That’s why 2017 marked the 21st year they have been welcoming attendees to the Cairo Poultry School.

Held Oct. 14-17 at the Jasmine Palace Resort in Hurghada on the Red Sea in Egypt, the School underscored up-to-date best practices for managing Arbor Acres broiler breeding stock and getting the most from its genetic potential.

It was organized by Cairo Poultry Company (CPC), a fully integrated investment group in the food industry, which began operations in 1977. Today, it is a pioneering investment group with a portfolio of powerful market-leading companies. It maintains a strong commitment to societal development and corporate social responsibility. Aviagen sponsored the School by directly contributing to curriculum development and speakerships

Arbor Acres market value for MEA

Due to ongoing improvements achieved by Aviagen R&D and breeding programs, the Arbor Acres aptitude for performance and efficiency continues to advance.

An industry icon with an 80-year-legacy, the brand is widely popular in Egypt and throughout the Middle East and Africa (MEA) due to its excellence in growth rate, chick numbers and meat yield.

Information-packed agenda

Because today’s market is a highly competitive one, the curriculum was designed to help delegates overcome current and future challenges and stay competitive.

In attendance were 45 poultry professionals, made up of farm managers, engineers, veterinaries and hatchery specialists from the all over Egypt, along with an additional 35 company owners.

The attendees benefited from the in-depth knowledge of specialists from the Arbor Acres team, university professors from the University of Cairo and CPC personnel, who shared their in-depth knowledge with students.

A highlight for the School was a presentation and open discussion with Dr. Mona Mehrez, Egypt’s deputy minister of agriculture. She explored the current outlook for the Egyptian poultry market, with its opportunities and threats, detailing important issues such as farm licenses, vaccination quality, inflation effect on raw material prices and exporting opportunities. The presentation attracted attention and interaction from all attendees.

Other key presenters included:

• Khalil Nassar, Commercial Manager, Arbor Acres MEA, gave an overview of the Arbor Acres brand and its worldwide distribution network.
• Zoltan Marton, regional veterinarian, presented on recent disease challenges in the MEA, focusing on detection and prevention through heightened biosecurity.
• Richard Beevis, Technical Service Manager, Arbor Acres MEA, offered advice on managing Arbor Acres birds from grading to first light stimulation.
• Zied Azzez, Technical Service Manager, Arbor Acres MEA, covered good management practices from first light stimulation to depletion.

Another focus for the school was promoting optimum bird health and welfare through well-developed and carefully administered vaccination and biosecurity programs.

Additional topics were feed and hatching egg management, physiology of egg production, proper housing ventilation, disease challenges and success elements in managing poultry farms, which improve leadership skills.

Attendees also explored CPC experiences and case studies and learned how to design an effective vaccination program, control of an infected farm and hatcheries evaluation.

Strengthening valued relationships – an added benefit

Dr. Khaled Mostafa, Grandparent sector general manager at CPC, said: "We believe that our long-term relationship with Aviagen and the Arbor Acres team ensure we can work together to achieve our joint goal of educating the new generations who are in management positions today. They are the future of the poultry industry in Egypt and we are committed to ensuring that they, along with their teams, are up to date with the latest information in the poultry industry to safeguard their success.”

Khalil Nassar said: "We’d like to thank CPC for a successful event, which was put together with meticulous attention to detail, from the venue to the selection of speakers and subjects. We share with CPC a commitment to advancing the future of the poultry industry through education, and look forward to many successful schools to come.”

The School drew to a close with a closing ceremony where completion certificates were presented.

About Aviagen
Since 1923, Aviagen® has established itself as the world's leading poultry breeding company, developing pedigree lines for the production of commercial broiler chickens under the Arbor Acres®, Indian River®, and Ross® brand names. The Rowan Range® and Specialty Males® are specialty breeding stock from Aviagen that offer greater flexibility for customers to meet specific or niche market requirements. The company is based in Huntsville, Alabama, USA with a number of wholly-owned operations across the United Kingdom, Europe, Turkey, Latin America, India, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S., and joint ventures in Asia. Aviagen employs more than 3,900 people and has a distribution network serving customers in more than 100 countries.

For further information, please visit www.aviagen.com.