Membership

I am able to report a rather mixed start to the year with, on a very positive note, twenty one new members joining the Branch, but disappointingly fifteen members have retired or left various reasons. There is bound to be an element of natural wastage, particularly as student members move on to employment in other sectors, but some others have simply not responded to renewal requests.

We are delighted to welcome the following new members, who have joined the Branch since the last Newsletter:

Robert Beynon, University of Liverpool

Mr Aidan Connolly, Alltech

Mr Roger Clark-Monks, Leyburn

Miss Margaret Hardy, Parklands Vets

Mr David Harrington, Schering Plough Animal Health

Dr Heather Hayes, Devenish Nutrition

Dr Eilir Jones, Devenish Nutrition

Dr Emma Jones, Roslin Institute

Mr Mokhtar Khajavi, University of Newcastle

Dr Elizabeth McCann, DARD/Queens University

Miss Jayne McIntyre, Roslin Institute

Dr Carolyn Preston, Nutrition Services (Int) Ltd

Ms Lyn Probert, Danisco Animal Nutrition

Mr Matthew Wilson, Cobb-Vantress

Mr Peter Woodward, Poultry Nutrition Specialists

Miss Vanya Zaczek, Roslin Institute

Also, welcome on his return to the UK:

Dr Ken Laughlin, Aviagen Ltd

Regrettably, the following members have left the Branch and we wish them well:

Mr Steve Ellis, Queens University

Ms Ailsa Carlisle, Roslin Institute

Mr Peter Haslam, Mayfield Chicks

Mr John Portsmouth, J P Enterprises

In addition a further 10 members have not renewed their membership by failing to reply to THREE letters. I will not embarrass them by naming them here but Branch policy is to remove these from the membership lists and cancel their World’s Poultry Science Journals at this stage.

Help: untraceable member 

We lost touch with the following member in 1999, but he is still paying his subscription annually by Bankers Order. If any member has any information about him or the company, I would be glad to receive it:

Mr K R Young, Tecnavet Ltd

28th Poultry Science Symposium - call for suggested topic 

It is expected that the 28th Poultry Science Symposium will take place in 2005. Council are already making plans for this and a number of topics have been suggested. However, there is now an opportunity for any member who has an idea for a relevant topic to put forward a proposal for consideration by Council at their next meeting in October.
In the first instance, please contact the Secretary: parsonsbury@hotmail.com

Poultry Diseases Web Site

This useful resource on poultry diseases is authored and updated by Dr Nati Elkin, a poultry diseases specialist. It contains an atlas of pathology that provides images and text demonstrating gross pathologic findings associated with poultry diseases, conditions, articles and more...
http://www.poultrymed.com/files/englishversion.html

Dr B.L. (Bruce) Sheldon 1929-2003

We were greatly saddened to hear of the death of Dr Bruce Sheldon, Senior Vice President of the World's Poultry Science Association, on Tuesday April 29th in the Adventist Sanatorium Hospital, Wahroonga, Sydney, Australia. Dr Sheldon was admitted to hospital on 14th April for routine hip replacement surgery but then suffered serious complications. Born on 20th October 1929, worked for most of his distinguished career at CSIRO Animal Genetics. Bruce's contribution to WPSA over the years has been prodigious: he was President of the Australia Branch WPSA from 1983-1992 and was a Vice- President of the World's Poultry Science Association from1984-1996 when he was elected to the position of Senior Vice- President. He was an eminent poultry scientist who gained international recognition for his contributions in the field of poultry genetics. A true friend and colleague to many, he will be sadly missed. A great family man, he is survived by his wife Joan, 8 children and 17 grandchildren to all of whom we send our sincere condolences.
[Reprinted from the WPSA (World) Newsletter, Spring 2003.]

WPSA (World) Newsletter

The latest issue 7 (Spring 2003) was received in May, containing much interesting and useful information on the activities of WPSA worldwide and with reports from the President, Secretary and Treasurer and the WPSJ Editor. This is not circulated to all members as it is available in full on the WPSA website: http://www.wpsa.com.

Report on WPSA European Working Group 9 - Poultry Welfare

15 members from 9 countries met in Lublin, Poland on 18/1/03. The UK was represented by Arnold Elson.  The main topic was the planning of the 7th European Symposium on Poultry Welfare to be held at Lublin University in 2005.  We agreed to use the excellent facilities offered at Lublin and to encourage attendance from eastern European countries as well as the rest of Europe and beyond.  Reports on the poultry welfare situation in the 9 countries represented were presented and discussed.  The next meeting of this group will be in Copenhagen in October 2003, when details of the Symposium programme and papers will be arranged.

Report by Arnold Elson

The Poster Session at the recent Branch annual Meeting:

Photograph courtesy of Dr Claire Weeks.