A3o—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 9,1982
Cooperative Poultry Diagnostic Lab opens doors
BY SHEILA MILLER
KENNETT SQUARE - On
Tuesday, the University of Penn
sylvania and the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture of
ficially opened their new
Cooperative Poultry Diagnostic
Laboratory facilities here at New
Bolton Center with an “open
house.”
And, that’s exactly what visitors
to the new laboratory, located
appropriately along “Byrd” Road,
came to see an old home with
windows and doors ajar in wide
open welcome for all who dropped
by to visit the state’s newest
facility for poultry diagnostic
work, teaching and research. The
stuccoed stone house, which now
holds the most modem facilities
for necropsy examination, bac
teriology, serology,
histopathology, and virology, was
the former residence of the
veterinary school’s farm manager.
Before moving to their new
headquarters, the seven-member
staff of the poultry diagnostic
laboratory shared two small rooms
in another campus building,, ex
plained Dr. Robert Eckroade who
has headed the lab for the past six
years. “We were always bumping
into one another,” he recalled.
Now, the newly remodeled
facihties offer the poultry staffers
room to "stretch their wings.”
Eckroade has his own office,
complete with carpeting and
fireplace, in which he displays his
collection of poultry paintings and
ceramic statues. “I don’t feel bad
about having a nice office like
this,” he commented. “I’m here 11
hours a day.”
The old home’s upstairs
bedrooms now are used for offices
and laboratory rooms. Downstairs
there are more laboratory
facilities providing much needed
space for the two full-time
technicians, one full-time
secretary, a part-time caretaker,
and a resident in avian medicine (a
graduate veterinarian).
Eckroade, who is a graduate of
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
(bachelor’s degree). University of
Georgia (veterinary degree), and
University of Wisconsin (master’s
and doctoral degrees), explained
the laboratory examines more
than 5,000 birds a year.
“Through recommendations to
poultry farmers, servicemen,
veterinarians, and pet bird
owners, we are involved in the
health care of several million birds
every year,” he said. These
diagnostic services are supported
in part by an annual grant from
PDA’s Bureau of Animal Industry.
“Although the major portion of
our work involves the large
commercial poultry operations, we
welcome cases from small
backyard flocks, hobby farmers,
Penn State offers
sheep seminar
UNIVERSITY PARK - The
practical application of genetics,
selection and breeding of sheep for
optimum production will be
stressed during this year’s Sheep
Breeding and Production Con
ference, November 12-13 at Penn
State. Activities both days will
take place in the J. O. Keller
Conference Center.
Joe Whiteman, professor of
sheep breeding and selecicn at
Oklahoma State University, will be
the keynote speaker November 12.
His talk will focus on selection
criteria for improving lamb and
wool production.
“This year’s sheep conference
should be of interest to those
producers interested in getting the
greatest return from their lamb
and pet bird owners,” Eckroade
noted, adding their work, with pet
bird populations allows them to
monitor what diseases are going
through these types of birds which
might affect commercial flocks.
Poultry producers who suspect
there is trouble in their flock
such as mortality, birds not laying
eggs or not gaining weight,
lameness can have the
laboratory’s assistance in pin
pointing the health problem.
Eckroade said the cost per case is
910 “a nominal fee considering it
might cost the lab $7O to carry out
all the tests.”
He also noted he and his staff
members will teach servicemen
the techniques of post-mortem
examinations, free of charge. "We
can’t possibly do all the necropsy
work here at the laboratory that
needs to be done in the poultry
industry,” Eckroade offered in
explanation why he is willing to
teach others how to perform
simple diagnostic work.
In reviewing their work during
the past year, Eckroade said there
have been "no unique disease
problems” but noted an increased
reoccurance of Marek’a disease
although not in “epidemic
proportions.”
Eckroade suggested that far
mers who wish to send or bring
birds to the laboratory for
examination should “pack fresh,
dead birds in ice or bring them in
while they’re still alive.” He said
that farmers are asked to call the
office before bringing the case
birds to assure the laboratory can
handle them that day.
“We ask the farmers to call us
back that day or the following
morning to get the test results,” he
said. Preliminary reports are
available within 24 hours.
In addition to its diagnostic
services, the New Bolton
Cooperative Poultry Diagnostic
Laboratory trains veterinary
students in avian medicine. The
University of Pennsylvania is one
of only four veterinary schools in
the United States which offers
advanced poultry medicine and
patholdgy training programs for
graduate veterinarians.
The Cooperative Poultry
Diagnostic Laboratory has a well
developed poultry disease
research program. Twelve colony
houses were acquired with poultry
industry support to house ex
perimental birds.
Current research projects in
clude development of an
automated ELISA (enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay) flock
profiling test system, and studies
on the feasibility of eradication of
infectious Bursal disease from
poultry houses. These studies are
supported by grants from USDA,
PDA and the poultry industry.
and wool productin,” says Clair
Engle, Penn State Extension sheep
specialist and conference chair
man.
In addition to Whiteman’s
presentation, demonstrations will
be held on grading market lambs
and evaluating carcasses.
Specialists will also discuss
merchandizing lamb and wool
directly to consumers and
demonstrate tjie use of micr
computers in sheep production.
Preregistration for the con
ference is encouraged, says Dr.
Engle. Information is available
from the Conference and Short
Course Office, 306 Agricultural
Administration Building,
University Park, PA 16802, or by
calling (area code6l4) 865-8301.
Dr. Robert Eckroade, head of the Cooperative Poultry Diagnostic Laboratory for the past six
years, surrounds himself with poultry paraphernalia in his new office. The remodeled farmhouse
which is now lab headquarters welcomed the public this week as the University of Pennsylvania
and the Pa. Dept, of Agriculture held their official open house.
Research associate Betsey Frey demonstrates the ELISA computer which has been in use at
the diagnostic laboratory since April. “With one serum sample, we can show how a bird stands
with eight diseases,” she explains, noting the computer “reads" 96 samples in 60 seconds and
can detect antidotes within four days of exposure.
Dr. Linda Silverman. V.M.D., is the resident in poultry pathology working at the lab. Here she
discusses the process of egg development with Dr. L. Dwight Schwartz and wife Wilma who were
visiting from Penn State where Schwartz is a professor of Extension veterinary science.