Guo Jun, Incubation Specialist

Guo Jun, who previously spent 15 years with Aviagen in China and Asia, has moved with his family to Edinburgh. His new role will also involve working closely with staff at Aviagen’s Spelderholt facility in Holland contributing to the incubation trials which will be run there.

Guo Jun replaces Nick French, who moved within Aviagen last April to become Head of Technical Systems.

The incubation support team is made up of Dinah Nicholson, Global Manager of Hatchery Development and Support, Guo Jun and Eddy van Lierde. Eddy supports customers in the Americas and the Arbor Acres brand in the Middle East and Africa, as well as working closely with Aviagen’s trial facility in Alabama. The team is supported by Steve Tullett, who works for Aviagen on a consultancy basis and provides support to the 13 Aviagen-owned hatcheries in Europe.

The team has a broad remit, including the provision of on-site hatchery support to internal and external customers. However, there is also a strong emphasis on running a programme of incubation trials designed to understand the different lines, improve hatch results and optimise chick performance and on writing technical documents to help hatchery staff perform essential incubation monitoring. Finally, the team organise specialist training for internal and external customers through meetings, case studies and at the dedicated Aviagen schools in the USA, China and Europe.

Dinah Nicholson, Aviagen’s Global Manager for Hatchery Development and Support said of the changes: “As our understanding of incubation has grown, we have all become much more aware that the hatchery is a crucial pivot point in the process, highlighting the effectiveness of the breeder farm management and setting up the chicks to perform to their genetic potential. Our focus has to be on providing accurate and easy to follow advice to our customers, so that they can offer the best possible incubation conditions and reap the rewards in optimal chick performance.”

Dinah added: “There are not many people who both understand hatcheries and are willing to travel, so we are a small team and likely to stay that way. We have to make sure that everything we do has impact. Incubation trials, technical literature and training allow us to demonstrate what needs to be done, and then to achieve maximum implementation of best practice in hatcheries all over the world.”