NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2023

Introduction from the Secretary General

Dear WPSA members,

It is a great honour for me to write my first message in this newsletter after being elected last summer for the next four years (2022-2026). From the 1st of January 2023, I have been involved in many activities of the WPSA Executive Committee and visited the IPPE Poultry show in Atlanta, the 2nd Pan Africa Poultry Conference in Togo, and the roundtable of Working Group 1 on Economics in Helsinki, Finland. I want to meet many members and branches to learn about their views and objectives to further promote knowledge of poultry science and the poultry industry. For the years 2023 and 2024, I will combine being the Secretary General of WPSA with my position as a poultry economist at Wageningen University & Research.

This year, the working groups of the European Federation have their symposia. Please check the calendar. I want to mention that working groups 4 and 5 jointly organise a symposium on quality of eggs and egg products and quality of poultry meat in Krakow, Poland. The Board of WPSA will attend this symposium after two days of the annual Board meeting.

Later this year, the Asian Pacific Poultry Conference (APPC) will be held. This meeting has been postponed because of Covid and will now be held on 31 October to 4 November 2023 in Nanjing, China. For the programme, please visit the website.

Later on, I will represent WPSA at VIV MEA in Abu Dhabi (20–22 November 2023) with a booth to promote WPSA activities. For me, this is another opportunity to meet with members and branches of countries in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia.

With my best regards,
Peter van Horne, Secretary General

• Ostrich (Struthio camelus) feather production and research: an historic overview (https://doi.org/10.1080/00439339.2023.2225794) (South Africa, Ratite working group)

• Effect of storage periods and conditions on embryonic mortalities and hatchability of artificially incubated ostrich eggs (https://doi.org/10.1080/00071668.2023.2237931) (South Africa, Ratite working group)

• Avian reovirus in Israel, variants and vaccines – a review (https://doi.org/10.1637/aviandiseases-D-22-99996) (Israel)

• The history of highly-pathogenic Avian Influenza in Israel (H5-subtypes): from 2006 to 2023 (https://www.ijvm.org.il/sites/default/files/avian_influenza.pdf) (Israel)

• Comparative transcriptome analysis reveals mechanisms of restriction feeding on lipid metabolism in ducks (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2023.102963) (China)

• The improving effect of soybean isoflavones on ovarian function in older laying hens (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2023.102944) (China)

• Effects of green tea powder on production performance, egg quality, and blood biochemical parameters in laying hens (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2023.102924) (China)

The ‘Science of Poultry and Meat Processing’ is a free textbook by Dr Shai Barbut from University of Guelph, Canada. The book is available for download here (WG5).

The Poultry Grading Picture Series edited by USDA illustrates various defects described in the official U.S. Classes, Standards,and Grades for Poultry (WG5).