What a delightful time of challenge, fellowship, education, and communication! I think there was not one speaker who we did not learn from, in either the practical matters of daily management, or in the philosophical matters of the place of our hobby in the world perspective.
From the responses, the interaction, the questioning, and the debate, I think I can say we would have liked to spend a day or two with each speaker, as we saw the wide world of the poultry industry in all its forms opened up to us. I think we all came away with a new respect for the significance and importance of our breeds and the weight of responsibility our hobby has placed upon us as custodians of the future.
I am collating all the presentations for all speakers, and trying to work out how to copy the video from the camera. As soon as I have all the material together we will work out the best way to circulate it all.
I must however report that several of the recordings were cut short and the presentation of Prof Glisson was not recorded at all, and I can't quite work out why. We are going to need to have a professional collation of the video, it seems my inexperience has the program in a format which must be converted before it can play on ordinary DVD players. It may end up costing to do this.
A SUMMARY OF THE PROCEEDINGS
At 9.30 we were joined by Irene Hoffmann from The FAO of the United Nations and is based in Rome. Irene has worked on the Genetic Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources. This plan was discussed at the International Conference of Animal Genetic resources in Interlaken Switzerland in 2007. The core idea that Irene communicated to us was the idea we are have a responsiblity to play a part in the documentation and preservation of the gene pool in our hands.
At 11.00am we were visited by Chris Bunn and Alain East from Daff to discuss the operation of the biosecurity rules which are part of the exotic diseases response plan. If there was a single feature that distinguished this discussion, it was the response of Chris Bunn to a request for assistance in development of biosecurity plans. "Who is the Australian representative of the pure breeders with whom I should work" Basically, they cannot work with a lot of different groups. So the challenge is to us, to provide the single point of contact, so we can speak with one voice.
At 12 Noon we decamped to the main hall to listed to the presentation by Francette Dusan on the biosecurity of poultry shows. This caused a range of different discussions, and emotions. However we agreed there was some wakeup calls for exhibitions and sales of poultry in her presentation.
After Lunch Professor John Glisson from the USA graciously introduced us to the complexity for mycoplasma in multi age breeder flocks, and outlined various methods of control. Apart from the strength of his character and depth of his knowledge, John impressed us with his ability to communicate difficult concepts in such a simple way. I am disappointed we do not have his words recorded, but the printed words and the power point presentation will be added to the proceedings. The core important point, "we will never eradicate mycoplasma from our flocks, but we can develop long term control programs. These programs require a long term commitment".
At 2.30pm Badi Besbes from FAO in Rome, spoke on some ways of evaluating the value of the gene pool by examination of the phenotypes (what the birds look like) and showed us data about genetic diversity across the world. Core thought, the great number of different breeds (as defined by specific local characteristics) which are endangered. 1640 different population groups, 30% endangered, 40% unknown status.
At 4.00 We spent time with Aziz Sacrani, a technical specialist in management of breeder flocks from Canada. The specific brief was a discussion on gut health, and many were surprised to discover the first week essential to proper growth of the bird through out life. The key point was the different parts of gut development and the different nutrients involved.
Over dinner in the evening, there many discussions regarding the future of pure breeds in Australia, resulting in the development of the declaration discussed below.
Friday morning commenced with Chris Morrow challenging us with coccidiosis and its effect on gut health and the effect on gene expression. This session was not fully recorded due to late arrival of the camera.However the Power point presentation is included in the proceedings.
Michelle Tixier-Boichard from France then spoke with us about specifics of genes which cause specific colours and the way they interact. During the two sessions , the power supply of Michelle's computer failed so we were unable to continue her power point presentation, and reverted to the backup whiteboard. A delightful time of examining the interaction of colour genes, and I am sure we could spend a week with her, reasoning through the specifics of our own breeds.
At 11.45 Stefan Weigal from Germany spoke about genetic diversity and methods of preservation. Unfortunately we ran out of time for a full discussion of the conservation programs with fanciers in Germany.
Lunch was cut short so we could have a time of discussion with Francette Dusan about her research into disease amongst Agricultural shows. I think Francette was surprised by the depth of feeling the research methods had stirred up.
Michael Sommerlad followed with a presentation on control of Coccidiosis, round worm and red mite with non chemical methods. A challenge to consider different ways to control these old enemies.
Lastly, I finished with a presentation of Incubation, and suddenly our time together was over.
The last challenge to me from the floor was "when are we going to do it again". Unfortunately this is the last World's Congress we are ever likely to see in Australia, and in the future it will be much more expensive to get this calibre of speaker available to us at such a low cost.
However, perhaps we need to look at ways of getting access to this calibre of speaker again. I have written to all the speakers asking them to inform us if they plan to be in Australia again, and if they would be available for similar workshops with pure breeds people.
The general discussion of the meeting and the specific discussions of the future lead to the idea we should formulate a common declaration resulting from our time together. I have drafted a proposed declaration on the next page, for your thought, comment, and if you agree, a signature. I would expect to circulate the final list of signatories widely to clubs, web sites, and to all the speakers who so graciously contributed to our program.
The immediate issue discussed was the need for a national single body with the specific responsibility for two issues.
1/ Representation and communication with the government regarding the reasonable operation of the various biosecurity issues of non commercial domestic poultry.
2/ The obligations of government regarding The Interlaken Declaration on the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources.
I am most pleased to have been of service to the XXIII World's Poultry Congress 2008 and to you as the delegates to the Pure Breeds Program. My thanks to all the volunteer committee members for their assistance and advice, to the Sponsors, Ridley Agribusiness, Bioproperties, VetaFarm, Australasian Poultry, Bellsouth and several anonymous persons who provided funds to allow 15 of the 45 delegates to attend.
James Finger