambled, fried, poached,and baked eggs, you can also take eggs and turn theminto omelets, salads, quiches, and casseroles. Eggs alsoplay a huge role in the baking world. They are used incakes, cheesecakes, cookies, custards, meringues,pie fillings, soufflés, and pastries.

The breed of hen determines the color of the egg shell.Among commercial breeds, hens with white feathers and earlobes lay white-shelled eggs; hens with red feathers and earlobes lay brown eggs.

It takes 1.9 pounds of feed for a chicken to gain 1 pound.

Is it Poultry?Circle the animals that are considered poultry.

Turkey

Eagle

Duck

Goose

Quail

Peacock

Owl

Pheasant

POULTRY

See answers bottom right

The turkey, the duck, the quail, the pheasant and the goose are all considered poultry.

Would you believe that the egg-laying process for a chickenactually begins in its eye?! Hens need a minimum of 16

hours of daylight to sustain strong production. If hens arenot provided with supplemental light, they will naturallystop laying eggs when daylight hours drop below 12hours. In addition to the light sensed through theeyes, chickens sense light through a gland calledthe pineal gland. This gland is situated on their brainand is often called the “third eye.” Humans alsohave this gland. As light increases, the pineal glandresponds by sending a hormone to the hen’s ovaryto start producing eggs.

What does the sun have to do with eggs?

MaterialsRaw eggTall glassWhite vinegarPatience

ExperimentPlace the egg in a tall glass and cover the egg with vinegar. Look closely at the egg. Do you see any bubbles forming on the shell? Leave the egg in the vinegar for a full 24 hours.

Change the vinegar on the second day. Carefully pour the old vinegardown the drain and cover the egg with fresh vinegar. Place the glasswith the vinegar and egg in a safe place for a week - that's right, a whole

7 days! Do not disturb the egg, but pay close attention to the bubblesforming on the surface of the shell (or what's left of it).

One week later, pour off the vinegar and carefully rinse the egg withwater. The egg looks translucent because the outside shell is gone! Theonly thing that remains is the delicate membrane of the egg. You'vesuccessfully made an egg without a shell. Okay, you didn't really makethe egg - the chicken made the egg - you just stripped away the chem-ical that gives the egg its strength.

How does it work?Let's start with the bubbles you saw forming on the shell. The bubblesare carbon dioxide gas. Vinegar is an acid called acetic acid - and whitevinegar from the grocery store is usually about 5% acetic acid and 95%water. Egg shells are made up of calcium carbonate. The vinegar reactswith the calcium carbonate by breaking the chemical into its calciumand carbonate parts (in simplest terms). The calcium part floats around

in the solution while the carbonate part reacts to form the carbon dioxidebubbles that you see.

Some of the vinegar will also sneak through, or permeate, the egg'smembrane and cause the egg to get a little bigger. This flow of a liquidfrom one solution through a semi-permeable membrane and intoanother less concentrated solution is called osmosis. That's why theegg is even more delicate if you handle it. If you shake the egg, you cansee the yolk sloshing around in the egg white. If the membrane breaks,the egg's insides will spill out into the vinegar. Yes, you've made apickled egg! Allowing the egg to react with the carbon dioxide in the airwill cause the egg to harden again. Amazing!

See more at: www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/naked-egg-experiment.

Make a Rubber EggActivity

Poultry TermsDraw a line from the term to the definition. Read your AgMag to find the answers.

Pullet

Broiler

Hen

Chick

Candle

Hard-Working HensHens lay about 300 eggs a year, on average.

Most eggs are laid between 7 and 11 a.m.

A hen requires about 24 to 26 hours to produce one egg. After the egg is laid, the hen starts all over again about 30 minutes later.

A hen must eat about four pounds of feed to produce one dozen eggs.

A hen will turn her egg 50 times each day to keep the yolk from sticking to the side.

Think about how many eggs you see in the grocery store. If each hen produces aboutone egg a day, think about how many hens and how many days it takes to produceenough eggs to meet the demand. Thank goodness for hard-working hens!

A male chicken.

To examine the contents inside of an intact egg, usually in an attempt to determine fertilization of the egg.

A female chicken under one year of age.

A young chicken that is usually lessthan 12 weeks of age and has beenbred specifically for meat production.

A baby chicken.

A female chicken who is old enough to lay an egg. Rooster

Delicious & NutritiousChicken eggs supply all essential amino acids for humans (a source of completeprotein) and provide several vitamins and minerals, including retinol (vitamin A),riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid (vitamin B9), vitamin B6, vitamin B12, choline, iron,calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. All of the egg's vitamins A, D, and E are in theegg yolk. The egg is one of the few foods to naturally contain vitamin D. Yolks alsocontain lutein, which helps prevent age-related cataracts and macular degeneration.

Hormones are not used to make chickens grow faster. This is probably the biggest myth told

about the poultry industry.

To tell if an egg is raw or hard-boiled,spin it. Because the liquids have set intoa solid, a hard-boiled egg will easily spin.The moving liquids in a raw egg will

cause it to wobble.

Recently, many families have decided to havetheir own backyard chicken coop to providefresh eggs each day. A chicken coop usually hasan indoor area where the chickens sleep and nest,then there is the outdoor area where the chickensspend the rest of their time. Both the inside and outdoorfloors of a chicken coop are often covered with a loosematerial such as straw or wood chips to absorb chickendroppings and to allow for easier cleanup. A coop should be lockedat night with all the chickens inside of it so that the chickens areprotected from predators.

Most chicken coops have some type of ventilation to help air out anysmells. Many of these coops are now found in cities and evenneighborhoods. Raising chickens in your backyard can be a fun andeducational experience. The decision to take on an animal, whetheras a pet or livestock, should only be made after serious considerationand research. It takes a lot of work to raise healthy, happy chickens.

Backyard Chickens

Would you believe that the egg-laying process for a chickenactually begins in its eye?! Hens need a minimum of 16

hours of daylight to sustain strong production. If hens arenot provided with supplemental light, they will naturallystop laying eggs when daylight hours drop below 12hours. In addition to the light sensed through theeyes, chickens sense light through a gland calledthe pineal gland. This gland is situated on their brainand is often called the “third eye.” Humans alsohave this gland. As light increases, the pineal glandresponds by sending a hormone to the hen’s ovaryto start producing eggs.

What does the sun have to do with eggs?

MaterialsRaw eggTall glassWhite vinegarPatience

ExperimentPlace the egg in a tall glass and cover the egg with vinegar. Look closely at the egg. Do you see any bubbles forming on the shell? Leave the egg in the vinegar for a full 24 hours.

Change the vinegar on the second day. Carefully pour the old vinegardown the drain and cover the egg with fresh vinegar. Place the glasswith the vinegar and egg in a safe place for a week - that's right, a whole

7 days! Do not disturb the egg, but pay close attention to the bubblesforming on the surface of the shell (or what's left of it).

One week later, pour off the vinegar and carefully rinse the egg withwater. The egg looks translucent because the outside shell is gone! Theonly thing that remains is the delicate membrane of the egg. You'vesuccessfully made an egg without a shell. Okay, you didn't really makethe egg - the chicken made the egg - you just stripped away the chem-ical that gives the egg its strength.

How does it work?Let's start with the bubbles you saw forming on the shell. The bubblesare carbon dioxide gas. Vinegar is an acid called acetic acid - and whitevinegar from the grocery store is usually about 5% acetic acid and 95%water. Egg shells are made up of calcium carbonate. The vinegar reactswith the calcium carbonate by breaking the chemical into its calciumand carbonate parts (in simplest terms). The calcium part floats around

in the solution while the carbonate part reacts to form the carbon dioxidebubbles that you see.

Some of the vinegar will also sneak through, or permeate, the egg'smembrane and cause the egg to get a little bigger. This flow of a liquidfrom one solution through a semi-permeable membrane and intoanother less concentrated solution is called osmosis. That's why theegg is even more delicate if you handle it. If you shake the egg, you cansee the yolk sloshing around in the egg white. If the membrane breaks,the egg's insides will spill out into the vinegar. Yes, you've made apickled egg! Allowing the egg to react with the carbon dioxide in the airwill cause the egg to harden again. Amazing!

See more at: www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/naked-egg-experiment.

Make a Rubber EggActivity

Poultry TermsDraw a line from the term to the definition. Read your AgMag to find the answers.

Pullet

Broiler

Hen

Chick

Candle

Hard-Working HensHens lay about 300 eggs a year, on average.

Most eggs are laid between 7 and 11 a.m.

A hen requires about 24 to 26 hours to produce one egg. After the egg is laid, the hen starts all over again about 30 minutes later.

A hen must eat about four pounds of feed to produce one dozen eggs.

A hen will turn her egg 50 times each day to keep the yolk from sticking to the side.

Think about how many eggs you see in the grocery store. If each hen produces aboutone egg a day, think about how many hens and how many days it takes to produceenough eggs to meet the demand. Thank goodness for hard-working hens!

A male chicken.

To examine the contents inside of an intact egg, usually in an attempt to determine fertilization of the egg.

A female chicken under one year of age.

A young chicken that is usually lessthan 12 weeks of age and has beenbred specifically for meat production.

A baby chicken.

A female chicken who is old enough to lay an egg. Rooster

Delicious & NutritiousChicken eggs supply all essential amino acids for humans (a source of completeprotein) and provide several vitamins and minerals, including retinol (vitamin A),riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid (vitamin B9), vitamin B6, vitamin B12, choline, iron,calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. All of the egg's vitamins A, D, and E are in theegg yolk. The egg is one of the few foods to naturally contain vitamin D. Yolks alsocontain lutein, which helps prevent age-related cataracts and macular degeneration.

Hormones are not used to make chickens grow faster. This is probably the biggest myth told

about the poultry industry.

To tell if an egg is raw or hard-boiled,spin it. Because the liquids have set intoa solid, a hard-boiled egg will easily spin.The moving liquids in a raw egg will

cause it to wobble.

Recently, many families have decided to havetheir own backyard chicken coop to providefresh eggs each day. A chicken coop usually hasan indoor area where the chickens sleep and nest,then there is the outdoor area where the chickensspend the rest of their time. Both the inside and outdoorfloors of a chicken coop are often covered with a loosematerial such as straw or wood chips to absorb chickendroppings and to allow for easier cleanup. A coop should be lockedat night with all the chickens inside of it so that the chickens areprotected from predators.

Most chicken coops have some type of ventilation to help air out anysmells. Many of these coops are now found in cities and evenneighborhoods. Raising chickens in your backyard can be a fun andeducational experience. The decision to take on an animal, whetheras a pet or livestock, should only be made after serious considerationand research. It takes a lot of work to raise healthy, happy chickens.

Backyard Chickens

AgMagSue Ann HubbardClinical Professor Mississippi State UniversityCollege of VeterinaryMedicine Pathobiology/Population Medicine Department

What do you do? I specialize in poultry. I help the poultry industry produce ahealthy and wholesome source of protein for families. I alsohelp people with backyard flocks keep their flocks healthy.

What is your education? I have a bachelor’s degree in Poultry Science, two master’sdegrees (one in Poultry Science and one in Avian Medicine),and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree, all fromMississippi State University.

What types of skills do you need for your job? Instead of working with an individual animal, I work witha population of animals. It takes certain skills to be ableto identify issues within a large population and makerecommendations that affect so many animals at one time.

Do you enjoy your job? I absolutely love it. Every day is a day with new challenges. Itis very fulfilling to be able to make recommendations that canaffect the safety of the food that I prepare for my family.

Kirby MauldinPoultry GrowerLaurel, Mississippi

What types of skills do youneed to be a poultry farmer? You need to be a jack of alltrades…a carpenter, a plumber,an electrician and more. You doa little bit of it all. You also must

know how to take good care of your chickens. I grow broilersin four houses for a total of 80,000 birds or 4 ½ flocks a year.I get them when they are hours old and keep them until theyare about 60 to 66 days old and weigh about 9 pounds. I growfor Wayne Farms.

Why did you become a poultry farmer? I have a Poultry Science degree from Mississippi StateUniversity. After I graduated, I worked for B.C. Rogers PoultryInc. (now Koch Foods of Mississippi LLC) in Morton for threeyears. My wife and I wanted to start our family, and I had anopportunity to move home to Jones County so I did. I havebeen farming for 17 years.

Do you enjoy what you do? I love it. I have the freedom to make my own hours and to beoutdoors most of the day. I’m not confined to an office anddesk. I also enjoy growing a delicious, safe, healthy productfor my family and yours.

POULTRY INDUSTRY

®

Poultry is a name given to domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs,meat, or feathers. Poultry is Mississippi’s number-one agricultural commodity.Most poultry farmers in Mississippi produce broilers. A broiler is a young chickenthat is usually less than 12 weeks of age and has been bred specifically for meatproduction. Last year, Mississippi poultry farmers grew 736,000,000 broilers.That’s a lot of chicken!

Baby chickens are called chicks. Female chickens are called pullets until they’reold enough to lay eggs and become hens. Pullets are usually under 20 weeksof age. Male chickens are called roosters, cocks, or cockerels, depending onwhere you live in the world.

A n a g r i c u l t u r a l n e w s l e t t e r f o r k i d s f r o mM i s s i s s i p p i F a r m B u r e a u F e d e r a t i o n

Eggcellent Eggs!

Mississippi’s Top Commodity

Faces of Mississippi’s

Did you know that America’s largest egg producer, Cal-Maine Foods, Inc., is headquarteredin Jackson, Mississippi? The U.S. produces about 75 billion eggs a year, about 10 percent of the world’s supply. Layersare mature female chickens used for egg production. A hen doesn’t need a rooster to lay an egg.They do so on their own. These eggs are the kind of eggs you buy in the grocery store to eat. Theyare called unfertilized. Fertilized eggs are raised on broiler breeder farms by parent stock. Theseare the eggs that hatch into chicks. These eggs are never sold in stores and are not meant forhuman consumption. The interior of any egg intended to be sold as food must be inspected. Thisis accomplished by shining a bright light through the shell. This process is called candling.The light highlights any irregularities, such as a developing chick.These regulations are mandatory, whether the eggs are intended for alarge grocery store or for the farmers market. Eggs with irregularitiesnever make it to your plate and are destroyed.

This issue ofAgMag is

compliments of:

You can cook many different things with eggs. The chef’shat, called a toque blanche (French for "white hat"), issaid to have a pleat for each of the different ways youcan cook eggs. Beyond basic scrambled, fried, poached,and baked eggs, you can also take eggs and turn theminto omelets, salads, quiches, and casseroles. Eggs alsoplay a huge role in the baking world. They are used incakes, cheesecakes, cookies, custards, meringues,pie fillings, soufflés, and pastries.

The breed of hen determines the color of the egg shell.Among commercial breeds, hens with white feathers and earlobes lay white-shelled eggs; hens with red feathers and earlobes lay brown eggs.

It takes 1.9 pounds of feed for a chicken to gain 1 pound.

Is it Poultry?Circle the animals that are considered poultry.

Turkey

Eagle

Duck

Goose

Quail

Peacock

Owl

Pheasant

POULTRY

See answers bottom right

The turkey, the duck, the quail, the pheasant and the goose are all considered poultry.