Following the success of conferences in the snow in 2007 and 2008, 24 poultry producers and lecturers braved the slopes in Zauchensee, Austria during the first week of March. Previous snow falls made the conditions absolutely perfect and both expert and novice skiers and snowboarders took full advantage of the excellent slopes.
Zauchensee is a small resort but boasts good access to the Altenmarkt area. This meant that novice skiers were comfortable with the local pistes but the more adventurous in the party were able to venture further a field. Two unfortunate skiers discovered that the hospital facilities in Austria rank amongst the best in Europe but this did not detract from the enjoyment and knowledge gained from the week.
The morning and evening lecture format was followed again and proved to be very popular with the delegates with almost everyone attending despite late night / early morning sessions in the bar. Lectures followed a round table discussion type format which producers found to be an invaluable way of absorbing information. The lecture programme was designed to be of relevance and interest to both broiler and egg producers alike. There is tremendous benefit in producers being able to discuss current issues with members of another sector either on the privacy of a chairlift or over a beer in the bar après ski.
Michael Clark from Minster Vets covered the use of Medications and then the use of autogenous vaccines, whilst Alastair Johnston from Minster discussed the analysis of samples for viruses. Ian Mackinson from Premier Nutrition gave excellent practical talks on a range of nutritional topics including feed premixes, water supplementation, feeding older hens in lay, wheat feeding in broilers and the latest trends in poultry diets.
Wiebke Oellrich from Cherry Valley Farms gave an interesting overview of the duck industry and duck production for those producers looking to diversify in the future. Elanco, once again, sponsored the 2009 event and Jerry Glover led a thought provoking session on how the global poultry industry will have to adapt over the next 10 years. For variety, Kier Rogers gave an excellent account of asparagus and cider apple farming!
Social sessions were well attended also (surprising really!), one of the highlights being a fierce competition in the skittle alley of the hotel. The broiler boys came out on top in the team competition whilst Ben Hay and Greg Allin showed that the time spent in the local ten pin bowling alley in Hereford was well spent!
This event is going from strength to strength and we hope that numbers will reach the optimum of around 30 in 2010. For those well organised people in the industry, put the dates of 27th Feb – 6th March 2010 in to your diaries. We are going to hold the 2010 Poultry on the Piste event at Davos, Switzerland. Producers wishing to combine a few days skiing with some genuine CPD, please contact MVP Training on 01347 823793 or alastair.johnston@mvptraining.co.uk in order to guarantee a place next year. There could well be a waiting list!
