Harm Specht

Harm Specht, former board member of Lohmann & Co. AG and acting president of the Heinz Lohmann Foundation, presented a portrait of Heinz Lohmann in the first online edition of Lohmann Information (2006). In this issue, he presents “The Heinz Lohmann Foundation – honoring a pioneer in modern agriculture”, based on an address given on the occasion of a reception 14th April 2010 before unveiling a memorial on the Lohmann Campus in Cuxhaven. The non-profit Foundation was established in 1997 as a subsidiary of Lohmann & Co. AG.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Prof. Dr. Heiner Niemann

Prof. Dr. Heiner Niemann, Director of the Friedrich Löffler Institute for Farm Animal Genetics in Mariensee (formerly Max-Planck and later FAL Institute) recently published a short perspective on “Animal Production and Research in Germany” in the Journal Züchtungskunde, which may also be of interest for our international readers and was therefore translated from the original publication.

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Prof. Dr. Dorian Garrick

Prof. Dr. Dorian Garrick, Jay Lush Chair of Animal Breeding at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, USA, presents the theoretical basis for modern methods of breed improvement in his article “The Revolution in Genetic Improvement”, which combines traditional quantitative genetics with DNA information. This is an excellent general introduction to the next paper.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Prof. Dr. Rudolf Preisinger

Prof. Dr. Rudolf Preisinger, Lohmann Tierzucht GmbH, Cuxhaven, looks at the same topic from a more practical angle of current application and future potential for breed improvement in his paper “Genome-wide Selection in Poultry”. Laboratory techniques to identify individual genes are being refined to analyze genetic variation in each line in order to select more accurately for complex traits.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Dr. Wiebke Icken

Dr. Wiebke Icken and co-workers, Lohmann Tierzucht GmbH, Cuxhaven, present a new technique developed in cooperation between Lohmann Tierzucht and the Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Animal Husbandry of the Bavarian State Research Centre for Agriculture of the Technical University Munich-Weihenstephan. In the article “New selection traits from group housing systems” the authors describe how pedigreed hens are being tested under floor conditions as a basis to improve adaptability to non-cage management systems:

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Dr. Barbara Tzschentke

r. Barbara Tzschentke, Institute of Biology, Perinatal Adaptation, Humboldt-University Berlin, and Dr. Ingrid Halle, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Braunschweig, Germany present results of a series of trials with heat treatment of broiler hatching eggs on hatchability, chick quality and broiler performance in their paper “Temperature training” during the last days of incubation: a new method to improve poultry performance”.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Dr. A.M. Manschadi

Dr. A.M. Manschadi and co-workers, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Germany, describe a project focused on efficient use of water resources. In the article “White Gold” and Aral Sea disaster – Towards more efficient use of water resources in the Khorezm region, Uzbekistan”, the authors analyze the effects of irrigating cotton fields and related factors contributing to one of the world’s most dramatic losses of water resources. Possible actions to minimize further deterioration are identified. Political support and incentives to use resources more sustainably are required to benefit fully from the recommendations.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Prof. Dr. G. Schlenker, Ina Bräunig, D. Windhorst

Prof. Dr. G. Schlenker, emeritus of the department of animal and environmental hygiene of the Veterinary Faculty of the Free University in Berlin, Dr. Ina Bräunig and D. Windhorst, Lohmann Animal Health GmbH & Co. KG, Cuxhaven, review water as the most important nutrient in poultry nutrition in their paper “Technological and health aspects of drinking water for broiler chickens”. The review is based on papers presented at a workshop of the Lohmann Animal Health division “Solutions” held in Cuxhaven, 20-21 October 2009 „Water supply in poultry farming – a key factor for health and performance“.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Icken, W., A. Maas, D. Cavero, R. Preisinger, M. Voß and T. Arnold

Attila von Hankó contributed an introduction to “Autogenous Vaccines” in the October 2009 issue of Lohmann Information. In this issue, Dr. Wiebke Icken and co-workers present first encouraging field results in their paper “Use of different autogenous vaccines in commercial layers to reduce E. coli infection”.

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Prof. Joachim von Braun

In his key note address at the World Congress on Genetics Applied to Animal Production, held in Leipzig, Germany, in early August, Prof. Joachim von Braun, University of Bonn, reviewed “The role of livestock production for a growing world population”. The rapidly increasing demand for animal products needs a strategy for the global livestock economy to serve world food security, applying innovative production technology adapted to changing consumer behavior, and a big push to enhance overall efficiency of livestock production.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

J.A.M. van Arendonk, B. Malmfors, E. Verrier, G. Thaller, J. Solkner, G. Klemetsdal, and D.E. Lont

The “big push” demanded by Prof. von Braun requires that young professionals get the best possible education. At the European Poultry Conference in Tours, France, a special session was dedicated to educational opportunities. Prof. Johan van Arendonk et al., Wageningen University, The Netherlands, called attention to a new program designed to acquire a “European Master in Animal Breeding and Genetics”, which may also be of interest to some of our readers.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Dr. Wiebke Icken, Prof. Rudolf Preisinger

In their attempts to improve the efficiency of poultry production, primary breeders keep looking beyond simple input-output relations. Can emissions from poultry houses be reduced by genetic selection? This question was investigated in a study by Dr. Wiebke Icken and Prof. Rudolf Preisinger, Lohmann Tierzucht: “Selection of laying hens for improved consistency of excreta”. The simple technique used requires single cage management to collect records from large numbers of fully pedigreed hens. The genetic parameters are encouraging.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

D. Cavero, M. Schmutz, Prof. Rudolf Preisinger

Dr. David Cavero et al., Lohmann Tierzucht, present estimates of genetic parameters from commercial white-egg and brown-egg populations in their paper “Genetic evaluation of pure-line and cross-line performance in layers” and discuss implications for practical breeding. These parameters are used to optimize breeding plans for adaptation to prevailing field conditions.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Nathalie Desloges, Ilka Schröder, Sarah Schwefer

Vaccination of chickens against Salmonella Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium has been used in Germany and other countries for several years and is considered as a major contribution to Biosecurity and food safety. In the paper by Dr. Nathalie Desloges et al., Lohmann Animal Health, “Development of a third generation vaccine to prevent Salmonella infections in commercial poultry flocks” the authors report test results with a new combined vaccine, which appears to be safe and efficacious after challenge infection with virulent strains of both serovars.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Tatjana Miller, Rita Prager, W. Rabsch, K. Fehlhaber, M. Voss

Unfortunately the risks of Salmonella infections are not limited to the two serovars S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium. Next on the list is S. Infantis, as explained in the paper by co-authors Dr. Tatjana Miller et al. from three German Research Centers: “Epidemiological relationship between S. Infantis isolates of human and broiler origin”. The authors suggest that successful control of S. Enteritidis and S. Typhimurium may lead to an epidemic increase of S. Infantis in broiler populations and advocate monitoring by routine application of a new phage typing scheme.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Prof. Hans-Wilhelm Windhorst

Prof. Hans-Wilhelm Windhorst, Institute for Spatial Planning in Areas of Intensive Agriculture (ISPA), reviews “Patterns and dynamics of egg production in sub-regions of Europe” during the past two decades. The results are of special interest in connection with the phasing out of conventional cages, demanded by EU regulations for all member States.

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Mahmoud Abdel Aziz

The “Present status of the world goat populations and their productivity” is reviewed in the final paper by Prof. Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. The significant increase of the global goat population reflects developments mainly in China and Africa, where goats play an important role for the livelihood of the rural population. Genetic programs to improve meat and milk yield are discussed in the context of adaptation to marginal environmental conditions.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Thomas C. Mettenleiter, Timm Harder, Elke Reinking

The reorganization of Federal Animal Research in Germany reinforces the focus on consumer protection and food safety. In the context of consumer demand for safe food from healthy animals, vaccination against viral diseases is of special interest. So it seemed logical to place the headquarters of all German Federal Animal Research Institutes in Riems, where Friedrich Loeffler and his colleague Paul Frosch became famous as founding fathers of virology. Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Thomas Mettenleiter, Prof. Dr. Timm Harder and Elke Reinking briefly report from the centennial under the title “100 Years Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut” and list recent publications on HPAI based on research activities of the FLI in Riems.

published in 45 / 2010 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)