Breeder performance is ranked on total eggs per hen housed (adjusted to 65 weeks), with this complex averaging 174.99 total eggs/hen housed from some 1.2 million pullets.

"Winning this award for a second year is a tremendous accomplishment,” stated Ken Semon, director of Cobb technical service for North America, at the presentation dinner. "It’s a reflection of the hard work and dedication put forth by the entire breeder team led by live production manager Benny McClure and breeder manager Ricky Pinkerton."

George's employees holding their plaques - left to right Ricky Pinkerton, Steven Mattingly and Brett Taylor with Ken Semon of Cobb pictured third from right

This complex has made tremendous improvement in their breeder performance over the past five years — an achievement that Ricky Pinkerton attributes largely to ‘a solid flock plan for every flock that all team members embrace’.

He said: "The program has to focus on satisfying bird requirements from day one for feed distribution, lighting, nutrition and ventilation. As the genetic potential of today’s broiler breeders continues to improve, you must be willing to evaluate the program and make changes necessary for the good of the bird."

Begun in 2004, the Cobb performance awards recognize the overall best performance in the country with Cobb500 and Cobb700 breeding stock. Awards were also presented to the top six regional winners throughout the US in 2011. Completed flock data were collected from 2,070 Cobb500 flocks totalling more than 35 million pullets.