By November 2023, a total of 43 innovative good practices for the challenges “Genetics & breeding”, “Farmer training” and “Barn climate” had been collected from the 13 partner countries with great support from the Broiler Innovative Networks (BINs).
Good Practices included, among others, selection for increased resistance and bone structure quality, farmer exchange groups, annual online training courses, remote technologies for welfare monitoring, environmental control and alarm systems, and training on farm microclimate management. All collected Good Practices were evaluated by the TEN group (Thematic Expert Group) of Animal Welfare using the GPET (Good Practice Evaluation Tool).
The TEN group consists of 15 different experts from various European countries, including scientists, veterinarians, and advisors. Good Practices were scored based on their technical quality, impact on the sector, and probability of success using a 3-point scale. Experts assigned scores and comments to each good practice listed.
In the beginning of January, the results of the GPET evaluation were presented in a TEN meeting. The experts’ scoring resulted in a top 10 of good practices ranked for the challenges “Farmer training” and “Barn climate” and top 8 good practices ranked for the challenge “Genetics & breeding”. By means of surveys and intensive discussions in smaller groups during the TEN meeting, we were able to identify the 5 Best Practices and the respective BroileNet Champion for each challenge. The Champions included those good practices that were the most innovative and potentially ready-to-use ideas that could be implemented in the various European regions.
Keep an eye on the BroilerNet socials or the Newsletter to learn more about those top 5 best practices and champions for each of the challenges in the near future.
Dr. Margret Vonholdt-Wenker & Julia Malchow (WP3 leader)