LOHMANN SCHOOL Russia was successfully held in March of this year. The annual event, that took place in the capital city of Kazan in the Republic of Tatarstan, attracted more than 100 guests – most of whom were heads and specialists of our loyal poultry business partners in Russia and the C.I.S. States, delegates and members of the Agricultural Ministry as well as experts and scholars from “Rosptizessojuz“ and research institutes.

Welcome

Mr. Nasip Chasipow, Deputy Minister for the Agricultural Ministry of Tatarstan, warmly welcomed our guests with an update on the status for the region. Mr. Chasipow’s elaborate report on the dynamic development of agriculture was presented in an easy to understand manner and well received by the audience. The speaker also devoted a lot of time on a report about high rates of poultry farms in the region, the success of which largely depends on the land used, the service quality of the operation, and the organisation of the production.

“OOO Ak Bars”

Another partner invited to hold a speech at this year’s event was the large poultry farm of “Yaratelle”, a branch of “OOO Ak Bars”. The head of this large establishment, Mr. Rischat Chismatullin, made an excellent presentation of the company that underwent ‘rebranding’ lately. Mr. Chismatullin’s report consisted of much comparable and objective information on production numbers. The specialists at “Yaratelle” have been experimenting with several common breeds and hens for some time now and in the end, they made their final choice, our breeds.

LOHMANN – Traditional Overview and Future Aspects

Mr. Javier Ramírez, Managing Director (MD) of LOHMANN TIERZUCHT GMBH, took over the microphone from Mr. Chismatullin. His presentation included the traditional overview on the main trends in poultry breeding and innovations in technology that are being applied by LOHMANN TIERZUCHT (e.g. stopping the use of Formaldehyde for the disinfection of hatching eggs and using other safer disinfectants instead). The MD then went on to elaborate on the new production standards of LOHMANN’s hens and explained that these have not been calculated to the maximum possible value, but rather as average values as these are based on the actual conditions of the hens. He also encouraged the audience to communicate and exchange experiences on current programmes and online technologies.

“Rosptizessojuz“

The main breeding at “Rosptizessojuz“, Ms. Ljudmila Karpenko led a comparative analysis of the current situation in the country’s poultry industry. Ms. Karpenko highlighted that LOHMANN’s hens has the leading position with 41.7 % of the entire hen population in the country. Carrying on, she mentioned how important it is to form local breeding centres in order to guarantee an increase in effectiveness for the future of this business. The Regional Area Manager for the C.I.S. and Baltic States, Mr. Norbert Mischke, presented the construction of our first branch in Russia. The first deliveries of day­old chicks are expected to take place at the beginning of 2017. With this new development, we will now be in the position to deliver our customers with parent stock of high quality within a short and flexible period of time. Read more on this in the next issue of Poultry News.

LOHMANN – From Pure Lines to Layers

Dr. David Cavero illustrated LOHMANN TIERZUCHT’s breeding programme with his presentation “From pure lines to layers“, highlighting an extension of the laying period and the number of eggs. In the selection of pure lines, our geneticists take no lesser than 30 phenotypic and genotypic traits into consideration in order to obtain first class layers.

All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Poultry Ms. Tamara Okolelowa of the All­Russian Scientific Research Institute of Poultry, highlighted the importance of knowledgeable equalisation of rations and giving the right feed. She emphasised how important it is to pay special attention to the feed of young animals and the complexity of making corrections in this period. The professor made extensive recommendations and also reported on the prophylaxis of the birds infected by diseases that are associated with poor feeding.

LOHMANN Experts

Norbert Mischke continued with this topic and he also presented the administration of lighting programmes at the farms. This report led to lively discussions as lighting is a tool which is decisive for several activities – from regulating the beginning of production right up until combatting cannibalism.
LOHMANN’s company veterinarian, Yaroslav Bortyuk, delivered a speech on the diagnostics of bacterial and viral diseases, the advantages and defects of different diagnostic methods as well as the significance of data recording and careful analysis of each research result. He also covered topics on the occurrence of Infectious Colitis (cloacal infection) and prolapse.

“Chelyabinskaya“ & “Pyschminskaya“

Some of our other business partners were also invited to present their companies. The main zoo technician of the poultry farm “Chelyabinskaya“, Mr. Alexander Orlow, proudly presented the production figures they achieved recently. The specialist is convinced that it is necessary to correct the rations in order to maintain the best results, without having to save on qualitative raw materials. Ms. Anna Wolodina, the deputy of the main director for feed at “Pyschminskaya“, shared on how the company went without feed containing ingredients of animal origin including fishmeal. Certain risks exist with the components of such raw materials. These can include traces of synthetic and gene­modified substances. They only apply traditional methods that are regularly tested and verified from time to time.





The joint presentation on the use of probiotics in feed by Ms. Wolodina and our staff, Ms. Nina Kudrya, caught the undivided attention of the audience. Ms. Wolodina shared the positive experiences “Pyschminskaya“ has had with the utilisation of this compound. Ms. Kudrya focused more on how microorganisms work and the food of their life activity in the organism of the hens. She also had a generous review of corresponding literature in which the classes of bacteria and/or which type of compounds should be used in order to obtain the maximum results in poultry breeding. Ms. Kudrya came across conflicting data and strongly advised the audience to be selective when choosing a supplier and to orientate themselves based on the experiences of colleagues. Also it is important to perform tests/experiments on a small group of hens.

LOHMANN Sales and Technical Service

Reverting back to current problems like cannibalism, LOHMANN’s Sales and Technical Service representative for the C.I.S. states, Mr. Pavel Bogatkin, stated that the basic cause for this problem in an increased number of hens in the cage. He used schematic examples to illustrate the same. Mr. Bogatkin also listed results from practical experiences on how productivity and the quality of the egg can be improved with the right type of housing. Mr. Mischke complemented this by describing how important beak trimming is to prevent this. There are no official regulations on these processes in the Russian Federation whereas beak trimming in most European countries is strictly prohibited. In line with this, the geneticists at LOHMANN are already working on an optimal length and beak form for the pedigree breeds.



The lecture programme of the seminar was brought to a close with a final presentation held by the youngest employee in the Russian export department, Mr. Ilshat Ismagilov. His slides showed an analysis of the production numbers that were obtained from our customers. This was compiled based on the rating of economies. The best of these farms received presents that are useful for the breeding of poultry. The remaining partners were presented with a memorable souvenir for their active participation in this competition.

Culture – a LOHMANN SCHOOL Must

A mesmerising tour of the oldest Russian city of Kazan rounded off the event. Guests were treated to a visit of the famous mosque, ‘Qol Sharif’ as well as the ‘Cathedral of the Annunciation’ followed by a stroll through the Kazan Kremlin. A trip to the unique Raifa Bogoroditsky Monastery left behind an unforgettable and lasting impression.

Positive Feedback

We received lots of positive feedback concerning the organisation of the LOHMANN SCHOOL. The participants expressed the necessity of holding similar seminars based on the most current issues. With such seminars, the participants also have the opportunity to exchange experiences with fellow colleagues from other businesses. An official media report of this event can be found on pages 6 – 10 of the magazine ‘Zhivotnovodstvo Rossii’ (May 2016). There is also a video recording of the event including interviews with the participants. This can be found on our homepage http://www.ltz. de/news. We would like to thank our partners for their participation and are already eagerly looking forward to next year’s event!

Ilshat Ismagilov