Darrin Karcher

Animal Sciences

Assistant Professor of Animal Sciences

Phone

765.494.4845

Fax

765.494.9346

Office

Creighton Hall of Animal Sciences Room 3034

Address

270 South Russell Street
West Lafayette, IN 47907-2054

Email

dkarcher@purdue.edu

Area of Expertise: Poultry Management

Education: B.S., The Ohio State University; M.S., University of Wisconsin - Madison; Ph.D., Purdue University

Extension Activities:

Dr. Karcher has been charged with developing a strong poultry extension program. His interactions with the industry revolve around organizing educational programs in the Midwest with the Multi-State Poultry Health and Management School, Multi-State Poultry Nutrition Conference, and Midwest Poultry Federation education program. He serves on the Board of Directors for the National Egg Quality School, Poultry Health Management School and Midwest Poultry Federation. Dr. Karcher has developed an Extension program that improves poultry production, regardless of scale, and is grounded in science.

He has focused on engaging directly with the small flock audience, many of whom have little to no connection to Extension, in an effort to help them become successful and to have a positive poultry interaction. Darrin’s interactions with youth revolve around enhancing their knowledge of poultry, developing life skills, and igniting an interest in commercial poultry job opportunities in the future. He continues to seek grant dollars to establish a competitive applied research program to address producers' concerns focusing on turkey skeletal issues and laying hen management. His research projects are focused on addressing industry concerns in meat birds and laying hens. His program’s focus is poultry well-being coupled with food safety and quality as impacted by management practices, physiology and nutrition.

Awards & Honors

(2016) PSA Phibro Extension Award. Michigan State University.

(2015) Michigan State University Extension - Gordon Guyer Cross Institute Award. Michigan State University.

(2014) Michigan FFA – Honorary American FFA Degree. Michigan State University.

(2014) Michigan State University Extension Specialists and State Staff Association – Outstanding Michigan State University Extension Specialist and State Staff Award. Michigan State University.

(2011) Michigan FFA – Honorary State FFA Degree. Michigan State University.

(2010) PSA Early Achievement Award for Extension. Michigan State University.

Selected Publications

Kremer, J. A., Robison, Cara, I, & Karcher, D. M. (2018). Growth Dependent Changes in Pressure Sensing Walkway Data for Turkeys. FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE, 5. doi:10.3389/fvets.2018.00241

Toscano, M., Booth, F., Richards, G., Brown, S., Karcher, D. M., & Tarlton, J. (2018). Modeling collisions in laying hens as a tool to identify causative factors for keel bone fractures and means to reduce their occurrence and severity. PLOS ONE, 13(7). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0200025

Gast, R. K., Guraya, R., Jones, D. R., Guard, J., Anderson, K. E., & Karcher, D. M. (2017). Colonization of internal organs by Salmonella serovars Heidelberg and Typhimurium in experimentally infected laying hens housed in enriched colony cages at different stocking densities. POULTRY SCIENCE, 96(5), 1402-1409. doi:10.3382/ps/pew375

Gast, R. K., Guraya, R., Jones, D. R., Anderson, K. E., & Karcher, D. M. (2017). Frequency and Duration of Fecal shedding of Salmonella enteritidis by experimentally infected laying hens housed in enriched colony cages at Different stocking Densities. FRONTIERS IN VETERINARY SCIENCE, 4. doi:10.3389/fvets.2017.00047

Gast, R. K., Guraya, R., Jones, D. R., Guard, J., Anderson, K. E., & Karcher, D. M. (2017). Frequency and Duration of Fecal Shedding of Salmonella Serovars Heidelberg and Typhimurium by Experimentally Infected Laying Hens Housed in Enriched Colony Cages at Different Stocking Densities. AVIAN DISEASES, 61(3), 366-371.

Vaughan, P. E., Orth, M. W., Haut, R. C., & Karcher, D. M. (2016). A method of determining bending properties of poultry long bones using beam analysis and micro-CT data. POULTRY SCIENCE, 95(1), 207-212. doi:10.3382/ps/pev345

Gast, R. K., Guraya, R., Jones, D. R., Anderson, K. E., & Karcher, D. M. (2016). Colonization of internal organs by Salmonella Enteritidis in experimentally infected laying hens housed in enriched colony cages at different stocking densities. POULTRY SCIENCE, 95(6), 1363-1369. doi:10.3382/ps/pew037

Campbell, Dana L. M., Karcher, D. M., & Siegford, J. M. (2016). Location tracking of individual laying hens housed in aviaries with different litter substrates. APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE, 184, 74-79. doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2016.09.001

Makagon, M. M., Woolley, R., & Karcher, D. M. (2015). Assessing the waddle: An evaluation of a 3-point gait score system for ducks. POULTRY SCIENCE, 94(8), 1729-1734. doi:10.3382/ps/pev151

Karcher, D. M. (2015). Basic Housing and Management. Backyard Poultry Medicine and Surgery: A Guide for Veterinary Practitioners, 27-33.