The first session on day 1 of the 23rd European Symposium on Poultry Nutrition (ESPN) started with keynote lectures focusing on nutrition for sustainability in poultry production. The highlight was Dr Fifi Zaefarian, senior lecturer in poultry science at Massey University, who discussed the various opportunities and challenges we face in trying to improve energy utilisation in poultry. She had great insights on how raw material quality can influence energy prediction equations, how important these prediction equations are, and how we can use NIR data for the equations.
Another highlight for our team at ESPN was a lecture delivered by Prof. Birger Svihus, president of European Federation of the World’s Poultry Science Association (WPSA), on the effect of pellet diameter and length on broiler performance and particle preference of broilers based on coarsely ground wheat and maize. The results were interesting and worth evaluating under South African conditions, too.
In the afternoon session, the lecture that stood out was a fascinating talk on water quality presented by Prof. Susan Watkins, a professor and extension specialist at the University of Arkansas. Her slides on “The Watkin’s Water Recipe” is definitely something all poultry producers could benefit from.
Watch this space for more insights from our technical team, your eyes and ears at ESPN 2023.