1909 – the poultry department was established at College Farm (HAU)
1926 – The National Institute of Poultry Husbandry (NIPH) was founded, awarding the National Diploma in Poultry Husbandry for over 40 years
1912 – egg laying experiments started on the farm
1970’s – There was an evident national separation forming between the commercial poultry enterprises and the demonstration and research units
1960’s – Major upgrades were performed on the poultry department
1971 – The responsibility of financing poultry research transferred to Harper Adams following the demise of the BEMB
1980’s – Due to the separation in the 1970’s, the Harper Adams poultry unit decided to mostly operate commercial egg production facilities
2007 – The Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 introduced legislation to enhance the welfare of hens in conventional cages and the subsequent banning of unenriched cage systems in 2012.
2000 – The poultry unit facility peaked at 85,000 laying hens
2011 – Oaklands were operating a 72,000-bird enriched colony cage system and had converted the small free-range layer facility present at HAUC into a barn system, supporting undergraduate poultry teaching by providing easy access to commercial scale chicken egg production across multiple production systems.
2010 – HAU began renting the commercial egg production facilities to Oaklands Farm Eggs LTD (Oaklands)
2022 – As of June 2022, Future Farm is now responsible for the poultry facility and providing technical support
2019 – Commercial egg production at HAU ceased as a result of the COVID pandemic
Harper Adams University began providing taught postgraduate courses (PgC/PgD/MSc) from 2013 in Poultry Business Management and from 2015 awards (PgC, PgD, MSc and MRes) in Poultry Production. However, support for these awards were withdrawn by HAU in 2018 and the last of the MSc Poultry Production student was awarded in 2021.
As of today, poultry teaching and research is conducted in one housing unit, which has the ability to house around 3,000 birds/year. The unit is comprised of a series of buildings including laying hens (120 enriched cages, housing approximately 900 hens) and broiler chickens (with a small provision for turkeys and other minor species as required). Flocks are only purchased to meet research contracts, as the unit currently has no commercial production. However, we do have some surrounding buildings by the active unit that could be refurbished to allow for commercial egg production.
The global poultry industry faces both common and localised threats and opportunities. Research is required to understand and develop solutions to Avian Influenza on a global scale, to continually improve feed efficiency, poultry genetics and feed materials to mitigate the environmental concerns relating to deforestation and carbon capture.
There continues to be worldwide societal concern with foodborne pathogens, antimicrobial resistance and bird welfare, however, there is also an ongoing demand for poultry products every year. HAU has over 100 years of poultry expertise and is well established to provide trusted and independent research, teaching and knowledge exchange which is recognised as internationally excellent.
If you would like to know more about the poultry unit or have a query about conducting some research with us, please use our contact page to get in touch.
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