National Poultry Newspaper

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NATIONAL
Vol 3. No. 5 May 2020 National Poultry Newspaper PO Box 387 Cleveland 4163 Phone (07) 3286 1833 Fax (07) 3821 2637 Email ben@poultrynews.com.au
Changing times but continued support
THE COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work, though Poultry Hub continues to support the Australian poultry indus- try.
A flow meter on the inlet line measures the amount of water taken to refill the reservoir.
Prior to working from home, we were able to do one final education visit to a local primary school.
This data, along with a cumulative count of water use since the beginning of the trial and the number of refills, is transmitted wire- lessly to a computer where it is stored in a database.
These visits are of the utmost importance as they provide an opportunity to connect with children and their teachers, which assists them to understand more about our industry.
245 eggs and almost 50kg of chicken meat per year.
University of New England in Armidale NSW.
The researchers can view information in the database through a web browser.
Our education officer Bruce was able to partic- ipate in a ‘Food and Fi- bre Day’ at The Armidale School.
There were many great questions from the students and the teachers.
A group of researchers and technicians – Nishchal Sharma, Shubiao Wu and Brad Dawson – have devel- oped an automated water measurement system that can accurately measure wa- ter intake in 48 individual pens.
The reservoir is a clear graduated cylinder, so any water remaining at the end of a period may be manu- ally recorded.
Bruce together with Uni- versity of New England SMART Farm education officer Allison Stewart at- tended a Year 5 class and gave a presentation about past, present and future farming practices.
Following the discus- sion, Bruce led the students through an egg quality ac- tivity where the students candled, weighed, measured the shape ratio, checked the egg for abnormalities and scored the shell and yolk colour.
During initial days when the chicks are small the res- ervoir fills once a day but as the chickens grow older it fills two to four times a day.
The students learnt about the poultry industry and were surprised to learn that on average they consume
Recently I had the pleas- ure of witnessing a fantastic new scientific tool at the
Sensors in the reservoir determine when it is empty and trigger the opening of a solenoid valve to allow it to refill.
The project is funded by Agrifutures Australia.
A student weighed an eggshell during an egg quality activity.
Year 5 students participated in an egg activity.
by TAMSYN CROWLEY Director
Many students remarked ‘how cool’ and ‘yummy’ eggs are during the activity.
Each pen can hold 14 birds and has a 1.4-litre reservoir with a microcontroller to monitorwaterconsumption.
UNE researchers aim to study the effects of dietary manipulations on perfor- mance and water to feed intake ratio of broilers through the grow-out cycle.
Poultry Hub’s Job Ready
* continued P2
New recruit for poultry industry
n Poultry Hub’s Job Ready Training
on the welfare of chickens. Courtney has said her favourite duty was undoubtedly walking through the sheds and checking
A new recruit to the Australian poultry industry, Courtney is loving it.
PRIOR to the COVID-19 and packing eggs and checking
pandemic, Poultry Hub’s Job Ready Training initiative was progressing at a great pace, matching unemployed youth with available positions in the poultry industry.
on the birds.
“I wouldn’t be working on a
One of the successful new em- ployees was Courtney.
farm if it wasn’t for the Poultry Hub Job Ready Training,” Court- ney said.
After being let go from her me- chanic apprenticeship, Courtney returned to northwest NSW to be with family.
“Registration, attending the fun and informative training days and then talking with the recruitment agencies have been so easy.”
Her job agency referred her to Poultry Hub Job Ready Training, where she completed the four- day training at the University of New England’s Tamworth Study Centre.
Courtney has been employed for a couple of months and told us she is “still loving it.”
Courtney demonstrated a clear motivation for learning, great communications skills and was engaged throughout the entire course.
“Knowing I have the support of Bruce who checks in with me consistently has reassured me that I’m in a good position, and one that I see myself doing for a while,” she said.
Poultry Hub’s education officer Bruce realised quickly that she would be an asset to the poultry industry.
Due to the COVID-19 pan- demic we have had to pause the hands-on training, however we are using this opportunity to de- velop an online version, which we are hoping to roll out nationwide.
Bruce then assisted to obtain an interview for Courtney with one of the local recruitment agencies.
If you are in the poultry indus- try and have positions available, or if you would like to start a career in the poultry industry, we strongly encourage you to contact us at poultryhub@une.edu.au
She was offered some work experience, which she enjoyed and impressed the farm manager enough to be offered a position on the egg farm.
You will be added to our mail- ing list and notified when our on- line training course is available and being delivered.
In one of their regular catch- ups, Courtney told Bruce she loved the work.
For more details, please contact us at poultryhub@une.edu.au
The tasks Courtney has been undertaking include collecting
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• Providing primary technical assistance remotely
• Keeping our warehouses in Clifton, QLD and Bendigo
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