The document provides details on PUM's expertise in the poultry farming sector. It describes the Dutch poultry farming sector as characterized by individual entrepreneurship, chain concepts, cooperation, efficient broilers and layers, and food safety assurance systems. PUM experts have decades of experience in poultry farming, nutrition, housing, disease prevention, and more. They have provided assistance internationally by monitoring hatcheries, improving practices on stock farms, developing marketing strategies, and upgrading diagnostic laboratories.

1. PUM
sector
POULTRY FARMING
This document
provides details of
the expertise available within the sector
Poultry Farming. This
sector is part of the
cluster Stockbreeding
& Fisheries. Other
sectors in this cluster
are:
Cattle Breeding
Dairy Processing
& Products
Pig Farming
Fisheries & Fish
Processing
Areas of EXPERTISE
Beekeeping
Fifty years ago, layer breeding in the Netherlands
was spread over more than 200 small and medium- sized breeding farms, usually family-owned.
Nowadays this number has been drastically
reduced and only a few layer and broiler breeding companies are left (grand grandparents and
grandparents respectively). The poultry farming
sector includes farms which are producing parents for broiler and layer strains both as farms
producing consumption eggs and poultry meat.
Dutch poultry production is internationally orientated. About 70 per cent of the production is as
yet exported, mostly to EU countries. Geographically, the Netherlands is very well located in an
area with about 150 million prosperous consumers. Paris, London, Berlin are all within 500 km.
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES
A day-old-chicken, pullet and adult hen act the
same everywhere. What is different are housing
(open or closed), accommodation (from cages
through deep litter to free-range), feeding and
drinking systems, feed supply (on-farm produced
or from external sources) and the climate. Poultry
constantly show signals about their health, wellbeing, and performance.
PUM POULTRY EXPERTS
Amongs PUM’s senior experts are retired poultry
farmers, veterinarians, researchers, nutritionists,
animal husbandry advisors and teachers, housing
specialists and others who have been working in
the Netherlands poultry farming sector and some
of them with considerable international working
experience.
Poultry farming throughout the world is going
through significant changes. Public concern
about negative environmental effects of poultry
farming, as well as ethical issues such as animal
welfare and medicine use, are gaining importance. In order to cope with these developments,
changes in farm set-up and management have
to be considered, as they may affect the income
of the poultry farmer.
PUM
Netherlands senior experts
www.pum.nl

2. PUM assistance for
DUTCH POULTRY FARMING SECTOR
The Dutch poultry farming sector, both for eggs and for poultry meat, is characterised
by:
POULTRY FARMERS
On request PUM senior experts are ready to
assist poultry farmers and other actors in the
poultry farming sectors to advise on the operation of their businesses. They are confident with
product identification and registration systems;
poultry nutrition and poultry feed ingredients;
poultry breeds and brands; grandparent – and
parent stock management; hatchery management and operation; day-old chicken handling and management; pullets management;
hygiene, disease prevention and vaccination
programmes; veterinary services and drug administration; housing -, feeding – and drinking
systems; micro climate systems and control;
manure processing; conventional and alternative poultry farming systems; eggs handling for
hatching and for consumption; performance
testing; practical training and education; business plans; budget planning and finance; costprice calculation; etc.
• Individual entrepreneurship, chain concepts and cooperation in the production
chain (poultry integrations).
• Highly efficient broilers for poultry meat production and layers for hatching eggs
and for consumption eggs.
• Guaranteed food safety and full transparency of the production process up to the
consumer by the IKB quality control scheme. Key aspects of this quality control
system are information exchange combined with a tracking and tracing system
for poultry meat and eggs and extra requirements relating to feed, hygiene and
biosecurity (internal and external), safe and sound use of veterinary medicines,
welfare and behaviour of poultry, food safety and environmental aspects. Regular
inspections ensure correct observance of the quality and food related regulations.
• Continuous product development and innovation in egg products and poultry meat
diversification.
• Adaptation to trends by poultry farmers in e.g. convenience foods and introduction
of new and innovative production methods and concepts like free-range, biological
and organic poultry farming.
• The use of computers and ICT-related applications in poultry farming management
and operation.
Poultry hatchery
IN MOROCCO
The expert was requested to monitor the whole
process of management and operation of a
poultry hatchery. He checked all aspects from
the reception of the hatching eggs originating from poultry parent stock farms, the placing of eggs in the setters and incubators and
the handling of day-old chicken prior to their
transfer to a broiler or layer farm. He also gave
recommendations on each of these operations.
Good communication between the suppliers of
hatching eggs and the purchasers of day-oldchicken was emphasised by the expert.
Increase in sales in
Improvement of practices on a poultry parent stock farm annex hatchery have been
made in Ethiopia. The requesting party wanted to have further advice on good poultry
keeping in such a way that it could improve its practices and to arrive at a well managed and well operating company. The expert has, in two visits, left recommendations
on the management structure of the company, on the construction of new facilities, on
the daily activities in the parent stock units and in the hatchery. Special attention has
been given to lighting-schemes and feeding of the cocks and hens in the parent stock.
Training laboratory staff
IN INDONESIA
The applicant is the one and only turkey breeder
and turkey meat producer in Indonesia. However, that does not imply that the company has a
privileged market position. Contrary to chicken
meat, which is one of the most popular meats
in Indonesia, turkey is almost unknown. After
an internal analysis it became clear that the
farm was not operating efficiently and that profit was low. A strategy was introduced carrying
the title: Making choices based upon Efficiency
and Market Needs. Extensive field research was
done by the expert. A Marketing and Sales Plan
was made with the motto: Strategic marketing
= Smart Marketing.
PUM
Improvements on farm IN ETHIOPIA
IN BANGLADESH
PUM provided assistance in upgrading
of a poultry disease diagnostic laboratory in Bangladesh. The laboratory, belonging to a poultry integration, was
not yet completely finished but the
young staff has been trained. Diagnostic
tests have been performed and results
evaluated. Information was given about
test procedures. Attention was paid to
the principles of quality assurance and
practical measures to prevent spread of
infection. Recommendations were given
about some ergonomic shortcomings in
the laboratory.
Netherlands senior experts
www.pum.nl