Masters Degrees in Poultry Keeping

PgC/Mres

The poultry meat and egg sectors continue to show a consistent growth across all continents, with greater levels of expansion in developing regions of the world. Poultry meat production exceeded 100 milion tons in 2013 with broiler production accounting for all but 10 per cent of this production. With the anticipated expansion in world human population of 9.3 billion primarily in developing countries the demand four poultry meat is expected to continue into the future with India and China representing particularly large markets. Egg production is also expected to continue its expansion. Poultry is a major consumer of animal feed grain, with 40% of the total being used by poultry. There will be competing demands for this feed, which the poultry sector will need to respond to. 

The UK poultry industry is characterised by a small number of large integrated companies a position increasingly mirrored on a global scale. Whilst there is a clear opportunity for growth there are a number of known challenges including feed price volatility in the short to medium term, the increased competition for raw materials in the longer term, poultry health, human health related issues (e.g. Campylobacter), concerns over antibiotic use.

The global poultry sector is particularly well placed to address the needs for increasing quantities of animal derived protein, this programme will provide the platform for students to address these and other emerging issues through focused and tailored assignments allowing students to plot their own pathway of learning.

The programme will serve to offer a portfolio of multidisciplinary topics within a selection of specialised integrative modules to advance students’ understanding of the relevant biosciences underpinning poultry farming. This will be presented within a theme of mono-gastric animal production where there are many similarities of principle and scientific approaches. 

the course:

• Supports students to develop a level of understanding and knowledge that allows them to work as subject specialists and lead developments within poultry production systems.
• Supports students to evaluate the wider consequences of animal production systems, mitigating any detrimental effects on animal welfare, food quality and the natural environment.
• Supports students in their development of an advanced understanding of the biological factors that limit animal production and the scientific, technological, economic and social factors that influence animal production systems.

How will it benefit me?

The course will:

• Prepare students for a career in Poultry Production.
• Offer vocational training in the area of applied Poultry Production.
• Prepare students for PhD studies.

Learning about postgraduate funding

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The programme offers a unique research-led opportunity to study the different aspects of applied poultry science and aims to equip current and future professionals with skills, knowledge and understanding to address local and global challenges in sustainable poultry production It is designed to suit those in continuing employment or with other commitments.

Participants typically come from a wide range of backgrounds, including nutritionists, breeders, vets and other poultry sector workers, all of whom wish to develop their career and businesses.

It is offered by part-time, distance learning and is a fully flexible mix of technical, scientific, nutritional, and environmental and management-skills development modules so you can fit your studies in and around your work and other commitments. Its delivered largely by poultry specialists from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), and St David’s Poultry Team (veterinary surgeons).

The MSc programme can completed over three-years, or up to 6 years if done intermittently. Each academic year consists of three teaching blocks, each running over a period of 11 weeks.

Year 1

Three core 20 credit courses. Students successfully completing Year 1 and exiting the programme will be awarded a PG Certificate (60 credits).

• Poultry Housing & Environment
• Poultry Anatomy & Health
• Poultry Feed, Nutrition & Digestion

Year 2

Students successfully completing Year 1 and 2 and exiting the programme will be awarded a PG Diploma (120 credits). In Year 2 40 credits are core and 20 are electives.

Core courses:

• Poultry Behaviour & Welfare in Commercial Systems (20 credits)
• Poultry Embryology & Incubation (10 credits)
• Poultry Breeding & Genetics (10 credits)

Elective (option) courses:

• Research Methods & Data Analysis (APS) (10 credits) – compulsory for progression to year 3
• Poultry Business Management (10 credits)
• Leadership Skills (10 credits)
• Other electives from suitable courses (10 or 20 credits)

Year 3

Dissertation Year (September – June). Year 3 will consist of the final dissertation to attain the award of an MSc Degree in Applied Poultry Science.

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In the absence of subsidy, the EU poultry sector relies on highly efficient production systems, with successful companies often using sophisticated technologies. This is reflected in the integrated structure of most poultry companies and the number of graduates and postgraduates employed by them.

Many companies have responded to the pressure on financial margins by setting up operations world wide. There continues to be a good demand for suitably trained graduate and postgraduate level entrants into the sector.

The skills and knowledge delivered by the Applied Poultry Science programme are highly relevant to companies using intensive methods of production and those responding to retailer demand for extensive systems. This enables both new entrants and existing employees wishing to build on their expertise and aspirations, to enhance their career opportunities within the poultry sector.

The Applied Poultry Science course is offered on a part-time distance learning basis.

It is designed to suit those in continuing employment or with other commitments. Participants come from a wide range of backgrounds, including nutritionists, breeders, vets and other poultry sector workers, all of whom wish to develop their career and businesses.

Specific course objectives are to provide graduates with:
- A sound knowledge of the underlying science of poultry production.
- A good understanding of the issues underpinning poultry production systems.
- A wide range of specialist skills appropriate to poultry science professionals.
- The ability to critically evaluate developments in poultry science, including nutritional, genetic,
- Welfare, quality assurance and environmental issues.
- The ability to produce professional level recommendations and reports.
- Research skills.

The MSc Applied Poultry Science degree is awarded by the University of Glasgow.

Course Content

The programme is a mix of technical, scientific, environmental and management skills development modules. It is taught largely by staff from the SRUC Avian Science Research Centre who are involved in poultry research studies on a daily basis and who aim to provide up to the minute, highly relevant knowledge transfer into the Applied Poultry Science programme.

The Avian Science Research Centre has a full range of facilities for those wishing to study or carry out research with SRUC ranging from a hatchery to a processing plant and a good range of different poultry production systems.

Poultry Production Systems

This module studies the poultry meat and poultry egg industry in terms of its structure and sectors including intensive and non-intensive systems. It includes global export and import markets for the major poultry meat and egg products and evaluates their quality assurance systems. It will examine the requirements for optimal performance within the various systems and investigate factors affecting performance.

Poultry Nutrition and Growth

Poultry nutrition and growth examines the principles of poultry nutrition, particularly the importance of different nutrients in terms of growth and production and how they are processed in the avian body. It includes a study of the major anatomical and physiological systems in poultry and describes the role of nutrition in poultry health in different production environments, with particular regard to nutrient deficiencies. The partitioning of energy and nutrients into the growth and development of the whole body and different components of the body will also be examined, as will methods of describing different growth patterns.

Incubation and Hatchery Practice

This module develops knowledge and an understanding of the science and technology that underpins the production of day-old stock. Students study embryo-genesis in poultry and how this is exploited by the poultry sector to maximise the production of viable hatchlings. At the conclusion of the module students will be able to critically evaluate poultry hatchery practices, where appropriate, from an international prospective.

Housing and the Environment

Large scale poultry production seeks to manage the birds’ environment to optimise the competing demands of welfare, productivity, quality and environmental protection in an economically viable way. Recognising the impacts of different housing alternatives, the relationship to environmental emissions, and the sustainability of systems are therefore essential skills for those engaged in the industry that this module addresses. The approach will initially be one of directed study in order that the full range of issues are covered; but later in the module, students will be asked to do a case study on a real poultry enterprise with the coursework being centred on the completion of the IPPC application form for an intensive poultry enterprise. Even though some students may not be familiar with large scale poultry enterprises, the structured approach required to carry out the IPPC assessment process, and the wealth of information available in the relevant technical document will give a sound basis for understanding the range of housing and environmental issues involved.

Poultry Behaviour and Welfare

This module explains the general principles of poultry behaviour and welfare and studies sensory perception, motivation and learning in poultry. It evaluates the behavioural and physiological indicators that are used to assess welfare in given circumstances. It examines current practice with respect to welfare and current welfare legislation.

Poultry Health and Hygiene

A range of different infectious and non-infectious diseases will be covered in depth, mostly affecting chickens and turkeys but with specific sessions on diseases of game birds and diseases of pigeons. The importance of notifiable diseases such as Newcastle Disease and highly pathogenic avian influenza will be emphasised, and the significance of other potentially zoonotic organisms such as Salmonella, Campylobacter, Chlamydophila Psittaci and West Nile Virus will be discussed.

Advanced Poultry Nutrition

Advanced poultry nutrition builds on the poultry nutrition and growth module and examines theoretical and practical poultry nutrition in greater depth. It links current nutritional theories, (eg. amino acid balance and requirements or the anti-nutrient and toxic properties of feedstuffs) with methods of alleviation. These are integrated with classical nutrition-balance studies and proximate analyses, exposing students to all aspects of a nutritional study. It also involves a detailed study of nutrition with respect to bird growth and health and the environmental constraints imposed on the system.

Experimental Design

This module aims to develop statistical skills to aid the technical, scientific and management decisions. It explores a range of statistical processes from the collection of data and its interpretation to the production of information charts, diagrams and tables and the analysis of data looking at differences, significance and trends.

Management Skills

With the labour market becoming more competitive there is a real need for today's graduates to develop skills beyond academic knowledge in order to thrive. This module introduces various management skills which include communication, teamworking, leadership, time management, decision-making, empowerment and motivation. It aims therefore to improve the student’s knowledge and ability to manage. A range of practical methods and approaches will be used to enable the students to better organise and motivate themselves and others.

The study weekends and short study tour are an integral part of teaching delivery and students are strongly recommended to attend these if they are to succeed in this course.

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This course is designed for staff employed in the food industry sector in the UK.

The Poultry Business Management programme will provide a complete pathway from PgC to MSc for poultry meat industry employees who wish to increase their competence and capability with respect to business management theory and practice. The programme will also provide poultry business employers with the opportunity to select appropriate staff for management development through a course of study at postgraduate level which has been designed specifically to meet the needs of the poultry meat sector.

The curriculum has been designed such that it satisfies the generic core knowledge and skills requirements of poultry meat business employers at the PgC stage. It then provides options that cater for the career development needs of individual students, and the needs of their respective employers, by offering wider module choice at the PgD stage. The MSc stage provides the opportunity for students to apply the knowledge and skills gained in the earlier stages to real-world problems in their own work-places. Fundamental to the curriculum design of this postgraduate programme is the principle that learning and the exploration of theory should be tested through practical application in real businesses. The applied nature of the course is valued by poultry meat business employers and the staff that they nominate to be postgraduate students.

On completion of the course at MSc level, students will be able to identify and understand the operational management requirements of poultry meat businesses, as well as define and establish management practises for the identification and control of factors affecting animal welfare, product quality and food safety. Students will become competent in identifying the threats to the development and success of poultry meat businesses and establish strategies and plans to deal with them.

Students will learn to define and understand the marketing environment in which poultry meat businesses operate and establish marketing strategies for products, as well as comprehend the role of new product development for their market success.

Students will be able to identify and understand requirements for the management of the supplier and customer interfaces existing within and in relation to poultry meat businesses, as well as establish and implement strategies and practises that enable effective and efficient supply chain management.

In addition, students will be able to comprehend and interpret the financial management requirements of poultry meat businesses, as well as define, rationalise and apply the leadership and management requirements and styles needed to successfully lead and manage individuals and teams.

Cost

Funding for the tuition fee may be available through the Advanced Agri-Food Training Partnership. For those students not eligible for AATP funding, the postgraduate fee structure will apply. Some students may feel that they can benefit from external personal coaching as they study the course, this will be available and the price will be agreed depending on circumstances

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