A number of guest speakers and industry experts were involved in the workshops with the primary focus on the brooding period and how to achieve maximum performance in the laying period using Arbor Acres’ best practice for PS and broiler at critical ages. The attendees learnt valuable information about a variety of different aspects in management to express the genetic potential of Arbor Acres products at all levels of the production chain.

Activities also included several visits including a hatchery, breeder farm and a broiler farm. All those who completed the course were awarded a diploma to say they had successfully passed the training.

Alain Silvin, Sales Manager, said: "The group had a good mix of expertise between them. Sharing information and building relationships is one of our core motivators and we are very grateful to the French poultry companies who opened their doors to our visitors. None of this could have been achieved without the excellent cooperation by the Avipole Formation structure, Arbor France SAS, Aviagen France and Aviagen Turkeys France."

The first day focused on breeder and broiler nutrition with presentations from Corrine Morvan, Nutritionist at Aviagen Turkeys and Aviagen France. Then the fourteen students heard from Dr Julien Flori from Selvet Conseil / Chêne Vert Group, an Aviagen consultant, on various topics including vaccinations, vaccination plans and ways of reducing the use of antibiotics.

The second day was about hatching and rearing with the attendees partaking in a visit to a high tech Doux Group hatchery showcasing its automatic transfer and automatic hatch counting facilities. The hatchery handles 1,200,000 chicks per week so it was a great chance to see how a high capacity hatchery functions.

The final three days consisted of visits to a breeder farm and broiler farm and presentations, including a talk about male management by Gérard Munsch, Technical Manager at Aviagen France, about key mistakes to avoid when breeding. Daniel Haener, Avipole also led a discussion about biosecurity in the farms and water quality, while his colleague Jean Philippe Prigent, Housing Specialist, covered ventilation and equipment management.

M. Mohamed Ajengui, Farm manager at SOTAVI, Tunisia, said: "I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar; it was great to share information as well as take in the specialist presentations. The event also provided us with the unique opportunity of visiting a breeder farm, a hatchery and a broiler farm within the space of a few days and having the chance to question the industry specialists on the latest techniques and their approach to issues in the production cycle."