Poultry and Avian Science Minor

Take a bird’s-eye view.

The Poultry and Avian Science minor covers a variety of avian species and their biology, management, and pathology, with an emphasis on domestic fowl. You’ll learn the science of birds while gaining valuable skills for managing wildlife and poultry.

Career paths: give your professional life wings.

A minor in Poultry and Avian Science helps prepare you for careers in animal breeding and genetics, veterinary science and pharmaceuticals, animal nutrition, hatchery management, and the live production management of laying hens, broilers, turkeys, and ducks.

A Poultry and Avian Science minor is a great option if you are:

  • passionate about birds and want to help ensure their continued health
  • eager to gain hands-on experience in caring for and breeding animals
  • seeking a career in a dynamic and growing industry that feeds the world

Courses

For details on program requirements, suggested academic plan, and more, see the University Bulletin.

Required courses

  • Introduction to Avian Biology
  • Poultry Production and Management
  • Principles of Avian Diseases

Sample additional courses

  • Agribusiness in the Global Economy
  • Agribusiness Markets and Prices 
  • Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology
  • Animal Products Technology
  • Animal Products Technology Laboratory
  • Animal Sciences Internship (must have a poultry or avian biology emphasis)
  • Applied Food Microbiology
  • Comparative Physiology of Domestic Animals
  • Farm Planning and Financial Management
  • Financial Decision Making for Agribusiness
  • Food Product Marketing
  • General Animal Pathology
  • Independent Studies (must have a poultry or avian biology emphasis)
  • Integrated Animal Biology
  • Laboratory in Food Microbiology
  • Managing Food Quality
  • Managing the Food System
  • Nutrient Management in Agricultural Systems
  • Ornithology
  • Ornithology Laboratory
  • Poultry Evaluation and Selection
  • Principles of Animal Breeding
  • Principles of Animal Nutrition
  • Science and Technology of Muscle Foods
  • The Vertebrates
  • Vertebrate Laboratory
  • Wildlife Management 

Get started.

Students can enroll via LionPATH anytime after they have achieved at least fifth semester classification, but not later than the end of the sixth week of the student's final semester. Contact Dr. Robert G. Elkin to further discuss requirements for the minor.

Poultry and avian science students inspecting hens.
Newly hatched chicks at Penn State’s Poultry Education and Research Center.
Student inspecting the industrial incubator for hatching eggs.