Poultry Health Advisor · Glossary
Twenty-two terms, each drawn from the corpus.
Each term is defined from the corpus and anchored to the page it was drawn from. No term appears here unless a source paper covers it substantively. Definitions paraphrase the cited passage; they introduce no outside facts.
I · A–Z
A · B · C · F · H · L · P · S · W
- A
ABF
also — antibiotic-free · Antibiotic-Free · antibiotic free
A poultry production system in which antibiotics are not used; relies on vaccination, alternative feed additives, and intensified biosecurity.
alum
also — aluminum sulfate · aluminium sulfate
An acidifying litter amendment that lowers pH and binds ammonia, evaluated for reducing Salmonella and Campylobacter in broiler houses.
line-2002-campylobacter-salmonella-acidified-litter · p 1
antimicrobial resistance
also — AMR · antibiotic resistance
The ability of bacteria such as Salmonella to survive drugs designed to kill them — a central food-safety and One-Health concern in poultry production.
- B
built-up litter
also — built up litter · reused litter
Poultry bedding reused across successive flocks rather than replaced; as it ages it acquires a microbiome that can reduce Salmonella prevalence over time.
tucker-1967-survival-salmonellae-builtup-litter · p 1
- C
caked litter
also — caking · caked · litter cake
A hard, wet crust of compacted manure and bedding that forms on the litter surface; it is both a consequence of wet litter and a cause that seals moisture in.
dunlop-2016-wet-litter-causal-factors · p 4
competitive exclusion
also — competitive-exclusion
Suppression of a pathogen by an established commensal microbial community — reused litter's diverse microbiome can competitively exclude Salmonella from colonizing chicks.
bucher-2020-reused-litter-microbiome-competitive-exclusion-heidelberg · p 1
- F
footpad dermatitis
also — FPD · pododermatitis · foot pad dermatitis
A condition causing necrotic lesions on the plantar surface of broiler and turkey footpads, driven largely by wet litter and a cause of paw downgrades and condemnations.
shepherd-fairchild-2010-footpad-dermatitis · p 1
friable litter
also — friability · friable
The loose, crumbly quality of dry litter that lets birds 'work' it; friable litter dries faster and resists caking, making it a target condition of good litter management.
dunlop-2016-wet-litter-causal-factors · p 5
- H
horizontal gene transfer
also — HGT
Transfer of genetic material — often antimicrobial-resistance genes on plasmids — between bacteria without reproduction; a primary driver of resistance spreading to Salmonella in the litter environment.
oladeinde-2021-hgt-main-driver-amr-broiler-chicks-heidelberg · p 1
- L
litter acidification
also — acidified litter · acidifying
Treating litter with acidifying agents to lower pH and ammonia and suppress pathogen growth — a standard between-flock pathogen-reduction practice.
line-2002-campylobacter-salmonella-acidified-litter · p 1
litter turning
also — litter tilling · tilling · working litter
Mechanically working built-up litter during a grow-out (also called tilling, cultivating, or conditioning) to break up cake and surface wet material to dry, aiming for dry, friable litter.
pepper-dunlop-2021-litter-turning-review · p 2
- P
plasmid
also — plasmids
A mobile, self-replicating DNA element separate from the chromosome that can carry antimicrobial-resistance, virulence, and metal-resistance genes in Salmonella.
oladeinde-2018-hotspot-mutations-cole1-plasmids-heidelberg-fitness · p 1
- S
Salmonella Enteritidis
also — S. Enteritidis
A leading Salmonella serovar associated with egg-borne human illness, able to colonize the reproductive tract and intestines of laying hens.
corrier-1993-protective-effect-used-litter-lactose-enteritidis · p 2
Salmonella Heidelberg
also — S. Heidelberg
A Salmonella enterica serovar of major food-safety concern in broilers — frequently multidrug-resistant and a focus of pre-harvest litter survival and persistence studies.
oladeinde-2025-litter-moisture-trace-metals-salmonella-persistence · p 2
serovar
also — serotype · serovars
A serologically distinguishable variant within Salmonella enterica (e.g. Heidelberg, Enteritidis, Typhimurium, Infantis); serovar identity shapes virulence, host range, and resistance.
bucher-2020-reused-litter-microbiome-competitive-exclusion-heidelberg · p 2
siderophore
also — siderophores
An iron-scavenging molecule; Salmonella strains carrying siderophore genes on large plasmids show enhanced persistence in litter rich in trace metals.
oladeinde-2025-litter-moisture-trace-metals-salmonella-persistence · p 1
sodium bisulfate
also — PLT · poultry litter treatment
An acidifying litter amendment that lowers litter pH and ammonia to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter viability.
williams-2012-sodium-bisulfate-salmonella-viability-litter · p 1
- W
water activity
also — Aw · water-activity
A thermodynamic measure (Aw) of how freely the water in litter can escape; it tracks litter's microbial and drying behaviour more closely than moisture content alone.
dunlop-2016-water-activity-poultry-litter · p 2
water holding capacity
also — water-holding capacity
The maximum water a litter or bedding material can retain; it rises through a grow-out as the manure-to-bedding ratio increases, shaping how much moisture the litter can buffer before turning wet.
dunlop-2015-water-holding-capacity-litter · p 6
wet litter
also — wet-litter
Poultry bedding carrying excess moisture; relative to dry litter it readily forms a surface manure 'cake' and sustains the poor surface conditions behind many flock health and welfare problems.
dunlop-2016-wet-litter-causal-factors · p 4
windrowing
also — windrow · windrowed
Piling litter into rows between flocks to generate composting heat that reduces pathogen load — a between-flock litter-treatment practice.
bucher-2020-reused-litter-microbiome-competitive-exclusion-heidelberg · p 1
WOAH
also — World Organisation for Animal Health
The intergovernmental organization that publishes the Terrestrial Animal Health Code and the Terrestrial Manual — the global reference standards for animal disease surveillance, prevention, and diagnostic methods.