Career in Poultry Genetics

[vortec]

I am applying to college next year and am highly motivated to pursue a genetics major and am looking to go into poultry genetics. Is there any money in this feild. Is there an abundence of jobs out there in todays markets such as through the hatcheries, or universities? Also, are their any BYC'ers that are in this feild that have advice or suggestions about going into this feild. Will appreciate all input, thanks

vortec

 

[chickNjake]

I believe Henk69 is a geneticist (if I spelled that right) of some sort, he's the one who came up with the chicken calculator! you may want to send him a PM and ask him

Good Luck!

 

[Schultz]

Congratz on youor choice for college! I really don't know what the demand for those skills would be but after reading your post, I keep thinking that there is such a shortage of "chicken" vets out there. I have to take our girls to an avian vet which is pretty pricey and she is also pretty far away. Of course, with our chickens and parrots it is worth it but I have never found a vet that takes care of just chickens. I think with the growing demand for the backyard chicken and chicken pets, it might be something to look into. Well, that's my input anyway.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I go to the University of Arkansas for Poultry Science. I haven't made a definite decision on it, but I thought I might give you a contact number.

Dr. Nicholas Anthony is the poultry geneticist for the UofA.
http://poultryscience.uark.edu/anthony.html

But good luck catching him...he's my adviser and it ROYALLY ticks me off when I can't get ahold of him for class scheduling...

 

[EweSheep]

I am sure there is a demand for chicken vets and poultry genetics isnt a bad one either! I am glad to have TWO avian vets in town!

Good luck!

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I don;t believe there is a huge demand for poultry geneticists, but like all things, if you're really good you should be able to find a job. I think the vast majority are at a very few universities and mostly in industry.

 

[nzpouter]

There's a huge amount of money poured into the research to create a chicken with 4 drumsticks...

 

[vortec]

Quote:
LoL! Thats my mission! Way more to eat if there was four of them, and any body who knows me knows I love to eat

Thanks a lot guys and I will try sending that user name a PM. I am of the opinion that this is what I want to do, and I can see myself doing it. Its the wildest thing though. I went on collegeboard.com, and searched colleges that specialize in animal genetics and only 6! showed up. And they were not even close to NC. NC state didn't show up and they are supposed to be big into engineering science and I figured genetic egineer went along with that

Anyhow, I am not looking to go to State, but I was perplexed by the search. I am thinking of doing an undergrad or at least a few years at a smaller college and then transferring to a school more geared torwards genetics. Thanks again guys, and hope to hear more on this topic

vortec

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Most likely what you want is just somewhere with a good poultry science program (really, a strong ag school overall). Don't get hung up on the genetics part right off the bat, at the undergraduate level. Go through that buncha schools' websites and see which ones have poultry geneticists doing the sort of thing that interests you, then try to find out more. At the undergraduate level, you are not going to specialize that much (like 'poultry genetics'), although if you can manage to talk a poultry geneticist into letting you do an independant study with them or work in their lab, that will certainly help you if applying for lower-level jobs or grad school.

And they were not even close to NC. NC state didn't show up and they are supposed to be big into engineering science and I figured genetic egineer went along with that

First, genetic engineering is not really engineering (it is cell/molecular biology); second, there is a considerable difference between genetics and genetic engineering, so it depends what interests you more. If the genetic-engineering end interests you more, you want a school with both a good ag program AND a good cell/molecular program.

If you want an academic research job, you will pretty much need at least a Masters degree beyond your four years of college, a PhD as well if you want to be a professor or fulltime researcher (those jobs are pretty few and far between, mind). I don't know what qualifications you need for industry jobs but I *strongly* suspect that at least a Masters would stand you in good stead. If you can find someone at an ag-type school to talk with, they can advise you on what sort of education/credentials you would need for that.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[vortec]

Quote:
Most likely what you want is just somewhere with a good poultry science program (really, a strong ag school overall). Don't get hung up on the genetics part right off the bat, at the undergraduate level. Go through that buncha schools' websites and see which ones have poultry geneticists doing the sort of thing that interests you, then try to find out more. At the undergraduate level, you are not going to specialize that much (like 'poultry genetics'), although if you can manage to talk a poultry geneticist into letting you do an independant study with them or work in their lab, that will certainly help you if applying for lower-level jobs or grad school.

And they were not even close to NC. NC state didn't show up and they are supposed to be big into engineering science and I figured genetic egineer went along with that

First, genetic engineering is not really engineering (it is cell/molecular biology); second, there is a considerable difference between genetics and genetic engineering, so it depends what interests you more. If the genetic-engineering end interests you more, you want a school with both a good ag program AND a good cell/molecular program.

If you want an academic research job, you will pretty much need at least a Masters degree beyond your four years of college, a PhD as well if you want to be a professor or fulltime researcher (those jobs are pretty few and far between, mind). I don't know what qualifications you need for industry jobs but I *strongly* suspect that at least a Masters would stand you in good stead. If you can find someone at an ag-type school to talk with, they can advise you on what sort of education/credentials you would need for that.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

Thanks a lot Pat. That clears it up a lot. I am most definitely more into genetics then genetic engineering as the creation of different breeds interests me. I know NC State has some type of Poultry program, and I might look into talking to somebody up there about pontential jobs in the poultry feild as well. Thanks again, man.

Does anybody have a clue what the starting pay is like for industry jobs, or university jobs? I am more into industry the university as I have no desire to teach students. Thanks

vortec