Aviagen Anadolu has successfully completed its first-ever Production Management School in Turkey. The topic for this initial Aviagen School was proper ventilation in poultry housing, which is of utmost importance to poultry breeder and broiler performance.
Taking place Oct. 3-6, the school hosted 10 parent stock and broiler field managers representing six Aviagen Anadolu customers, and combined classroom theory with real-world, on-the-farm training.
Importance of ventilation to poultry health and welfare
Africa Fernández, Aviagen Anadolu senior technical operations manager, stressed the importance of environmental management to poultry health and performance.
“Ventilation has a massive impact on how pathogens affect the birds’ digestive and respiratory systems, along with leg health. If managed well, effective ventilation can make the difference between a poor farm and a top 25,” she said.
Fatih Serkan Erim, rearing PS manager from Şenpiliç, who attended the school, agreed on the importance of the topic.
“With good ventilation, homogeneous and suitable environmental conditions can be achieved in the poultry house, regardless of outdoor weather conditions,” he said.
School reinforces key factors of effective ventilation
Combining both theoretical and practical learning, the school provided training in the three basic ventilation types: minimum, transitional and tunnel ventilation.
A major emphasis was how to make decisions regarding environmental management. While measuring devices such as thermometers, air speed tools and pressure meters are useful, nothing can replace observing bird behavior to indicate needed adjustments. Watching the birds is especially critical during weather changes outside the house.
Hands-on training leads to greater learning
Classroom sessions were reinforced by practical demos at a broiler farm near Ankara. There students were able to practice how to operate a house ventilation system and adjust settings. They witnessed first-hand how air moves through a house, and how environmental conditions can change based on house dimensions, fan numbers and capacities.
To further emphasize key points of the school, students were given a written evaluation at the end of the training. While certificates were presented to all participants, the top three performers were recognized and their names entered in a prize draw.
“This first Aviagen Anadolu School was very useful for all attendees. Offering a mix of theoretical and practical learning, it gave our customers the tools needed to keep experimenting and learning on their farms at home,” explained Sinan Kitay, Aviagen Anadolu’s Technical Service Manager.
Train the trainer concept takes off
Ventilation training kicked off the first of a number of future schools planned for Aviagen Anadolu, as the company has recognized the need for a more focused approach to sharing important flock management knowledge with customers.
According to Fernández, since there are more than 10,000 broiler farms throughout Turkey, the “train the trainer” approach is the best way to effectively improve performance by reaching the broader grower base.
Schools are strategically limited to smaller groups to streamline the learning process, encourage student engagement and allow interactivity. Past experiences have shown that learning and retention improve with this level of active participation.
Future school topics will focus on other key areas affecting effective poultry production such as nutrition and veterinary health.
