POUL 5083/5084 - Poultry Health  

Credit Hours: 03
Instructor: Dr. Joseph J. Giambrone
Email: giambjj@auburn.edu
Telephone: 334-844-2642
Virtual Hours: 10 a.m. – 12 Noon (Wednesday)

Prerequisites: Introductory General Microbiology course.

Delivery Systems:

This course requires a computer with Internet access. You will need to be able to adjust settings, install software and plug-ins, and be able to create files on the computer you will be using. Please be advised that public\lab computers often prevent these types of activities. You should check to ensure that you have these capabilities before participating in this course.

Provided by the Distance Learning and Outreach Technology Office, Auburn University

• Poultry Health Handbook by J.J. Giambrone (Available in three formats - on the course website in WebCT / on a CD / hard copy).
• Instructional videos on two DVDs by J.J. Giambrone

This course is for you and other poultry health workers, who will use this technology to solve disease problems and to make decisions for the future control of diseases. It is designed to provide you with the knowledge, skills, and experience required to diagnose common diseases of poultry.

POUL 5083/5084 (Poultry Health) is a three-credit course composed of 16 sessions of instruction including a proctored final examination. In this course, you will learn how to diagnose, prevent, and treat common diseases of poultry using gross post-mortem techniques and other common laboratory techniques.

The objectives of this course are to:

1. Understand the elementary pathology, microbiology, and immunology.
2. Knowledge of disease prevention and control measures.
3. Knowledge of specific poultry diseases.
4. Diagnosis of selected poultry diseases by postmortem examination.

There are 16 sessions organized into 5 units that deal with 21 topics including a proctored final examination. At the beginning of each unit, there will be a video of the instructor introducing the topics in the unit. At the end of each of the five units, there is an open-book examination. You are expected to read the assigned textbook readings, view instructional videos in sessions 4, 5, 7 & 15 and post answers for discussion questions on the course website in WebCT. You are also expected to watch two videos of laboratory sessions. More information is given about these activities in the Course Requirements section in this document. The proctored final examination is taken under the supervision of an approved proctor. The Distance Learning & Outreach Technology (DLOT) office of Auburn University verifies the proctors for the examinations. More information about the proctors is given in the Examination Process section in this document.

A variety of media provided by WebCT are used for communication among class members and the instructor. These are online submission of assignments, email, and bulletin board.

The topics in this course are as follows:

1. Anatomy and Physiology
2. Laboratory Diagnostic
3. Pathology
4. Causes of Avian Diseases
5. Disease Prevention & Control
6. Clinical Examination & Postmortem Examination
7. Disease Diagnosis
8. Vaccination Procedures and Immune Response
9. Antibiotics and Probiotics for Disease Control
10. Bacterial Diseases 11. Viral Diseases
12. Fungal Diseases
13. Mycotoxins
14. Protozoan Diseases
15. Toxicity
16. Nutritional Diseases
17. External Parasites
18. Internal Parasites
19. Miscellaneous Conditions
20. Environmental Diseases
21. Management

Unit – I (Session 4)
1. Necropsy (26:00 Minutes)

Unit - II (Session 5)
2. What is Bio-Security? (10:30 Minutes)
3. Broiler Operations (13:03 Minutes)
4. Egg-laying Operations (11:27 Minutes)
5. Hatcheries (11:48 Minutes)
6. Turkey Operations -Year-round production (13:22 Minutes)
7. Transportation and Feed Mills (9:45 Minutes)
8. Live Bird Markets (10:57 Minutes)
9. Game Bird and Small Flocks (9:50 Minutes)

Unit – III (Session 7)
10. Exotic Newcastle Disease & Fowl Plague (11:00 Minutes)
11. Lancaster Poultry Processing (23:50 Minutes)
12. Pet Bird Smuggling (10:50 Minutes)

Unit – V (Session 15)
13. Fly Control (10:40 Minutes)

1. Discussion Questions:

You will use the WebCT, Bulletin Board, for contributing to discussions from the text book readings/topics for the related session. For each topic, you will read the required readings. By a specified time, you will make a posting to the discussion forum for that topic. You will be required additionally to post a reply to another peer’s posting. This is usually a “reply” to someone else’s posting. Therefore, for each topic you are expected to at least make two substantial postings.

2. Open Book Examinations:

At the end of the first four units, there is an open book examination. These examinations are available on WebCT with a 30-minute time limit. Each test consists of 50 questions -- a combination of multiple choice, true or false and matching.

3. Final Examination

The proctored final examination at the end of Unit V will be available on WebCT. It will cover the material from Units I – V giving an opportunity to assess your assimilation of the learning objectives of the course. It is a comprehensive examination and includes 10 multiple-choice questions for 1 hour. Each question takes about 5 minutes to administer, consists of 4 photographs with a dialog. You are to match each of the 4 photographs with a specific disease. The examination will include material from the assigned text book readings, discussion questions, and instructional videos. This is NOT an open book examination. More information about the proctors is given in the Examination Process section in this document.

After the first session, you must select a proctor to supervise the final examination. Examples of approved proctors are academic administrators in your locale: school superintendents or principals, academic deans or department heads at colleges, or an independent learning office test supervisor at another college, or an education officer at a military installation. All proposed proctors are verified for appropriateness by Distance Learning and Outreach Technology (DLOT) student services staff at 334-844-3106 or audl@auburn.edu. At the time of the final examination, you and the proctor will fill out the Examination Information Verification form. This form along with any written material is mailed in a confidential self addressed sealed envelope to DLOT office. When the examination is received by DLOT, the staff records it and forwards it to the faculty for grading and reporting.

The quality of the performance of your work will be determined on the basis of the assessment of their discussion questions and on the results of their examinations. The final course average will be computed as follows.

1. Discussion Questions 30%
2. Take-Home Examinations 30%
3. Final Examination 40%

The final course grade will be determined using the scale below:

You will be required to complete the online Course Evaluation Questionnaire before the final course grade is officially recorded.

The following are necessary for this course:

• A computer with a CD and DVD player and an Internet connection (You can use a separate DVD player for watching the videos).
• Knowledge of basic computer skills and experience using email and the internet.

You are expected to stay on track, especially since the discussion questions will be focused on each session’s topic. This type of course allows quite a bit of freedom, for instance, in determining at what time of day and where they do their coursework. It does, however, entail quite a bit of self-discipline and determination in order to keep up with the assignments.

As a distance education learner, it is your responsibility to share a significant responsibility for preparing and discussing course material. If a serious situation arises and you anticipate that you will not be able to meet a deadline, it should be discussed with the instructor, before the due date. If the instructor is contacted, regarding the problem at least several days before the due date, and judges it to warrant special consideration (usually due to illness or injury) you and the instructor will negotiate an alternate due date. If the instructor has not been contacted and special consideration has not been granted, all material turned in after the due date will be penalized 10% of total possible points for each day late.

The class will be fully web-based and semi-self-paced. Each week assignments will be due. You should stay on track, so the quizzes can be focused on each week's topic. This type of course allows quite a bit of freedom, for instance, in determining at what time of day and where they do their course work. It does, however, as you can see, entail quite a bit of self-discipline and determination in order to keep up with assignments.

Auburn University is committed to providing accommodations and services to learners with documented disabilities. Any learner with a qualified disability which requires accommodations should contact The Program for Learners with Disabilities, 1244 Haley Center, Auburn University, AL 36849, 334-844-2096 PH, 334-844-2099 FAX, haynemd@auburn.edu. More information is available on their website at www.auburn.edu/disability. The office will fax or mail the required forms to learners to apply for services. Learners who have questions to participate in this course should contact the above office in advance to ensure proper accommodations.  

Plagiarism is the act of presenting directly or indirectly someone else’s work as your own. Plagiarism is a major type of academic dishonesty and will not be tolerated. Similarly cheating on tests in any way, falsifying bibliographies, fraudulent quotes, and similar practices are intolerable forms of academic dishonesty. The University’s policy for academic misconduct in the Learner Code of Conduct will be followed for this course (Tiger Club, pp. 83 and 92). If any questions regarding its contents, the learners are expected to contact the instructor.