Lilydale celebrates farmers’ dedication

ON July 17, Australia’s favourite free range chicken producer Lilydale launched a national integrated marketing campaign to complement a new logo, packaging and premium range products. The campaign theme, Dedication You Can Taste, is underpinned by the brand’s promise, which gives consumers confidence that its free range chickens are raised with care on Lilydale farms…

Fast and accurate sexing method developed for chickens

A GREAT new piece of technology has been developed at the University of New England that Poultry Hub Australia Director Tamsyn Crowley would like to share. Assoc Prof Wu and his team have developed a fast and accurate sexing method to sex chickens using feather crude DNA. In recent years, researchers have found it difficult…

Why you should listen to your newly hatched chicks

EMERGING research suggests that ‘listening’ to the sounds newly hatched chicks make can aid early detection of welfare issues. In nature, when distressed and uncomfortable with their surroundings, chicks attract their mother with a loud and distinct stress call. In commercial chicken farming however, thousands of chicks are reared in batches. In a study published…

Elanco’s pending acquisition of Bayer Animal Health

ELANCO Animal Health Incorporated recently announced that the European Commission has granted approval of Elanco’s pending acquisition of Bayer AG’s animal health business. The company continues to progress toward a mid-year closing, anticipated August 3, 2020. Elanco president and CEO Jeff Simmons said, “Approval from the European Commission is an important milestone towards the completion…

Welcome outcome on wet markets

THE Minister for Agriculture David Littleproud was pleased to see the strong international support, which he led in April at the G20 to investigate wildlife wet markets as part of the broader review of COVID-19. Minister Littleproud said his call for the expert review would provide a greater understanding of how to prevent another devastating event.…

E. coli vaccination is safe for hens in lay

A NEW study from Denmark shows that a live vaccine against escherichia coli can safely be used in hens in lay, a practice that may help limit e. coli transmission in both broiler and egg production. According to the study’s author and a professor at the University of Copenhagen Henrik Christensen, e. coli can be transferred…

Egg and chicken meat industries research roadmap to carbon neutral

THE more than 20 million Australians who regularly eat chicken and eggs will soon lower their dietary carbon footprint thanks to a new carbon-neutral project from Australia’s poultry industries. The research, which is a joint partnership between Australian Eggs and AgriFutures Australia, is one of the most comprehensive carbon footprint assessments ever conducted in Australian agriculture.…

Egg farmers call for community input into CSIRO research program

AUSTRALIANS are being invited to take part in an extensive nation-wide research program developed to better understand public attitudes towards the egg industry. The research is being conducted by social scientists at Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, to provide egg farmers with a deeper understanding of community sentiment and measure the impact of industry responsiveness…

New recruit for poultry industry

PRIOR to the COVID-19 pandemic, Poultry Hub’s Job Ready Training initiative was progressing at a great pace, matching unemployed youth with available positions in the poultry industry. One of the successful new employees was Courtney. After being let go from her mechanic apprenticeship, Courtney returned to northwest NSW to be with family. Her job agency…

How avian coronavirus relates to COVID-19 in humans

To better understand the challenges associated with the COVID-19 disease in humans, poultry health professionals can draw on many years of experience attempting to control avian coronavirus infectious bronchitis virus in poultry. It is important to emphasize the COVID-19 virus is not associated with poultry or poultry products. Coronaviruses are divided into Alpha-, Beta-, Gamma-…