There will be those who will read the title or see the cover of this book and never read it. This reaction will not be unlike the attitude expressed in 1964 to Ruth Harrison's Animal Machines (with a forward by Rachel Carsen) on intensive animal production or Jim High-tower's 1972 book Hard Tomatoes Hard Times on the land-grant agricultural college-business complex. The years following the appearance of these two books have seen a plethora of publications both justifying and criticizing animal agricultural practices and research.
In Prisoned Chickens Poisoned Eggs, Karen Davis, found and president of United Poultry Concerns, discusses the poultry industry. Holder of a Ph.D. in English, it is not surprising that the book is clearly written with many footnotes for further reading and documentation. Chapter 1, "History" provides an interesting overview of the transition of the fowl from the jungles of Southeast Asia to today's worldwide production. Davis carefully weaves a chronology of the domestication of the chicken to a chastisement of current production and processing practices.
Chapter 2, "The Birth and Family Life of Chickens" is well written and includes items not found in The Chicken Book by Smith and Daniels nor in Lind's translation of Aldrovandi on Chickens". In addition to leaning on these writings there are numerous anecdotes. For information on the biology of the fowl, there is considerable reliance on The Development of the Brain and Behaviour in the Chicken by Rogers and Commercial Chicken Production Manual by North and Bell.
"The Life of the Battery Hen", Chapter 3, consists of 164 notes and references on a range of issues. This longest chapter in the book ends with a call to consumers not only to boycott eggs produced by hens maintained in battery cages, but to "discover the variety of egg-free alternatives". Chapter 4, "The Life of the Broiler Chicken" addresses poultry meat production. Early sections of this chapter provide background on consumer trends and the development of the broiler industry. Ray Goldberg and John Davis, of the Harvard Business School, are credited for coining the word "agribusiness" in the mid 1950s. Subsequent sections in this chapter include topics such as obesity, ascites, excretory ammonia, and contamination. These are topics rightfully of concern to poultry scientists as well as other segments of society. Using the broiler as an example, Davis presents a view of some societal concerns involving not only agriculture but also science and technology. This chapter on broilers provides a natural lead into Chapter 5, "The Death", in which the issue becomes how inhumane is slaughter (i.e., humane slaughter is an oxymoron).
In the final chapter, "New Beginning", Davis states, "In nature animals exist for their own reasons, not only for others' use. In production agriculture, animals are brought into the world solely to be used." Viewed in this context, the issue becomes more than a comparison of production practices. Namely, what is involved in an attitude of whether one is comfortable in using other animals. Davis also questions the humaneness and the need for conducting certain experiments with examples including some published in this journal. She ends the book reflecting on the morality of individuals.
Davis has provided a message to all groups working with poultry, including those of us in research, teaching, and extension. The book's 175 pages provide insights that call for reflection as well as argumentation.
P. B. Siegel
ROSE, S. P. Principles of Poultry Science. 1997. CAB International, 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016-4341. 135 p. ISBN 0-85199-122X.
This book was written to be a quick introductory text on the basic principles of poultry science for students of agriculture or for students taking their first poultry science course. The overall purpose of the author is to provide the reader with a fundamental understanding of the characteristics and physiological responses of poultry while emphasizing their relationships to production. It is intended also to introduce to new students the concepts of mathematical modeling for the prediction of growth and production responses of poultry. The book deals with all the commercially important poultry species including domestic chickens, turkeys, quail, guinea fowl, ducks, and geese. The emphasis, however, is towards chickens because of their importance in the poultry production of most countries.
The author generally succeeds in his purpose of providing a concise but focused presentation of the principles of poultry science. The chapters are well written and provide the reader with a good overview of the subjects covered. Each chapter is referenced with a selection of key publications providing students with guidance for more in-depth study should they be so inclined. Overall, the book is an easy read while providing the reader with very useful and relevant information. The author makes good use of tables, charts, and diagrams to supplement text.
The book begins a little slowly with the first two chapters on domestication and products, but picks up considerably with the presentations on growth and reproduction. This reviewer found the chapters related to female reproduction (Chapter 4) and nutrition and feeding (Chapter 8) to be particularly well written. Chapter 4 provides the reader with a very solid understanding of the factors related to egg production including the application of lighting programs and the prediction of egg production characteristics. Chapter 8 covers the basic principles of poultry nutrition as well as the practical aspects of feed formulation. The chapters on male reproduction, incubation, breeding and genetics, and animal welfare, while adequate, were a bit too concise and could have been improved with additional information.
In summary, the book adequately serves the purpose of providing an introductory text for beginning students of poultry science. It is generally well written and easily understandable for individuals with little or no background in the subject areas. It should become a valuable text for general agricultural students needing basic information on poultry science and a useful additional reference for most poultry science libraries.
Dan L. Cunningham
1998 Poultry Science 77:373-374
© 1998, by the Poultry Science Association. All rights reserved.