History of Working Group 10
The exact history of the Working group 10 (WG 10) is really not known to me. In 1999, I was asked by Piet Simons, if I was willing to revive the activity of the WG10. At that time, we had organized several International Symposia on Turkey Diseases in Berlin, so my answer was yes.
From 2000 until now, the WG 10 has held 9 scientific symposiums on a regular basis in Berlin, Germany.
The 1st symposium with the title ‘Turkey production in Europe in the New Millennium’ was held from 23rd - 25th in November 2000 with 22 oral presentations and attracted 103 delegates from 15 European countries, in addition some participants from Canada.
ISBN 3-8001-3850-6. 2001 Verlag Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co.
The 2nd symposium with title ‘Turkey production: Balance act between consumer protection, animal welfare and economic aspects’ held between 27th February to 1st March 2003 with 27 oral presentations and attracted 187 participants from 22 countries. Since then the meeting got an international character and attracted colleagues from several countries around the world. ISBN: 3-8001-4630-4. 2003 Verlag Eugen Ulmer GmbH & Co.
The 3rd symposium with the title ‘Turkey production: Prospects on future developments’ held between 9th to 11th June 2005 with 39 oral presentations and attracted 176 participants from 27 countries. ISBN 3-89820-993-8
The 4th symposium with the title ‘Turkey production: Current changes’ held between 21st to 23rd June 2007 with 40 oral presentations and attended by 171 of participants from 24 countries. ISBN-10: 3-86664-356-X - ISBN-13: 978-3-86664-356-7. mbv 2007 mbv, 13156 Berlin
The 5th symposium with title ‘Turkey production: Toward better Welfare and Health’ held between 28th to 30th May 2009 with 40 oral presentations and attended by 191 of participants from 21 countries. ISBN 978-3-8664-701-5. Institute of Poultry Diseases, Free University Berlin
The 6th symposium with the title ‘Turkey Production and Health: An update’ was held between 16th to 18th June 2011 with 41 oral presentations and attracted 191 scientists and experts from 24 countries. ISBN: 978-3-86387-094-2. Institute of Poultry Diseases, Free University Berlin
The 7th symposium with the title ‘Continuous Improvement of Turkey Production and Health: Never-ending Story’ was held between May 30th to June 1st 2013 with 39 oral presentations and participate by 137 scientists and experts from 21 countries.
ISBN: 978-3-86387-400-1. Institute of Poultry Diseases, Free University Berlin
The 8th symposium with the title ‘Turkey Production and Health: Current and future perspectives’ was held between 28th to 30th May 2015 with 34 oral presentations and participate from 142 scientists and experts from 21 countries. ISBN: 978-3-86387-692-0. Institute of Poultry Diseases, Free University Berlin.
The 9th symposium with the title ‘Turkey Production and Health: Challenges and opportunities’ was held between 18th to 20th May 2017. At the symposium, 29 oral presentations were held and 92 scientists and experts from 19 countries attended the symposium. ISBN: 978-3-86387-785-9. Institute of Poultry Diseases, Free University Berlin
In each symposium well known keynote speakers from several countries around the world were invited beside several oral presentations chosen from submitted papers were included. Neither parallel nor poster sessions were included.
In total over the last 19 years, 221 papers were published in 9 proceeding books with 2186 pages.
The papers covered the history, development and current situation of the turkey industry, aspects of nutrition, turkey health, diseases, management, genetics, legislation related to turkey production and welfare. These papers provided useful economic and commercial details for anyone tracking the changes in turkey production.
Although, or perhaps especially because, the turkey business and research on turkey production and health are very small compared to chicken, it is important for poultry minor species like turkey to have such a symposium dealing only with turkey production and health. The number of participants is steady over the years and ranged between 93 and 191 delegates from 16 to 27 countries, with slightly decrease in 2017, however, the symposium and the activity of the Working group 10 of the WPSA seem to be important for everybody involved in turkey production chain.
The 10th symposium with the title ‘Turkey Production and Health’ will be held from 6th to 8th June 2019 in Berlin.
We hope to see you in Berlin soon.
Prof. Dr. H.M. Hafez
Chairman of the Working Group 10
E-mail:
The name of the group was the Incubation Research Group (IRG) up to 1995 when it was decided to expand the remit of the group to include fertility and so the name was changed to the Incubation and Fertility Research Group (IFRG). In 1998, an association was made between the World's Poultry Science Association when the IFRG adopted the European Branches' Working Group 6 - Reproduction.
In 2023 the name of WG 6 changed to Incubation and Fertility
The Chairs of Working Group 6 – Incubation and Fertility have been:
- 1998-2009
- Dr Glenn Baggott
- 2009-2012
- Dr Nick French
- 2012-2020
- Marleen Boerjan
- 2020-
- Ampay Nangsuay
Each annual meeting has had a local organizer. Meeting dates, locations and organizers are given below.
Year |
Location |
Organizer |
1998 |
University of Warwick, UK 15-16 September |
Glenn Baggott |
1999 |
Vinci Conference Centre, Tours, France 21 September |
Jean-Pierre Brillard |
2000 |
St Edmund's Hall, University of Oxford, UK 11-12 September |
Charles Deeming |
2001 |
St Edmund's Hall, University of Oxford, UK 17-18 September |
Charles Deeming |
2002 |
St Edmund's Hall, University of Oxford, UK 12-13 September |
Charles Deeming |
2003 |
University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK 4-5 September |
Charles Deeming |
2004 |
University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK 6-7 September |
Charles Deeming |
2005 |
University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK 6-7 September |
Charles Deeming |
2006 |
University of Lincoln, Lincoln, UK 7-8 September |
Charles Deeming |
2007 |
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK 24-25 July |
Victoria Maltby |
2008 |
Moorfields Hospital, London, UK 3-4 September |
Victoria Maltby |
2009 |
University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK 7-8 July |
Victoria Hurst |
2010 |
Tours, France 23 August |
Nick French |
2011 |
Ede, The Netherlands 30-31 August |
Nick French |
2012 |
Pisa, Italy 13-15 June |
Margherita Marzoni and Annelisse Castillo |
2013 |
Gottingen, Germany 30 September - 1 October |
Marleen Boerjan |
2014 |
Lunteren, The Netherlands 29-30 September |
Marleen Boerjan |
2015 |
Berlin, Germany 1-4 September 2015 Combined with Working Group 12 |
Marleen Boerjan (WG 6) Shlomo Yahav (WG12) |
2016 |
Brugge, Belgium 4-6 December 2016
|
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2017 |
Wageningen, The Netherlands 30 August - 1 September 2017 Combined with Working Group 12 |
|
2018 |
Edinburgh, Scotland 4-5 October 2018 |
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2019 |
Tours, France 28-30 August 2019 Combined with Working Group 12 |
|
2021 |
Leiden, The Netherlands (Virtual meeting) 14-15 October 2021
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Further details of Working Group 6 can be obtained from the website www.ifrg.be or by contacting the current Chairman:
Mrs Ampai Nangsuay (Thailand)
E-mail: