The Herveld pedigree farm is now part of Cobb's global research program, and will be working in parallel with research and development in the United States to further genetic progress and develop new products for the future.

The farm was established by the Hendrix organization through its original Euribrid company as a state-of-the-art facility with rearing, production and hatching capability on site. Aspects of biosecurity were central to the layout and design of the buildings including the pioneering of a filtered air positive pressure (FAPP) system to screen out many micro-organisms.

The Herveld research farm complex with its own rearing, production, hatching and laboratory facilities

"The Hybro acquisition gives us some excellent facilities that will considerably expand our own production base and help in developing new products," says Steve Parsons, managing director of Cobb Europe.

Gosse Veninga, who heads the R & D team at Herveld, works closely with Cobb geneticist Dr Mark Cooper, who heads the Cobb research program in Europe.

Cobb has taken over seven rearing farms and 12 production units, and will be using two hatcheries in the Netherlands for parent stock production in the future. The van Gent hatchery at Veenendaal with a capacity of five million parents a year, has been supplying Cobb customers for almost 20 years, developing an outstanding reputation for its quality and reliability.

The hatchery at Putten, owned and managed by John Torsius, also has a capacity of five million parents a year. These hatcheries will give Cobb Europe a production capacity in the Netherlands of more than ten million parents a year. This is more than doubled with the capacity of Cobb Germany supplying central and eastern Europe, and Cobb Spain serving the Iberian area and north Africa.

Hybro and Cobb grandparents will be hatched at a smaller hatchery at Warder, run by the Beunder family, which is located conveniently close to Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, for shipment to customers around the globe.

Within the Netherlands the production team is headed by manager Nico Kooter, who worked for many years on the Herveld farm and is now based at the Boxmeer headquarters of Cobb’s Dutch activities.

In the UK, Cobb is retaining its great grandparent hatchery in Norfolk, while the existing parent production facilities in Ireland will continue.