

Dr. Hilde Van Meirhaeghe: On-farm Hatching Perspectives | Ep. 23
It is common knowledge that the US and European poultry industries are quite different. In the US poultry industry, eggs are often sent to large hatcheries. In Europe, we have seen on-farm hatching emerge. On-farm hatching is a revolutionary Dutch system developed to solve certain problems with transporting and hatching broiler chicks. In this episode, Dr. Hilde Van Meirhaeghe shares her experience as a vet consultant in a European setting and discusses the main differences between the poultry industries, delving into on-farm hatching and early feeding procedures.
“When it comes to on-farm hatching, the big advantage is that as soon as the chicks are born, they can eat and drink whenever they’re ready for it.” - Dr. Hilde Van Meirhaeghe
What you’ll learn:
- Highlight (00:00)
- Introduction (2:10)
- On-farm hatcheries (4:53)
- Handling the eggs (15:07)
- Early feeding, and gastrointestinal and immune development (17:56)
- The best first food for chicks (28:53)
- Vaccination (31:37)
- The last 20 years in the poultry industry (33:20)
- Final 3 questions (43:32)
Meet the guest: Dr. Hilde Van Meirhaeghe
Experience:
- Current: Academic Advisor in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Ghent
- Past: Poultry Consultant and Veterinarian at Vetworks
Background:
- D.V.M. (Ghent University)
Connect with the guest on Social Media: LinkedIn
𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀, 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺.
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