"Traditionally Oman has been a large importer of broiler hatching eggs, with around a quarter of India’s hatching egg exports going there," said Euan Meldrum, marketing manager of Cobb Europe. "This is now changing as the industry embarks on an ambitious expansion programme with the Cobb500 now 100 percent of their parent stock.

"The country’s 3.1 million people eat an average of around 20kg of poultry a year and, with production on course to quadruple in ten years, it will be more than 50 per cent self-sufficient by 2015."

The sales growth in Oman follows the plan by Al Watania Poultry, the largest chicken producer in the Middle East, to establish a Cobb grandparent operation in Saudi Arabia that will this year begin supplying its own broiler breeder requirements.

"The Cobb500 is ideally suited to the Middle East region, adapting well to warmer climates with integrators benefiting from the breed’s efficiency right through the production chain from high chick numbers to yield advantage in the processing plant," added Euan Meldrum.