Dr. Christian Plath

Lohmann Animal Health GmbH, a subsidiary of the PHW Group, has agreed to leave the responsibility for publishing Lohmann Information exclusively to Lohmann Tierzucht GmbH, a subsidiary of the EW Group. During the first 40 years, the focus of this publication was on animal and poultry nutrition, with editors Dr. Gramatzki, Dr. Küther and Dr. Maria Seemann. Dr. Christian Plath, Director Corporate Development in the recently formed holding Lohmann SE, presents the current focus of the company: "A company Profile of Lohmann Animal Health".

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Fries

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Fries, Meat Hygiene Institute, Veterinary Faculty of the Free University Berlin, gives a short summary of papers recently presented at a two-day symposium in Berlin with focus on the question “Wellbeing of Food Animals and Current Keeping Techniques: what is acceptable and what goes beyond acceptability?”. Proceedings with all papers will be published later this year (in German).

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Karl-Heinz Friebe

Pastor Karl-Heinz Friebe received special attention at this symposium with his presentation “A Christian View on Intensive Animal Farming: Position of the Lutheran Church”. We include a translation of his paper in full length and would welcome future contributions from other authors representing other religious groups.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Donald Bell

Donald Bell, poultry extension specialist at the University of California, presents results of his analysis of extensive field records: “Experiences with Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL- Lite) Layers: Feed Consumption and Conversion”. The emphasis is on non-genetic sources of variation which should be controlled by farm management to achieve optimal economic results.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Dr. Hans-Heinrich Thiele

Dr. Hans-Heinrich Thiele, responsible for keeping management guides for all strains of Lohmann Tierzucht updated, reviews latest recommendations for managing pullets and laying hens to utilize their high genetic potential, with special attention to egg weight: “Management tools to influence egg weight in commercial layers”.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Dr. Abd El-Wahab

Dr. Abd El-Wahab recently completed his doctoral thesis at the Foundation Veterinary Faculty of the University Hannover. The paper “Investigations on diet composition, litter quality and experimantal infection on the severity of foot pad dermatitis in young turkeys housed with or without floor heating” is co-authored by six colleagues at five institutes who co-operated in a series of four experiments.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Magnus Swalander

Mr. Magnus Swalander, Director of Global Genetics, Aviagen Turkeys, recently reviewed the breeding program of his company at the 6th Symposium of Working Group 10 (Turkey) of the WPSA. The Proceedings of this meeting were edited and published by Prof. Hafez, who kindly allowed us to reproduce it in this issue under the title “Balanced Breeding of Turkeys for Health and Welfare Traits”. Welfare traits have been receiving increasing attention in modern selection programs, but need to be supported by optimized management to answer concerns of welfare.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Dr. Hanfried Haring

Dr. Hanfried Haring, former CEO and General Secretary of the German Equestrian Federation and President European Equestrian Federation, provides insight into a different world, involving a species which is seldom used as a source of meat and lost its traditional role as draft animal in agriculture and transportation: “The changing role of horses in our society” is focused on business aspects of top sports, but the vast majority of horses is kept by amateurs who have to understand the needs of the animals to enjoy their hobby.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Prof. Dr. Rudolf Preisinger

Primary breeders have to look beyond current demand, to anticipate and respond to changing markets. Prof. Dr. Rudolf Preisinger, managing director of Lohmann Tierzucht GmbH, shows how increasing emphasis on poultry welfare in Europe affects data recording and practical breeding, but concludes in his article “Layer breeding in the light of future requirements” that the focus will remain on efficient egg production in a growing and increasingly divers global market.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Robert Pottgüter ,Dr. Matthias Schmutz

To meet the growing demand for “organic” eggs in Germany and other countries, egg producers have to reduce feed cost while observing the limitations for organic feed formulation. Robert Pottgüter and Dr. Matthias Schmutz, Lohmann Tierzucht GmbH, offer professional advice: “Organic egg production – how nutritionists and primary breeders can help producers to achieve better results”.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Dr. Klaus Damme, Mrs. Ingrid Simon, Dietmar K. Flock

Results described by Dr. Klaus Damme, Kitzingen, Mrs. Ingrid Simon, Münster, and Dietmar K. Flock, Lohmann Tierzucht, in their article “Analysis of German Random Sample Tests 2010/11 with floor management and enriched cages” suggest that the adaptability reflects genetic differences between strains, which may also be altered by selection. The LB experimental entry in these tests was in fact the new strain cross “Lohmann Brown PLUS”, developed for organic egg production.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Dr. David Cavero

To maximize egg income over feed cost under any production conditions, eggs must have a strong and attractive shell, especially if sold as shell eggs. Geneticist Dr. David Cavero et al., Lohmann Tierzucht, review the subject of “Attractive Eggshell Color as a Breeding Goal” and present the shininess of eggs as a new candidate trait for further improvements.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Donald Bell

Livability of laying hens in modern production systems has been improved over the years with the use of better diagnostic tools, prevention programs and management, but considerable variation remains. Donald Bell, poultry extension specialist at the University of California, reviews causes of mortality and illustrates the range of results with a single strain of layers: “Experiences with Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL- Lite) Layers - Part 3: Livability”.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Donald Bell

In the final part of this series, Donald Bell uses field data from 74 LSL Lite flocks in the USA to show how a program developed at the University of California can be used to compare the profitability of different flocks in terms of an Index, which includes all major traits: “Experiences with Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL- Lite) Layers - Part 4: Economic Evaluation of Flock Performance”. Readers interested in using the indexing software may contact the author to get tables 4A and 4B as excel files, which should enable them to modify the input data for their own modelling.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Dr. A.C. Springorum, Prof. Dr. Jörg Hartung

Differences in the air quality are often seen between housing systems. In their report “Airborne moulds, dust and endotoxins in four alternative housing systems for laying hens”, authors Dr. A.C. Springorum and Prof. Dr. Jörg Hartung, Veterinary Faculty of the University Hannover, report results from a recent project and quantify the statistically significant differences.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)

Prof. Dr. Halis Oguz

8. Poultry nutritionists around the world are challenged to design rations for specific groups of poultry on the basis of the “needs” for maintenance, growth and egg production, taking the availability and price of components into consideration. Special attention has to be paid to the quality of components, e.g. in terms of toxic loads. Prof. Dr. Halis Oguz, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey, updated the literature on possibilities to reduce the negative efects of aflatoxins in his paper “Detoxification of aflatoxin in poultry feed: a review from experimental trials”.

published in 47 / 2012 (ISSN-number: 1617-2906)