Aviagen UK has named the best Ross 308 broiler growers in the country, in the company’s annual Flock Awards.
According to Head of UK Sales and Technical Stuart Thomson, this year’s recipients represent a “story of success”. “We congratulate our stellar performers and are delighted by their remarkable achievements, which have again exceeded our Ross Parent Stock performance standards. This level of success is possible only through hard work, coupled with great dedication and expert stockmanship.”
Due to the effort of these farmers and hatchery teams, 2019 saw across-the-board improvement in UK Ross 308 breeder performance:
- An increase of 5.1 chicks/HH
- 4 more total eggs/HH
- 7 extra hatching eggs/HH
- A 1% rise in hatchability
- 135 flocks that exceeded 150 chicks/HH
- 17 flocks that surpassed 160 chicks/HH
Originally scheduled for April, the award ceremony was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The 27 2019 performance stars include breeder (rear and lay) and hatchery managers – of which eight were first-time achievers. One producer reached a notable landmark: an eighth flock award. The winners had an average of 26 years’ poultry experience and a range of 2 to 44 years of service to the industry.
P D Hook’s Andy Whiting, Mark Potter, Stephen Deerness and their team earned the Top 2019 Flock Award with an impressive 167.79 chicks per hen housed.
This is the 20th year Aviagen has recognised its growers in this way. Noteworthy breeder performance gains over the past 20 years have been:
- An addition of 29 extra chicks per hen housed in 20 years, with an extra five chicks per year for the past three years
- A 3% increase in hatchability (.2% per year)
- 4 extra total eggs per year