Participants
The partners of the consortium cover much of the research that is going on in Europe in the field of housing and welfare of laying hens. In their own country they are well known and respected and they have close connections to both government and industry. Partners also have a worldwide reputation, are seen as major experts in their field of research and are frequently invited for presentations all over the world. The combination of these partners will ensure the wide acceptance of the final report. The Workpackage leaders are chosen for several reasons: they have many years experience with housing and welfare of laying hens, they have extensive international experience and they have proven to be reliable participants in international projects. Many of them have had leading roles in previous European projects.
SME involvement
In order to obtain reliable estimations on the impact of variable conditions that may exist in the different situation in the Member States, SMEs (producers and qualified NGOs) from a wide range of different Member States cooperate within in it. As all partners have research projects running in the field of welfare and housing of laying hens, contacts with several private companies are frequent and in most cases consolidated in local projects. Results of these local projects will be incorporated in the LayWel report. Information on housing systems was collected in various countries with the help of local and internationally orientated private companies. As the partners of the LayWel project are leading in the field of welfare and housing of laying hens, private companies are seeking the co-operation in a form where they provide information and materials and researchers provide knowledge. This mutual interest ensured the input from private companies without the necessity to allocate separate budgets.
The choice of partners in the LayWel project ensure the co-operation of all leading cage manufacturers and most of the leading manufacturers of other housing systems for laying hens. Also involvement of other private companies is ensured: breeding companies (ID-Lelystad, DIAS, INRA, SLU, UHOH have close contacts with breeding companies), feed companies (all partners have contacts with several local feed companies), producers (all partners have close contacts with several large producers).
In addition, partners also have close contacts with National Egg Boards (several partners get part of their research funding from these organisations) and national animal welfare organisations.
Partners for the LayWel project
Partner 1: Institute for Animal Science and Health (ID-Lelystad), Lelystad, The Netherlands
Partner 2: Research Institute for Animal Husbandry (PV-Lelystad), Lelystad, The Netherlands
Partner 3: ADAS Gleadthorpe Poultry Research Centre (ADAS), Gleadthorpe, United Kingdom
Partner 4: Danish Institute of Agricultural Science (DIAS), Foulum, Denmark
Partner 5: Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - Nouzilly (INRA), France
Partner 6: Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU), Funbo-Lövsta,Uppsala, Sweden
Partner 7: University of Bristol (UNIVBRIS), United Kingdom
Partner 8: University of Hohenheim (UHOH), Stuttgart, Germany
Partner 9: University of Zaragoza (UNIZAR), Zaragoza, Spain