FARM VISIT ▶▶▶
On-farm trials and more ensure success
BY TREENA HEIN S
ynergy won this year for the highest average chick number per hen housed and the best ‘Cobb500’ FF flock based on chicks per hen housed. The company differs from other operations in that it’s vertically-in-
tegrated and also owned by an umbrella co-operative called Innovative Poultry. Synergy encompasses the feed mill and the broiler-breeder operation, while the adjoining hatchery is called Maritime Chicks. “The most important thing our com- pany has is the really good people who work for us,” says Gary McAleer, who has been Synergy’s vice president of operations for 14 years. “You can have the best facilities in the world but if don’t have good people, you can’t perform at a high level.”
Vegetable feed A large part of the reason why Synergy is still achieving awards for high average chick production and best-perform- ing flocks is its on-farm broiler research trials which started a few years ago. McAleer says he and his team had always wanted to do trials, as the results show without any doubt what needs to be changed or not changed in terms of current production practices. “We’ve done 11 trials so far and I don’t think we’ll ever be done because genetics are always chang- ing,” McAleer explains. “We will always be making sure we’re on the right path. From our trials, we’ve made changes in the lighting programme and temperature profile to maximise weight at seven days. But most of our trials have been focused on feed.” Indeed, the results from Synergy’s feed trials have definitively convinced McAleer and his team that a plant-based diet is best. Synergy had always used feed with animal-based ingre- dients (processed meat, bone meal, tallow) but these materi- als were not always consistent in terms of their nutritional properties. After three trials comparing their long-established feed containing animal-based ingredients with a highly-con- sistent all-vegetable feed, the difference in performance could not have been any clearer. Synergy has now been using an all-vegetable feed for breeders for three years. Synergy also has a broiler trial facility to ensure its broilers perform well – and to ensure they are feeding the least amount possible. “There’s only so much grain in Nova Scotia,” says McAleer. “We buy from whoever is growing grain in the
For four years in a row the Synergy Agri Group in Port Williams, Nova Scotia, Canada, has captured a ‘Flock Award’ from Cobb. The global US-based broiler genetics firm started its awards programme in 2004 and this year, with these awards, recognised four facilities in Canada as top-performing companies from the North/Central America region.
province, including grain from my farm but when we run out of local grain we have to ship it in from Quebec or Ontario which is very costly. Some years we hardly need anything from out of province. It’s different every year and there have been years where we’ve bought 10-90% out of province. It depends on grain quality, yield and competition from other feed mills. Last year, the corn quality from 2019 was so poor, plus we also had a drought and a hurricane in Nova Scotia, so we had to buy all our grain corn from the US. So, feed conver- sion is a major focus in our trials and Cobb has been involved with these trials as well.”
Maritime Chicks Synergy produces 7 million chicks a year to supply its own 44 broiler barns, as well as other customers all over Nova
Results from Synergy’s extensive feed trials have definitively convinced McAleer and his team that a plant-based diet is best to achieve top results in the breeder and broiler house.
▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 10, 2021 45
PHOTO: SYNERGY
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