Information
28-29 March 2006
Exhibition Centre, University of York
United Kingdom
For another year we return to the excellent campus facilities of the University of York for the fifth successive year for our Branch Annual Meeting. Attendance at the previous ones is a sure indication of what members feel about the venue and the scope of the meeting. The fact that about one third of members regularly attend the Annual Meeting is a terrific compliment to the Programme Committee and a strong recommendation to those still unsure about joining in. We have a very conveniently situated venue, ideal for our purposes and, once again, we will be joining both BSAS and ISAE, whose annual meetings run concurrently with our own. Last year nearly 100 delegates registered for the WPSA meeting and we look forward to another successful event in 2006.
You will, by now, have received the full Programme and Application Form for the Meeting which this year includes no less than 20 original communications and at least 17 posters.
The opening session on the first morning will give some of the poster authors the opportunity briefly to present their work. This will be followed by a session of original work on Behaviour and Welfare. After lunch there will be an important WPSA/BSAS Joint Session entitled “Environmental issues for the intensive pig and poultry industry” with three excellent invited speakers, and this will be followed after tea by a session on Nutrition.
At 5pm the 2006 Robert Fraser Gordon Memorial Lecture will be given by Prof Tom Humphrey of the University of Bristol, whose title will be “Are happy chickens, safer chickens? Poultry welfare and disease susceptibility” This will be followed as usual by the Gordon Wine Reception.
Following the very evident popularity of last year´s excellent meal and venue, the Branch Annual Dinner will again take place in the lovely surroundings of St William´s College at York Minster – coaches will leave at 7.15pm.
WPSA (UK Branch) AGM
The Annual General Meeting of the Branch will take place at 8.45 am on Wednesday 29 March in Room L001 of the Exhibition Centre. This is a real opportunity for members to contribute their views to the running of the Branch and this year we will be electing a new Branch President and Vice President in accordance with the Constitutional changes made last year, as well as re-electing two Council Members. All members are strongly urged to attend. You will also be receiving preliminary information on the arrangements for the 29th Poultry Science Symposium to be held in Edinburgh in 2007 on the topic “The biology of breeding birds” Please come along to the AGM, early as it is in the morning, and be involved in the running of the Branch.
Final papers and posters
The morning continues with a further session of nutritional papers and then, after coffee, there will be an invited paper giving us an important update on “Avian Influenza”. We conclude the Meeting with a session of original communications on a wide range of topics and, finally, with the presentation of the President´s Prizes.
Please give the Programme Committee, under its Chairman Dr Paul Rose, the support which they undoubtedly deserve for having put together another excellent programme.
President´s Prizes
The two 2006 President´s Prizes, each worth £100 with a framed certificate, will be awarded at the conclusion of the Meeting to the two young scientists who are judged to have presented the best paper and the best poster submitted for the Meeting.
PROGRAMME
Topics to be analyzed through Posters & Sessions
* Sheep Nutrition Cattle Genetics Post-weaning of pigs.
* Control of TSE's Meat Quality I Genetics of Poultry.
* Meat as a Functional Food.
* Pay-off from Genomic Information Poultry.
* Animal products and human health: present situation and future potential.
* Future Food Policy and Sustainable.
* Ruminant Nutrition Equine.
* Meat Quality II Intensive pig and poultry industry - Sheep/Goats.
* Nutrition with species comparisons.
* Breeding for Farming Systems.
* Poultry Nutrition.
* Responses to Nutrients.
* Gut Microbiology.
* Breeding for farming systems.
* Environmental issues for the intensive pig and poultry industry.
* Animal products and human health: present situation and future potential.
* Light regimens on dust and broiler performance.
* Secondary plant metabolites to control Clostridium.
* Enzymes for maize/soya bean diets.
* In vitro activity to measure xylanase efficiency.
* AME of shea fat.
* Can cage experiments predict floor experiments?
* Stochastic model of broiler breeder egg production.
* Egg traits and early broiler growth.
* Behaviour and welfare: Original communications.
* Beak blunting, an alternative to beak trimming in laying hens.
* Self-evaluation of laying hen welfare on farm.
* A non-intrusive method of assessing plumage condition in commercial flocks of laying hens.
* Curtain type and directional preferences in chickens – preliminary tests for an aversion set-up.
* Background to carbon management, climate change and regulations, climate change agreements and energy management programmes for the intensive livestock sector.
* Practical evaluation of sustainable energy sources in pig husbandry.
* IPCC: Best available technologies and current developments.
* The AME, sialic acid excretion and body weight of young chickens and turkeys fed phytase supplemented diets.
* Dietary lysine concentration and the efficiency of metabolisable energy utilisation in broiler chickens and turkeys.
* Oats: metabolisable energy yield from husked and naked varieties and an experimental naked high-oil line compared with wheat in broilers and turkeys.
* The effect of heat treatment and exposure temperature on laying hen performance.
* Effect of reducing dietary protein and mineral content on growth performance, nutrient digestibility and bone strength of broiler chickens.
* Effect of early feed restriction and subsequent light schedule during compensatory growth period on performances of broiler chickens.
* The effect of addition of different levels of inorganic minerals, compared with proteinated or chelated minerals, on broiler chick performance.
* The effect of hull-less barley on the gut microflora and morphology of the small intestinal of broiler chicks.
* The effects of dietary phytase on the concentration of antioxidants including co-enzyme Q in the liver of growing broilers.
* Microcracks form in eggs prior to macroscopic damage.
* Development of an in vitro feeding system for the poultry red mite.
* Tropomyosin from poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae - characterisation of a house dust mite allergen homologue.
* The antimicrobial effect of tanniniferous plant extracts in vitro against Campylobacter spp., in assays involving both solid and liquid growth media.
* The effect of light regimes on, dust, concentrations and broiler performance.
* Secondary Plant Metabolites to control growth of Clostridium perfringens from chickens.
* The effect of tannins on growth inhibition in Campylobacter spp. and in mixtures of isolates from retail chicken; describing a variation in activity dependant on molecular weight.
* Effects of different levels of canola meal and carbohydrase enzyme on broiler performance and thyroid hormones levels.
* The effect of processing and levels of natural zeolites on layers performances.
* Enzyme supplementation of maize/soyabean meal-based diets for broilers.
* Effects of variety on nutritive value of wheat for broilers.
* In vitro activity as an indicator of xylanase efficacy as assessed by performance, jejunal viscosity and ileal morphology of broilers fed wheat-based diets.
* Apparent metabolisable energy and digestibility of shea fat for broiler chicks.
* Effects of glucanases and proteases on the utilization of malted sorghum sprouts by broiler chickens.
* The effect of a bacterial phytase on mineral availability for young chickens and turkeys.
* The effect on AME, mineral metabolisability and egg quality, when supplementing laying hen diets with xylanase.
* Can measurements on broilers in cage trials predict the results of floor pen trials?
* A stochastic model of egg production in broiler breeders.
* The relationship between egg traits and hatchability, chick viability and early broiler growth.
* Effects of vitamin E in broiler breeder diets on hatchability and maternal antibody transfer to progeny.
* Response of laying hens to diets containing cashew nut reject meal.