Almost all the major production and processing companies were represented at the events in Haus Düsse and in Landgasthaus Sattelhof near Halle.

James Truscott, director of Cobb Germany, said that in eastern Europe modern integrations were ready to delivery increasing volumes of chicken meat into the wider European market.

He said: "Some of the largest producers in eastern European countries work 100 per cent with Cobb500 because other breeds do not the reach similar levels of profitability. They are fully integrated, running parent stock farms, hatcheries and slaughter houses with the highest and most modern standards.

"Western European producers need to be increasingly efficient to be competitive – that's why we're seeing a rapid increase in orders for the Cobb500 in our markets."

Wim Dekkers, senior technical consultant of Cobb Germany, spoke about the development of the breeding companies and veterinarian Dr Matthias Todte about gut physiology and how you can avoid mistakes here.

Hagen Müller, broiler consultant of Wimex, spoke about the importance of feed and water quality on broiler growth. He stressed that for the Cobb500 to perform to the highest expectations and achieve top results it needs specific feeding programmes and management.

Dr Ron Meijerhof, technical consultant, and Martijn Gruyters, technical manager, Cobb Europe, underlined the importance of good brooding techniques, particularly achieving a high enough floor temperature in the broiler house before placement, while Saeid Najati, technical manager for Cobb Germany, presented models for optimal ventilation set-up.

Some of the delegates who took part in the broiler seminar.