What began as a flock of four chickens blossomed into a career in poultry research and education for Dr. Richard Blatchford. He is currently an Associate Professor of Extension at the University of California - Davis, specializing in poultry management, behavior, and welfare.
Growing up in the suburbs of Boston, MA. Blatchford’s first experiences with agriculture came from joining 4-H. While a member, his leader had introduced the club to poultry by bringing in some day-old chicks. After some persuasion, the chicks soon had a new home in his backyard. The four chicks he started with continued to grow, and so did his flock. He was able to hatch out his own eggs, and his flock grew to over 50 birds. Through this stage, he was unaware of the vastness of the poultry industry outside his backyard flock.
When deciding on a path after high school, Blatchford had a clear motivation to work with animals and believed that becoming a veterinarian was the right path for him. While pursuing his undergraduate degree, he took a psychology class and really enjoyed it. After discovering that his school offered a Psychobiology major and that he could continue studying psychology-related ideas, he decided to pivot away from the veterinary track. As he continued pursuing his degree, he had the opportunity to work on a research study on tarantulas, which transformed into an animal care position where he gained additional exposure to animal enclosure design and management.
After completing his undergraduate degree, he took a break from school and worked in a variety of conservation biology positions, focusing on his real passion: birds. He gained many skills through working in these programs; however, Blatchford craved getting back into research, specifically enclosure design. His drive was to return to school and pursue his master’s degree, specializing in enclosure design and working with exotic animals.
Blatchford attended U.C. Davis and focused on enclosure design, which led to the study of animal welfare. He worked under animal welfare specialist Joy Mench, who helped guide him. Mench provided him with the opportunity to be a part of her other ongoing research projects, and he realized that poultry was a professional career option. During this time, he dove deeper into the welfare side of the poultry industry and connected with commercial producers learning about their operations.
After completing his master’s and Ph.D., Blatchford post-doc’d at U.C. Davis, but in 2015, he applied and was selected for an open faculty position. Today he is an Associate Professor and researches poultry.
Blatchford deeply values research with real-world applications that support informed decision-making, whether in day-to-day poultry care or in setting welfare standards.
Currently, Blatchford is researching laying hens and keel bone damage. “We are trying to understand what the genetic contributions are and what kind of environmental interventions we can take to try and reduce keel bone damage,” shared Blatchford. He went on to explain that they are looking at both brown and white hens and are just getting preliminary results, but they can already see how differently different birds use their resources.
Blatchford is very intentional with his research projects. When developing research questions, he focuses mainly on questions that will solve a problem and can be implemented on the farm. Furthermore, he addresses issues that may not be seen by most. He has described this style of research as “management, behavior, and welfare from the bird’s perspective.” This approach allows him to tap into which parts of the bird’s environment guide decision-making and, in turn, their behaviors.
Moving forward, Blatchford plans to continue conducting research to fill gaps in the poultry industry. One area his research is moving towards is pullets, saying, “We know that the way you manage pullets is essential to the success of laying hens, especially in terms of housing and design.” Another area he would like to do more research in is incorporating technology. Being an extensive and continuously growing field, he believes there is significant potential for growth, especially in real-time feedback devices, both in industry and research. This work could help analyze specific animals and their habits more deeply. Blatchford also shared that he is currently working with an engineer to develop a tracking technology that would allow him to see which resources individual hens are using, making behavioral data collection much quicker and more seamless.
Blatchford is very passionate about his work in poultry and finds it very fulfilling. He explained the most rewarding part is “when something I do leads to beneficial change, even if it is small.” He also works with backyard flock owners, and this population is very eager to implement new ideas in their flocks and see change. Blatchford enjoys having positive interactions with producers and seeing them benefit from his work.
The next generation of poultry producers and researchers is a critically important group of people. Blatchford’s advice to them is “it may be difficult to get into poultry research, but it is a very good field.” Then he expanded further, “If it is something you are truly passionate about, find someone to reach out to and connect with them.”
By: Kelsey Timp
