Industry Secondment Blog ESR 8
All about chickens – that was the motto for my industry secondment at SEGES Innovation. I joined my MonoGutHealth mentor Jette Søholm Petersen in her work as a specialist in chicken production to learn more about her current projects and the Danish chicken production. I was really looking forward to this secondment, as I had already worked with Jette in my experiments and we always had long talks about chickens and all things related. Her job as an advisor for farmers and mediator between academia and industry has always sounded exciting to me because it offers opportunities to look into different aspects of poultry production and get in contact with the whole value chain.
The secondment also was a great opportunity to communicate the results of my own research directly to the farmers, for example by writing an article for a Danish poultry magazine and by participating in a mandatory course for new broilerChickens kept for meat production. Fast growing breeds can reach a weight of over 2 kg at 5 weeks of… chicken farmers. They thereby had the opportunity to learn about how a chicken develops in the egg and how it can already be influenced at an early stage.
©DanHatch
It was a nice change of perspective for me, as I had gotten quite used to the research environment, where the focus lies more on generating data and interpreting it in an objective way, instead of practicality and economics. And it was a great opportunity to test and improve my Danish. A highlight was a visit to a big Danish hatchery and broilerChickens kept for meat production. Fast growing breeds can reach a weight of over 2 kg at 5 weeks of… breeder flock. This was really insightful in relation to my PhD project and led to enriching discussions about boiler incubationKeeping the eggs under defined conditions (ideally 37.8℃ and 55% relative humidity) for the chicks… and chicken production. I had only visited a hatchery once before during Training School 1 (First MonoGutHealth Training School – MonoGutHealth) and it was really interesting to see the differences and similarities between Poland and Denmark. Jette is not only involved in direct interaction with the industry, but also in research projects, and I was happy to not only work on broiler chickensChickens kept for meat production. Fast growing breeds can reach a weight of over 2 kg at 5 weeks of…, like in my PhD, but also learn more about laying hens and organic production that way.
©DanHatch
All in all, this secondment provided me with valuable connections, new perspectives and lots of new knowledge about chickens!