Pamela Cousins, has returned home from a placement year with global poultry company Aviagen, an experience she thoroughly enjoyed and only possible through the Poultry Industry Education Trust.

Miss Counsins, 22, a student at Harper Adams University, used the time abroad to learn about chick welfare during transport and was able to get a flavour of the Aviagen business.

“I am a poultry trainee student,” Pamela explained. “A role which is giving me an overview of the whole company: rearing, production and hatcheries, as well as working with customers.

“I have loved every minute of it. I was a bit of a ‘homebird’ before, so this was a big step for me. Not just going to the other side of the world, but moving into the poultry sector after being raised on a beef and sheep farm.”

Pamela was first attracted to poultry after attending a course at Harper Adams. It was there that she learned about the potential poultry had in providing protein for a growing world.

“I hadn’t really considered poultry until the poultry conference at Harper Adams when it was explained that poultry might be the answer to feeding the future population. It’s a growing industry and sounded like an exciting avenue to pursue.

However, without help from an industry organisation, Pamela would have missed out on this once in a lifetime opportunity.

“I have to say a huge thank you to the Poultry Industry Education Trust, who provided a scholarship, without which, I wouldn’t even have been able to take the job. The money went towards my travel costs.

“I had been saving up, earning what I could by doing lambing work in 2013, but this scholarship was the final piece of the jigsaw. It meant I could not only get to Australia, but also have some back-up money in case anything went wrong.”