Arbor Acres Parent Stock customers from North Africa, primarily representing Tunisian and Algerian government breeding companies, attended an Aviagen satellite school in France. Aimed at promoting early success at the broiler and breeder level, the five-day event featured presentations and discussions between speakers and attendees. Arbor Acres is a brand of broiler chickens offered by poultry breeder Aviagen.
Guest speakers and industry experts offered workshops focusing on the brooding period and maximizing performance in the laying period using Arbor Acres' best practice for parent stock and broiler at critical ages. Attendees learned about different aspects in management, with the goal of expressing the full genetic potential of Arbor Acres products at all levels of the production chain.
Attendees visited a hatchery, breeder farm and broiler farm. Those who successful completed the course were awarded a diploma.
Alain Silvin, sales manager, said, "The group had a good mix of expertise between them. Sharing information and building relationships is one of our core motivators, and we are very grateful to the French poultry companies who opened their doors to our visitors. None of this could have been achieved without the excellent cooperation by the Avipole Formation structure, Arbor France SAS, Aviagen France and Aviagen Turkeys France."
The first day focused on breeder and broiler nutrition, with presentations from Corrine Morvan, nutritionist at Aviagen Turkeys and Aviagen France. The 14 students then heard from Dr. Julien Flori from Selvet Conseil/Chêne Vert Group, an Aviagen consultant, on vaccinations, vaccination plans and ways of reducing the use of antibiotics.
The second day concentrated on hatching and rearing, with attendees visiting a high-tech Doux Group hatchery. With automatic transfer and automatic hatch-counting facilities, the hatchery handles 1,200,000 chicks per week.
The final three days consisted of visits to breeder and broiler farms and presentations. Gérard Munsch, technical manager at Aviagen France, spoke about male management and how to avoid mistakes when breeding. Daniel Haener, from Avipole, led a discussion about biosecurity in farms and water quality, while his colleague Jean Philippe Prigent, housing specialist, covered ventilation and equipment management.
M. Mohamed Ajengui, farm manager at Sotavi, Tunisia, said, "I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar; it was great to share information as well as take in the specialist presentations. The event also provided us with the unique opportunity of visiting a breeder farm, a hatchery and a broiler farm within the space of a few days and having the chance to question the industry specialists on the latest techniques and their approach to issues in the production cycle."
