Teaching Exchange Students About Poultry Research

Tiffany L. jackson.

Celso Moreno and Diego Granda work as animal science interns at the poultry lab in Spanish Fork,Utah.

 

Celso Moreno studies egg production in Utah.

Celso Moreno, a native from Ambato, Ecuador, worked in the Brigham Young University Poultry Lab under the direction of N. Paul Johnston, Brigham Young University professor and former Benson Institute director. From September 1999 until August 2000, Moreno researched the effects of light on egg production for chickens and turkeys. Using primarily white leghorn chickens, a high egg producing species, Moreno found that the highest production yields resulted from 8 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness, followed by 3 hours of light and 5 hours of darkness.

Diego Granda collects data on guinea pigs.

Diego Granda arrived in July 2000 from Riobomba, Ecuador, in order to supersede Moreno in supervising the poultry farm. In addition to maintaining the lab, Diego researched the egg production of 90 white leghorn hens for eight months. From the 90, 10 hens having the highest egg production rates were selected. Blood samples from each hen were taken and sent to BYU’s Animal Science Department to be analyzed. Results are hoped to link specific genetic materials to superior egg production.