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Vol 4. No. 6 June 2021 National Poultry Newspaper PO Box 162 Wynnum 4178 Phone (07) 3286 1833 Email ben@collins.media
Australians are invited to take part in a large-scale research study to inform a national conversation about the egg industry.
Australians called on to help shape the future of egg industry
Research projects a key for industry
RSEARCH is one of the highlights of Poul- try Hub Australia and I was excited to receive the final full research proposals from our recent open call this month.
highlight our honours scholarships.
To date PHA has fund- ed 24 research projects covering a large range of topic areas.
These scholarships are worth $5000 and are aimed at students com- pleting their honours degrees in 2021 at an Australian University.
From vaccine trials, welfare investigations for layers and ducks to precision feeding in broilers.
emphasised as an impor- tant biosecurity measure to help reduce the spread of SLD.
PHA funds please head to our website poultry- hub.org
At PHA we are proud to support all poultry researchers across dif- ferent stages of their career, as we recognise that they are one of the keys to ensuring we con- tinue to have a produc- tive and efficient poultry industry.
With every project re- quiring direct industry collaboration it’s not hard to understand the impact of the research.
Following the results of this study Drs Van and Moore are now in the next stage of inves- tigating SLD and last year were awarded PHA funding to develop im- munological assays to assist the control of Spotty Liver Disease in chickens.
Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to
A great example of this is the project “Epidemi- ological investigation of Spotty Liver Disease in chickens to inform dis- ease control” lead by Dr Hao Van and Prof Rob Moore researchers from RMIT University.
This current research project is progressing well, and we look for- ward to receiving the final report and research outcomes later this year.
Their study has shown that birds can be in- fected with C. hepaticus during rear and prior to the onset of lay, without any clinical SLD.
If you would like to check out more of the research projects that
Transmission electron micrograph of Campylobacter hepaticus. Note the typical S-shaped cell and bipolar flagella.
SLD outbreaks oc- curred mainly at peak lay but could also occur earlier or later in the production cycle.
Their study highlights, it is of epidemiological significance to collect samples from birds from several weeks of age un- til the peak lay period to investigate when the birds become infected with C. hepaticus.
As environmental sources are a likely transmission source of C. hepaticus, biosecu- rity methods need to be strictly followed to pre- vent the spread of this bacteria, such as avoid- ing standing water on the range.
The control of rodents and birds should also be
Liver lesions seen in a typical field case of Spotty Liver Disease.
by TAMSYN CROWLEY Director
AUSTRALIANS are be- ing invited to take part in a large-scale research study to inform a nation- al conversation about the egg industry.
fare arouses strong feel- ings among many people and that has been a focus of the research to date, but we’ve also found that the community is very inter- ested in how Australia’s eggs are produced and how safe they are, espe- cially since the pandemic.”
hen welfare have become more prominent, so the in- dustry has addressed this by developing new tools and research projects.
The research is being conducted by engagement science company Voconiq – spun out of Australia’s national science agency CSIRO in 2019 – and will explore community attitudes towards the egg industry across a broad range of topics including food security, biosecurity, traceability, animal wel- fare and environmental impacts.
“We encourage Austral- ians who want to have a voice on issues related to the egg industry to take part in the public open survey, as the data col- lected will be shared with Australian Eggs to action a response.”
“Just recently, we launched a sustainability dashboard to help farm- ers assess their farm and business practices, and we are currently undertaking a comprehensive carbon footprint assessment to develop a framework to move the industry towards carbon neutrality.
Voconiq chief executive officer Dr Kieren Moffat said this fourth year of re- search would build on the previous CSIRO findings from 2018 to 2020 to un- derstand the community’s changing views.
Australian Eggs man- aging director Rowan McMonnies said that the community’s insights are instrumental as they help shape industry plans.
“Further to this, a bio security virtual reality tool was created to improve on- farm biosecurity practices, and the industry is look- ing into new technologies to improve the traceability of eggs for maintaining food safety standards and to expand the capacity of egg farms to monitor hen welfare.”
“More than 27,000 Aus- tralians have contributed to the research program over the past three years, providing a deeper under- standing on what the com- munity values in and from the egg industry,” Dr Mof- fat said.
“Australians consume 17 million eggs every day, so it’s important for the in- dustry to understand and respond to community concerns to continue to maintain trust,” Mr Mc- Monnies said.
The research is the fourth annual cycle of commu- nity engagement to inform the Australian Eggs sus- tainability framework.
“We know that hen wel-
The survey closes on Sunday June 27, 2021.
“Previous research has shown that concerns around the egg industry’s environmental footprint, food safety standards and
To participate in the re- search, go to voconiq.com/ eggs
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