Mohammad Azim Bahry Position/Title: Ph.D. Candidate email: [email protected] Phone: +1 647 679 1980 Office: ANNU 032 Google Scholar Research Gate LinkedIn

I am a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph. I did my undergraduate at Balkh University, Afghanistan majoring in Animal Science in 2007. Immediately after graduation, due to my interest in teaching, I joint Balkh Agriculture and Veterinary Vocational Institute as a vocational lecturer and delivered lectures on various subjects, including animal nutrition, poultry science, and zoo hygiene. In 2012, I joint the Department of Animal Science, Balkh University as an assistant lecturer. where I taught various subjects such as Animal Physiology, Animal Anatomy, and Zoo hygiene courses for undergraduate students. I received my MSc. in animal physiology majoring in Regulation in Metabolism and Behavior from the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu University, Japan in September 2016.

During my master’s program, I wanted to find some biomolecules (peptides and amino acids) to overcome the adverse effects of heat stress on chicks and could publish two papers as a first author (Bahry et al., 2017, Neuropeptides, 62, 93-100; Bahry et al., 2018, Neuropeptides, 71, 90-96) and 13 papers as a co-author.

I joined the University of Guelph as a Ph.D. student in January 2020. I am working on a project to determine the metabolic triggers responsible for sexual maturation in layer chickens and their relation to the rearing environment and nutrition.

The short-term objectives of my project are 1: -Identify the body weight and body composition thresholds responsible for triggering spontaneous sexual maturation in brown versus white egg-laying strains (trial 1). 2: -Characterise the metabolic signals responsible for activating and/or inhibiting the reproductive axis in commercial layers (Trial 1). 3: - Determine whether different rearing environments affect the metabolic threshold required to activate the reproductive axis in pullets (trial 2). And 4: - Determine the impact of advanced and/or delayed sexual maturation on skeletal integrity (trials 1 and 2).

And the long-term objective of my project focuses on 1: - Advance our understanding of the control of the reproductive axis in chickens and revise/expand our published model. 2: - Develop pullet management protocols specific to their housing environments (present and future). 3: - Identify possible nutritional interventions to ensure pullets are allowed to develop a full-grown skeleton before initiating egg-laying, thus reducing risks of musculoskeletal defects and injuries.

I started my first trial in med January 2020 focusing on the impact of growth trajectory on sexual maturation in layer chickens. The abstract was submitted in PSA 2021 and the results were presented at the conference. Furthermore, the second part of my project, which focused on the impact of rearing environments on growth trajectories and sexual maturation in layer chickens, was presented in PSA 2022 in San Antonio Texas. Currently, I am working on the first manuscript (the impact of growth trajectory on sexual maturation in layer chickens) which will be submitted to frontiers in physiology.

Furthermore, to apply the skills that I gained during my master’s program at the farm level, I started a small broiler farm with a capacity of 2000 broilers and a small quail farm with a capacity of 5000 quails in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan where the weather is getting too hot in summer (averaging 46 °C). Interestingly, I could overcome the adverse effects of heat stress by managing food allocation and applying some antioxidant through water for broilers and quails. 

Awards

Mary Edmunds Williams Scholarship (2020-2021)

Promotion and Enhancement of the Afghan Capacity for Effective Development, PEACE program scholarship, (2013-2016)