National Practising Veterinarian Qualification Examination Avian and Poultry Production Management: practice questions

1 · Poultry breeds and strains · medium

Why is artificial insemination routine in commercial heavy broad-breasted turkeys?

1. Heavy, broad-breasted toms cannot mate naturally with reliable success
2. Turkey sperm cannot survive in the hen's oviduct for more than a few hours
3. Turkey toms produce no motile sperm
4. Turkey hens cannot store sperm

2 · Broiler management · medium

How does tunnel ventilation cool broilers in hot weather?

1. It lowers the relative humidity of the house air
2. It raises static pressure, which lowers air temperature
3. It removes ammonia, which is the main source of heat
4. High air speed along the house produces a wind-chill effect on the birds

3 · Layer management · medium

Cage layer fatigue in high-producing caged hens results mainly from:

1. Fatty infiltration and haemorrhage of the liver in over-conditioned, high-producing caged hens
2. Bone depletion to supply shell calcium when calcium, phosphorus or vitamin D3 is short
3. Muscle wasting from Marek's disease
4. Excess dietary calcium causing kidney failure and visceral gout in the hens

4 · Layer management · hard

A layer flock's hen-day production matches the strain standard every week, but its hen-housed egg number at 60 weeks is well below standard. The most likely explanation is:

1. Poor egg weight
2. Higher-than-standard mortality or culling
3. A lighting programme with too short a day
4. Low hen-day production early in lay

5 · Incubation · hard

Cold hatching eggs are taken straight from the egg store into a warm, humid setter room. What is the main risk?

1. Immediate embryonic death from heat shock, as the egg warms too quickly in the room
2. Loss of the air cell
3. Increased fertility
4. Condensation, or 'sweating', on the shell, helping bacteria enter the pores

6 · Candling and hatchability · hard

Why should 'clear' eggs removed at candling be broken out and examined rather than simply recorded as infertile?

1. Clear eggs are always infertile, but breakout is still needed to check egg weight and shell colour
2. Breakout is required to measure shell thickness
3. Clear eggs can be returned to the setter after breakout
4. Some clears are very early deaths, pointing to egg handling or incubation, not the breeder flock

7 · Candling and hatchability · hard

A hatchery reports an early hatch with small, dehydrated chicks, many with red hocks, and more late-dead embryos. The most likely incubation fault is:

1. Temperature too low
2. Humidity too high
3. Temperature too high
4. Too frequent turning

8 · Biosecurity · hard

Why are inactivated (killed) oil-emulsion vaccines commonly given to layer and breeder pullets before lay, often after live priming?

1. They can be given in drinking water to large flocks
2. They multiply in the bird and spread to unvaccinated hens
3. They give high, lasting antibody through lay and to progeny, and boost well after live priming
4. They give the fastest local immunity in the respiratory tract, within a day or two of injection

9 · Lighting programmes · medium

Why do many modern broiler lighting programmes include a period of darkness rather than continuous light?

1. Darkness generally increases total feed intake
2. Darkness improves rest and welfare and reduces leg disorders and some metabolic deaths
3. Darkness is needed to stimulate egg production in broilers
4. Continuous light causes photorefractoriness in broilers, which then stop eating and growing

10 · Egg quality · hard

A layer flock at 35 weeks shows a sudden fall in production with thin-shelled, soft-shelled and shell-less eggs, but the birds look healthy. Which set of causes should be investigated first?

1. Egg drop syndrome or infectious bronchitis, calcium error, water failure or heat stress
2. Marek's disease and lymphoid leukosis
3. Coccidiosis and necrotic enteritis
4. Riboflavin deficiency and curled-toe paralysis, which affect laying hens more than chicks