Avian Health
College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Clinical Science
Statewide
- Agriculture
- Statewide
Primary Topic:
Agriculture
Other Topics:
4-H & Youth, Food Systems, FCS, Nutrition, & Food Safety, Emergency Management
Lead Mentor:
Ragan Adams
DVM, Senior Research Associate, Veterinary Extension Specialist
Internship Overview:
The internship will hire two DVM students who have finished their first or second year of the DVM program. They will each need to receive the 7,000$ graduate student level stipend and be working for Heather Reider, lead of the Avian Health Team to run the Colorado part of the National Poultry Improvement Plan. The team will visit poultry swaps, shows and fairs as well as backyard and commercial facilities to examine birds, test when necessary and discuss biosecurity protocols that decrease the outbreak of disease. The students will handle and examine birds, draw blood and run basic tests to screen for disease, discuss husbandry, biosecurity protocols, and health care with owners.
Goals, Scope and Objectives:
The students will develop handling skills, physical examination, blood draw techniques, feather examination for various types of birds.
They will learn to talk with people who work/own many types of domestic birds.
They will go to bird swaps, backyard flocks, commercial flocks, specialty flocks, and 4-H shows to meet bird owners, examine their birds and discuss husbandry, health and disease prevention. For DVM students interested in poultry practice, this internship is the most intensive exposure to poultry offered at CSU and was highlighted during the last CVMBS accreditation site visit in 2022.
The students will be part of the Colorado National Poultry Improvement Program begun in the 1930’s to improve the health and food safety of poultry products in the US. The students will become Certified Technicians in the program testing flocks across the state who are certified to be Salmonella, Mycoplasma and Avian Influenza free. The students will also work with the State veterinarian and local USDA-APHIS veterinarians who regulate poultry health in the state.
They will learn to talk with people who work/own many types of domestic birds.
They will go to bird swaps, backyard flocks, commercial flocks, specialty flocks, and 4-H shows to meet bird owners, examine their birds and discuss husbandry, health and disease prevention. For DVM students interested in poultry practice, this internship is the most intensive exposure to poultry offered at CSU and was highlighted during the last CVMBS accreditation site visit in 2022.
The students will be part of the Colorado National Poultry Improvement Program begun in the 1930’s to improve the health and food safety of poultry products in the US. The students will become Certified Technicians in the program testing flocks across the state who are certified to be Salmonella, Mycoplasma and Avian Influenza free. The students will also work with the State veterinarian and local USDA-APHIS veterinarians who regulate poultry health in the state.
With which stakeholder group(s) will the intern work?
1) poultry and bird owners and producers
2) general public interested in buying poultry products
3) Veterinarians treating Poultry and those regulating diseases in the poultry industry
4) 4-H programs, participants and families interested in poultry
2) general public interested in buying poultry products
3) Veterinarians treating Poultry and those regulating diseases in the poultry industry
4) 4-H programs, participants and families interested in poultry
What student learning outcomes do you anticipate and what are the opportunities for professional development?
1) Students improve both their communication skills and clinical skills
2) Students travel long distances, need to work well as a team to get a common goal finished well.
3) Students must problem solve when weather, traffic, peoples’ unexpected needs cause a change in plans.
4) Students represent the federal government and CSU as part of the NPIP program.
2) Students travel long distances, need to work well as a team to get a common goal finished well.
3) Students must problem solve when weather, traffic, peoples’ unexpected needs cause a change in plans.
4) Students represent the federal government and CSU as part of the NPIP program.
