| Unit name | Poultry Processing |
|---|---|
| Unit code | VETSM0019 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Butterworth |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
Core skills 1 unit, Biochemistry and meat quality unit. |
| Co-requisites |
Other units required for completion of PgC (3 units, 20 credits), PgD (6 units, 20 credits) and MSc (6 units + core skills 2 + research project). Animal production unit Animal welfare Meat hygiene and public health Meat processing |
| School/department | Bristol Veterinary School |
| Faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences |
Poultry species are the most numerous farmed animals on earth with about 40 billion meat chickens farmed each year and approximately 60 million tonnes of eggs produced annually. Invariably, the industry is intensive and highly integrated. The unit deals primarily with eggs and meat from chickens but also includes other poultry species such as turkeys and ducks. It describes the factors in production, primary and further processing that contribute to the disease status, animal welfare, meat quality and microbiological safety of meat and eggs.
Students will be able to demonstrate a systematic knowledge and understanding of the key factors affecting the production, disease, welfare and primary and further processing of poultry which contribute to the safety and quality of poultry.
Students will also be able to:
The unit has 15 hours of lectures, a visit to a commercial broiler production unit, a visit to a commercial broiler processing facility, and 8 hours of student-led oral presentations. It also includes a two day Poultry Welfare Officer course which deals with welfare issues at slaughter and covers the main slaughter/killing methods (electrical water bath and gas).
For most lectures, students receive printed copies of powerpoint slides and comprehensive course notes including references for further reading.
The unit has excellent e-resources available through a Blackboard site that hosts all the lectured material. Each lecture has a set of powerpoint slides, written notes (with references for further reading), and an audio presentation. The site also includes full details of coursework requirements, and hosts past exam papers. Coursework is submitted electronically and checked for plagiarism.
Knowledge, understanding and other higher level skills are assessed by a combination of coursework (50% of available marks) and a 3 hour written examination (50% of available marks).
Coursework consists of a fully referenced essay (~2500 words), a 15 min oral presentation, and a visit report (~1500 words). The essay, oral and visit report account for 70, 20 and 10%, respectively, of the marks allocated for coursework.
Students can select an essay from a list of titles, allowing individuals to develop an area of particular interest. Students must review the available literature on the topic using appropriate electronic resources, present a summary of the main findings in 2500 words (excluding tables, references and figures), and demonstrate a critical awareness of current issues. The essays are submitted electronically through Blackboard and checked for plagiarism.
Students must deliver a 10 minute oral presentation using powerpoint slides that summarises a selected research paper. This is followed by 5 minutes of questions from staff and other students, to challenge a student’s understanding of their selected topic.
Students must also produce a 1500 word visit report of a broiler production unit or a further processing facility that summarises and analyses what they have observed.
The 3 hour unseen examination paper has a mandatory 5-part question designed to test breadth of knowledge, and a choice of essay-style questions (3 from 6) designed to test depth of knowledge and understanding of the subject area, including past and current research.
There is a strong reliance on original research papers from various journals (eg Poultry Science, British Poultry Science, World’s Poultry Science) that can be accessed through the library or using the University’s electronic resources. The following books are also helpful.
