Canadian Poultry Magazine

New research chair in poultry welfare

By Egg Farmers of Canada   

Features Business & Policy Marketing Boards chair in poultry welfare Egg Farmers of Canada Poultry Research Tina Widowski University of Guelph

May 12, 2011 – Egg Farmers of Canada (EFC) today announced that University of Guelph professor Tina Widowski has been named as the new Egg Farmers of Canada Chair in Poultry Welfare.

Professor Widowski is based in the Ontario Agricultural College’s (OAC) Department of Animal and Poultry Science and she leads North America’s largest group of animal welfare scientists as Director of the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare. In her new role, Professor Widowski will collaborate with researchers on laying hen welfare and egg production, including enriched and aviary systems.

EFC is confident this new seven-year partnership will bring enormous benefits to both the University of Guelph and the Canadian egg industry. For the University, the Chair expands and complements the highly regarded research being done in food and animal welfare. Egg farmers will benefit from the creation of a critical mass of young, well-educated professionals with knowledge of poultry welfare that may become part of the next generation of industry leaders and technical experts.

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“This support from Egg Farmers of Canada greatly enhances our leadership and expertise in the field,” said Robert Gordon, Dean of OAC. “In turn, it will help create research opportunities and breakthroughs, support the future leadership in our industry and provide valuable information for producers.”

“Egg Farmers of Canada is very pleased to be teaming up with Tina Widowski, an outstanding researcher we’ve had a chance to work with in recent years,” added EFC Chair Peter Clarke. “We need the brightest minds in our academic institutions to guide our industry forward, which is why we’re delighted to partner with the University of Guelph on poultry welfare research.”

The creation of the Egg Farmers of Canada Chair in Poultry Welfare is made possible thanks to a contribution by EFC. The agreement came into effect in March 2011 and runs through January 2017.

Professor Widowski was appointed to a faculty position in the Department of Animal and Poultry Science in 1990. As director of the Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare at the University of Guelph, her research focuses on housing and management practices and their affect on the physiology, behavior and welfare of poultry and swine. The Campbell Centre is the first research centre of its kind in North America and second of its kind in the world.


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