Sector | Livestock farming Poultry and rabbit farming

Poultry and rabbit farmers, their customers, and their suppliers will find here the answer to “what can ILVO do for me?”. You’ll get a brief overview of relevant expertise, analyses, infrastructure, and the professional approach that characterizes ILVO. You can contact the Poultry Information Center for specific services and questions regarding co-creation opportunities.

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What does ILVO do?

ILVO conducts management, feeding, digestion, and registration trials on laying hens, broilers, mother hens, turkeys, and rabbits (does & meat rabbits). This includes monitoring production results, animal health and welfare parameters, and product quality (meat and eggs).

> List of co-creation possibilities regarding poultry and rabbit farming
ILVO has extensive expertise in formulating feeds for poultry and rabbits. For specific trials, ILVO produces its own trial feeds (including pelleting) at the mill on site. ILVO analyzes the composition and in vitro digestibility of feed materials to estimate the energy and protein value. The viscosity of feed materials is also determined.

> List of feed analyses
ILVO has a lab for the chemical analysis of animal products, such as excretions, blood, bone, intermediate products (including intestinal content), and animal end products (meat and eggs).

> List of animal-related analyses
ILVO has expertise in measuring meat quality (e.g. pH, color, drip, thaw, and cooking losses, tear strength), external egg quality (e.g. cracking strength, shell and cuticle thickness, shell deflection, hairline cracks), and internal egg quality (yolk color, albumen height). ILVO also has expertise in the organization of taste panels, allergen detection, analyses around food safety, and microbiological, physical, and/or chemical quality, and cleaning and disinfection of production sites. Last, food companies and on-farm food processors can contact the pilot food processing plant of ILVO and Flanders’ FOOD called the Food Pilot, with questions concerning food processing, and process and recipe development. Subsidies for on-farm food processors, i.e. the ‘KRATOS innovation support for on-farm food processors (in Dutch) are also available.

> List of food analyses

> What ILVO does for food companies
ILVO conducts research into the effect of different feed compositions and additives/supplements, weather conditions (heat stress), management, housing system, housing environment and design on health, welfare, behavior, physiology, and morphology of poultry and rabbits. ILVO also offers scientific expertise, measurement-technical support, and training for animal welfare assessments in both experimental and practical conditions. Training courses, with or without external expertise, are also available.
ILVO has extensive experience in measuring and evaluating emissions of ammonia, odor, fine particulate matter, and greenhouse gases in and around barns, as well as their possible reduction strategies. Modeling of air flows in and around barns is also part of the expertise. ILVO also provides advice and supports the sectors and government authorities involved in the development and evaluation of low-emission animal housing systems.
ILVO investigates the potential of new forage crops, such as field beans, and other local protein sources, such as algae and insects, for Flemish farms. This includes yield, crop rotation, and profitability, as well as compatibility with Flemish rations, animal performance, and animal emissions. Processing more local, protein-rich raw materials into rations in order to limit the proportion of imported soy is one of the spearheads of climate research at ILVO.

> More info about ILVO climate research: Center of Expertise for Agriculture and Climate (NL)

> What ILVO does for feed production
ILVO conducts research into water use in agriculture. Literally making room for water is central here, so that water has the chance to infiltrate the soil, so it can be buffered for dry periods, and so it can be collected for reuse. Water is an important spearhead in climate research at ILVO.

> More info about ILVO climate research: Center of Expertise for Agriculture and Climate (NL)

> Read more about Water in agriculture
ILVO strives for livelihood security and a more stable income for all links in the agrifood chain, through economic business and sector analysis, research into profitability, added value, market competition, organization of sales, consumer preferences, and the role of cities and municipalities. In order to convert the theoretical knowledge from the research into recommendations that provide support for business leaders, ILVO builds useful web applications and tools.
ILVO has expertise in agroforestry, agroecology, and organic livestock farming. Within this framework, ILVO examines, among other things, how animal and plant production on farms or between farms can be integrated in order to close nutrient cycles (manure – feed).

> Read about what ILVO does for organic agriculture

> Read more about Agroforestry

How does ILVO work?

ILVO aims to support all stakeholders in Flemish poultry and rabbit farming, from the poultry and rabbit farmers, the supplying and processing industry, the distribution chain, to research and educational institutions, government authorities, consumers, and citizens with the above palette of expertise and a modern research infrastructure.

Contemporary challenges are handled by experienced professionals. Together with the other parties involved in the chain, they work on customized solutions.

Your point of contact: the Poultry Information Center (in Dutch)

The Poultry Information Center (Pluimveeloket) is the ideal point of contact for all questions on poultry and rabbit farming. The answer is always objective, independent, and scientifically substantiated. The Poultry Information Center keeps you informed of the latest research results and sector info by participating in study days and information sessions, as well as through publications in the trade press, an up-to-date online knowledge center (NL), a website, and a quarterly (free) newsletter(in Dutch).

Last, the Poultry Information Center is happy to listen to your concerns, to translate them into concrete research questions, and to bring the necessary partners to the table.

Your ILVO guarantee

Scientifically-based solutions
Individual and/or co-creative guidance for innovation trajectories
Confidential treatment of your question
Clear and easy-to-interpret results that are applicable to day-to-day operations
Technological support for various farm processes
Specialised analyses in the Animal Marin Laboratory (ANIMALAB)

Specialized research infrastructure

Several houses for broiler chicks, with enough room for a total of 7,200 broiler chicks.
Laying hen house with room for approximately 1,100 layers (in enriched cages).
A broiler house that can be adapted to house 720 turkeys.
2 mobile chicken houses large enough for 220 (organic) layers or (organic) broilers.
120 units for digestion studies
Group housing for rabbits: 112 does and weaner kits
On-site feed mill to manufacture trial feeds (including pelleting)

All ILVO expertises at your service

ILVO works in an interdisciplinary fashion and has a network of living labs that work closely together. A problem or question is therefore examined from many different angles by ILVO experts from different disciplines. This is guaranteed by ILVO's broad and systematic approach, together with the typical openness of the ILVO culture.