Center of Excellence for Poultry Science

Michael Kidd, director
POSC 114
479-575-3699

Center of Excellence for Poultry Science website

With designation by the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees to make poultry science a center of excellence in the state’s university system, the department of poultry science became a reality in 1992.

The Center of Excellence for Poultry Science is comprised of full-time poultry science faculty members, full-time USDA/ARS Poultry Research Group faculty members, graduate assistants, adjunct faculty, and poultry science departmental staff. The center receives multidisciplinary contributions from several university departments including animal science; biological and agricultural engineering; biological sciences; crop, soil, and environmental sciences; entomology; food science; industrial engineering; the School of Human and Environmental Sciences; and the UALR College of Pharmacy.

The Department of Poultry Science and the research group are housed in the John W. Tyson Building, which is a 112,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art laboratory and office complex that was completed the fall of 1995 on the U of A campus. In addition to the John W. Tyson Building on the main campus, the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science comprises the following facilities:

FDA-licensed feed mill;
10,000-square-foot processing plant used for teaching processing techniques and for ongoing food safety research projects;
12,000-square-foot John Kirkpatrick Skeeles Poultry Health Laboratory, which holds the highest bio-safety rating (P3) available in the country;
A poultry research farm facility including hatchery, genetics unit, pullet-rearing facility, battery brooder, caged layer house, broiler breeder houses and turkey houses;
Four full-sized broiler houses equipped with computerized environmental control and data collection systems capable of commercial-type production research; and
A broiler breeder research facility that includes two full-size broiler breeder houses, a pullet-rearing facility, and quality assurance building with offices, classroom, and egg holding capacity.