Ishab Poudel, Ph.D. Book a consultation

Poultry science consulting · Bloomington, Illinois

Evidence-based nutrition, research and flock health for laying hens

I’m Ishab Poudel, a poultry scientist with a background in veterinary science. I help egg producers, feed companies and research teams plan laying hen trials, formulate diets, manage commercial flocks, and build vaccination and flock health programs with their veterinarian.

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Remote consulting worldwide · On-site visits by arrangement · English, Hindi and Nepali

Portrait of Ishab Poudel, Ph.D.
Ishab Poudel B.V.Sc. & A.H.M.S. & Ph.D., Poultry Science
  • 18 peer-reviewed journal articles
  • 17 conference presentations
  • $400K in funded research awards as PI and co-PI
  • 10+ years in animal health and production
  1. Includes one article in press.
  2. Abstracts presented 2020–2026 at meetings including PSA, IPSF and the World’s Poultry Congress; 10 as first author.
  3. One award as PI ($79,999) and three as co-PI ($70,000, $50,000 and $200,000).
  4. Since April 2015.

Services

Four ways I can help

Each engagement is scoped to your operation and ends with written deliverables your team can use and keep. The common thread is simple: recommendations you can trace back to data.

Laying Hen Experimental Design & Trial Planning

Layer trials designed to answer your question whichever way the result falls, with the statistics planned before the first egg is collected.

Who it’s for

R&D and technical teams at feed-additive, enzyme and probiotic companies; feed mills testing a new program; university research groups; producers who want a fair on-farm comparison.

You receive

  • Written trial protocol
  • Randomization map
  • Statistical analysis plan
  • Data-collection templates
  • Final analysis report

What’s included

  • Clear objectives and testable hypotheses, with a treatment structure to match: dose-response, or factorial designs such as phytase × mineral level.
  • The right experimental unit (hen, cage, pen or house), replication sized by a power calculation, and randomization with blocking for house, tier and row position.
  • Timing matched to production phase: pullet rearing, peak, post-peak, late lay and extended lay out to 100 weeks of age.
  • Response variables chosen for the question: hen-day production, egg mass, feed intake, feed per dozen and FCR, egg weight, Haugh units, shell breaking strength, bone quality, nutrient digestibility, and gut health and microbiology.
  • Data-collection SOPs and a pre-specified statistical analysis plan in SAS or R.
  • Challenge studies, such as Salmonella Enteritidis, designed with ABSL-2 partners equipped to run them, under an approved animal care and use protocol (IACUC in the U.S.).
  • Analysis, technical reporting and manuscript support once the data are in.

Grounded in

Protocols I design and coordinate at NC State, such as phytase × mineral work in extended-lay hens (50–100 weeks); data compilation and statistical analysis for the 41st North Carolina Layer Performance and Management Test; and in-vivo Salmonella Enteritidis trials at Mississippi State.

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Diet Formulation

Pullet and layer diets formulated on digestible nutrients, priced on your ingredients, and matched to each phase of production.

Who it’s for

Egg producers and pullet growers who mix their own feed; feed mills and nutrition companies; feed-additive companies putting matrix values into practice; development programs working with local ingredients.

You receive

  • Formula and nutrient specification sheets
  • Phase-feeding schedule
  • Ingredient substitution guidance

What’s included

  • Phase-feeding programs from pullet starter and developer through pre-lay, peak, post-peak and late or extended lay, with nutrient density set to actual feed intake.
  • Least-cost formulation on digestible amino acids, including reduced-crude-protein diets balanced with synthetic amino acids.
  • Calcium and phosphorus programs: limestone particle size, split-calcium feeding that supplies coarse calcium for overnight shell formation, and phytase and enzyme matrix values.
  • Alternative ingredients, such as peanut as a protein source, assessed for laying performance and egg quality.
  • Feed-additive evaluation for enzymes, probiotics, prebiotics and essential oils: whether to include them, at what level, and, for enzymes, which matrix values to credit in the formula.
  • Diets for eggshell quality and late-cycle persistency, and non-anorexic molt diets.
  • Formulation in Concept5 or WUFFDA, using NIR or laboratory analyses of your ingredients where available.

Grounded in

Laying hen diet formulation and NIR feed-ingredient analysis at Mississippi State; published research on limestone particle size and split feeding, protease with varying amino acid levels, and peanut as a layer protein source; and diet formulation and field research trials with Heifer in Nepal.

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Commercial Poultry Management (Husbandry Consultation)

A clear read on how your flock is performing against standard, and a prioritized plan for closing the gap.

Who it’s for

Commercial egg producers in cage, cage-free and aviary systems; pullet growers; operations planning a housing transition; development projects building producer capacity.

You receive

  • Farm assessment with a prioritized action plan
  • KPI tracking templates
  • Standard operating procedures
  • Staff training sessions

What’s included

  • Flock performance review against your strain’s management-guide performance standards: hen-day and hen-housed production, egg mass, mortality, feed intake and feed per dozen.
  • Pullet rearing: body-weight targets, body-weight uniformity and readiness for photostimulation.
  • Lighting programs, including photostimulation timing and LED or monochromatic light.
  • Housing transitions from cage to cage-free or aviary, and strain selection informed by layer-test data.
  • Molting programs, including non-anorexic (nutritional) molting in cage and cage-free housing.
  • Troubleshooting egg, eggshell and bone quality: nutrition, lighting and management factors, with any suspected disease cause referred to your veterinarian for diagnosis.
  • Welfare and biosecurity readiness, records and KPI tracking, and hands-on staff training.

Grounded in

The 41st North Carolina Layer Performance and Management Test (nine strains, cage vs cage-free); research on monochromatic light, molting and bone quality; and serving as a graduate teaching assistant for Management of Commercial Layers at Mississippi State.

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Vaccination Protocol & Flock Health Program

A written vaccination and flock health program that fits your disease risk, your housing and your crew, developed with your veterinarian of record.

Note

Programs are developed in collaboration with your flock’s veterinarian of record, who remains responsible for diagnosis, prescriptions and prescription products. Suspected reportable diseases are referred immediately to your veterinarian and to state animal health officials.

Who it’s for

Pullet growers and egg producers setting up or reviewing a program; multi-farm operations standardizing SOPs; development projects strengthening flock health services.

You receive

  • Vaccination calendar
  • Flock health and biosecurity plan
  • Monitoring schedule
  • SOPs

What’s included

  • Risk assessment covering flock history, regional disease pressure, housing type and movement between sites.
  • Vaccination schedules for pullets and layers, timed around rearing, transfer and the onset of lay.
  • Route, handling and cold-chain SOPs for drinking-water, coarse-spray, eye-drop, wing-web, and intramuscular or subcutaneous vaccination.
  • Salmonella Enteritidis control built around your SE prevention plan (for U.S. flocks of 3,000 or more hens, the FDA Egg Safety Rule, 21 CFR 118): rodent and fly control, cleaning and disinfection, environmental monitoring, vaccination, and nutritional tools such as probiotics and prebiotics.
  • Post-vaccination monitoring, such as ELISA titers and titer uniformity, on a sampling schedule agreed with your veterinarian, to check that vaccines are being handled and applied well.
  • Biosecurity plans and crew training on vaccine handling and administration.

Grounded in

My veterinary degree (B.V.Sc. & A.H., GADVASU, India); doctoral research on Salmonella Enteritidis in laying hens, including colonization in vaccinated and unvaccinated hens; and field work with Heifer in Nepal, where I trained veterinary doctors and coordinated government veterinarians and veterinary technicians.

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Who I work with

Built for the people who make decisions about laying hens

  • Commercial egg producers

    Cage, cage-free and aviary flocks, from performance reviews to housing transitions.

  • Pullet growers

    Rearing and lighting programs, and vaccination programs built with your veterinarian, that set up a productive laying flock.

  • Feed mills & nutrition companies

    Formulation support, phase-feeding programs and ingredient decisions.

  • Feed-additive companies

    Enzyme, probiotic and other product trials, designed and analysed to answer your question whichever way the result falls.

  • Universities & research groups

    Trial design, statistical analysis and manuscript support.

  • NGOs & development organizations

    Practical poultry programs, with consulting in English, Hindi or Nepali.

Approach

How we’ll work together

  1. Introductory call

    We talk through your flock, trial or feed program, the decision in front of you and your timeline. The call is free, takes about 30 minutes and carries no obligation; afterwards you receive a written scope for the work. If the work isn’t a good fit for me, I’ll tell you.

  2. Assessment

    I review your production records, feed and ingredient data, health history and housing, remotely or on a site visit when being in the barn matters. Site visits follow your farm’s biosecurity rules.

  3. Plan & deliverables

    You receive written, specific deliverables: a protocol, formulas, an action plan or a health program, with the reasoning behind each recommendation.

  4. Implementation & follow-up

    I stay involved as you put the plan to work, review results against the targets we set, and adjust where the data say we should.

Ready to talk through your flock, trial or feed program?

Book a consultation

About

From field projects in Nepal to layer research in the U.S.

I started out in the field. After earning my B.V.Sc. & A.H. at GADVASU in Ludhiana, India, I joined Heifer International in Nepal in 2015, first as a Veterinary Officer and then as a Project Coordinator with Heifer Project Nepal. I formulated diets, supervised poultry and swine field trials, trained veterinary doctors, and coordinated government veterinarians, technicians and producers.

In 2019 I began graduate study at Mississippi State University, earning an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Poultry Science. My master’s research looked at monochromatic light in laying hens; my doctoral research tested prebiotics, probiotics and precision biotics against Salmonella Enteritidis. I also formulated layer diets, ran nutrition and management trials, including limestone particle size and split feeding in late lay, and served as a graduate teaching assistant for two courses.

Since October 2023 I have been a Research Scholar at North Carolina State University, working with Dr. Kenneth Anderson on applied layer research: phytase and mineral programs for extended lay to 100 weeks, the 41st North Carolina Layer Performance and Management Test, molting, enzymes for late-phase hens and peanuts as a protein source. I write funding proposals, design and coordinate protocols, analyze data in SAS and R, and write manuscripts. I am also completing ECFVG certification, the American Veterinary Medical Association’s program for graduates of foreign veterinary schools, toward U.S. veterinary licensure. My consulting brings that same discipline to producers, feed companies and research teams.

Download CV (PDF)

Experience

  1. – present

    Research Scholar

    North Carolina State University · hybrid; Raleigh, NC

    Applied layer research: phytase × mineral interactions in extended-lay hens (50–100 weeks), the 41st North Carolina Layer Performance and Management Test (nine strains, cage vs cage-free), enzyme strategies for late-phase layers, peanuts as a protein source, oregano essential oils for eggshell quality and gut health, and non-anorexic molting in cage and cage-free housing. Funding proposals, protocol design, SAS and R analysis, manuscripts; collaboration with USDA and industry partners.

  2. –

    Graduate Research Assistant (M.S. & Ph.D.)

    Mississippi State University · Starkville, MS

    Poultry nutrition and management trials; in-vivo and in-vitro probiotic and prebiotic trials against Salmonella in laying hens; laying hen diet formulation in Concept5 and WUFFDA; NIR analysis of feed ingredients; BSL-2 microbiology and molecular methods; mentoring students.

  3. –

    Project Coordinator

    Heifer Project Nepal · Kathmandu

    Formulated diets and supervised field research trials in poultry and swine; data and reporting for GALVmed; trained veterinary doctors; coordinated government veterinarians and veterinary technicians.

  4. –

    Veterinary Officer

    Heifer International · Kathmandu

    Coordinated veterinary technicians, producers and government agencies; data and reporting for USAID; capacity-building workshops.

Education

  • Ph.D., Poultry Science

    Mississippi State University

    2023

    Dissertation:

    “Nutritional strategies to reduce Salmonella Enteritidis infections in laying hens: Prebiotic, probiotic, and precision biotics”

  • M.S., Poultry Science

    Mississippi State University

    2020

    Thesis:

    “The effect of light-emitting diode light on the growth, egg production, egg quality, hormone concentration and health of Hy-Line® W-36 laying hens”

  • B.V.Sc. & A.H.

    Bachelor of Veterinary Science & Animal Husbandry

    Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana, India

    2014

Expertise & tools

Nutrition & formulation

  • Layer & pullet nutrition
  • Concept5
  • WUFFDA
  • NIR feed analysis
  • Phytase & feed enzymes
  • Calcium & limestone programs

Research & statistics

  • Experimental design
  • SAS
  • R
  • GraphPad

Production & management

  • Eggshell & bone quality
  • Lighting programs
  • Cage & cage-free systems
  • Molting programs

Health & laboratory

  • Salmonella Enteritidis control
  • Probiotics & prebiotics
  • BSL-2 microbiology
  • qPCR / RT-PCR
  • ELISA

Languages

  • English
  • Hindi
  • Nepali

Research

Research and publications

My research is applied: practical questions about laying hen nutrition, management and health, answered with replicated trials and published in peer-reviewed journals. The record so far includes 18 peer-reviewed articles, a sole-authored book chapter on laying hen nutrition, 17 conference presentations and two North Carolina Layer Test technical reports.

Selected publications

  1. Impact of non-anorexic molting on caged laying hens survivability, late-cycle production and egg income

    Poudel, I., R. Wysocky, C. M. Marshall, K. E. Anderson, R. Malheiros

    Poultry Science · 2026 In press First author

  2. Incorporating high-oleic peanuts in layer diets: impact on production, egg quality & nutritional profile and calculated egg income and feed cost

    Poudel, I., T. C. Vu, R. Wysocky, R. D. Malheiros, Q. D. Read, K. E. Anderson, O. T. Toomer

    Journal of Applied Poultry Research 35(3):100719 · 2026 First author

    doi:10.1016/j.japr.2026.100719

  3. Effect of a Bacillus-based probiotic on fecal shedding and cecal colonization of Salmonella Enteritidis in laying hens

    Poudel, I., A. Calvert, A. S. Kiess, L. Zhang, P. A. Adhikari

    Journal of Applied Poultry Research 34(2):100532 · 2025 First author

    doi:10.1016/j.japr.2025.100532

  4. Effects of protease enzyme supplementation and varying levels of amino acid inclusion on productive performance, egg quality, amino acid digestibility, and economics of egg production in Hy-Line W-36 laying hen from 50 to 70 wk of age

    Poudel, I., V. R. Hodge, K. G. S. Wamsley, K. D. Roberson, P. A. Adhikari

    Journal of Applied Poultry Research 33(3):100452 · 2024 First author

    doi:10.1016/j.japr.2024.100452

  5. Combating the persistence of Salmonella infections in laying hens: Nutritional, managemental and vaccination strategies

    Poudel, I., P. Adhikari

    World’s Poultry Science Journal 80(2):423–452 · 2024 First author

    doi:10.1080/00439339.2023.2298513

  6. Role of conventional and split feeding of various limestone particle size ratios on the performance and egg quality of Hy-Line W-36 hens in the late production phase

    Poudel, I., C. D. McDaniel, M. W. Schilling, D. Pflugrath, P. A. Adhikari

    Animal Feed Science and Technology 283:115153 · 2022 First author

    doi:10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2021.115153

Full publication list Google Scholar profile

Funded research — $400K as PI and co-PI

Role Award Year Amount
PI “Effect of Phytase and Dacitic Tuff Breccia Supplementation Programs to Support Extended Lay in Laying Hens”U.S. Poultry & Egg Association 2024 $79,999
Co-PI Industry grant: test products vs oral Salmonella Enteritidis challenge, fecal shedding and organ translocation in laying hens 2022–2023 $70,000
Co-PI Industry grant: test product vs Salmonella Enteritidis in vitro 2022 $50,000
Co-PI “Laboratory Testing and Analytical Service of Feed Ingredient and Biological Samples” $200,000

Honors

  • 2023Travel Award, Poultry Science Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia
  • 2022Young Scientist Award, World’s Poultry Congress, Paris
  • 2016Heifer International Impact Award, Kathmandu

Training & programs

  • Poultry Leaders of Tomorrow (Mississippi State, 2021)
  • Classroom Teaching Certification (Mississippi State, 2021)
  • Arkansas Nutrition Conference (2021)
  • WPC Youth Program (Paris, 2022)
  • Evonik Doctoral Seminar (Isle of Palms, SC)
  • Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) training (2015)

Peer review

Reviewer for the Journal of Applied Poultry Research, Animals (MDPI), Poultry (MDPI) and the Journal of Veterinary Medicine.

Teaching

Graduate teaching assistant at Mississippi State University for Management of Commercial Layers (Fall 2021) and Avian Anatomy & Physiology (Spring 2022).

Contact

Let’s talk about your flock

Tell me about your flock, trial or feed program: what you’re working on, what isn’t going to plan, or what you’d like to test. A few lines is plenty to start.

Prefer email? ishabpoudel@gmail.com

Fields marked * are required.

Useful details: strain, bird age, flock size, housing system and your timeline. Please don’t send confidential formulas or data through this form; we can arrange a secure way to share them.

What happens next: I usually reply within two business days to arrange a free, no-obligation introductory call of about 30 minutes. Afterwards you receive a written scope for the work.

I use your details only to reply to your enquiry.

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