NWO OTP grant awarded to WUR project aimed at head start for day-old chicks
- dr. CA (Christine) Jansen
- Associate professor
The immune system of a chicken starts in the egg. Validated tools to assess how incubation conditions influence immune development are lacking. A new NWO-funded project in the Open Technology Programme aims to change that. “Our goal is to develop and validate an immune development scoring system,” explains dr. Christine Jansen of Wageningen University & Research.
The development of the immune system of newly hatched chicks starts long before hatch, during the incubation in the egg. Once hatched, the chicks rely heavily on their immune system to respond effectively to vaccines and to protect themselves against viruses and bacteria in the first days of life. Currently the poultry sector lacks validated tools to assess how incubation conditions influence this immune development.
Project expertise
A new NWO-funded Open Technology Programme project entitled “Improved Immune Competence of Day-Old Chicks: a Head Start (I-COMP)” aims to change this. The research will be led by dr Christine Jansen, associate professor at the Cell Biology & Immunology Group (CBI) of Wageningen University & Research. For this project her team will collaborate with prof. dr Sjaak de Wit of Utrecht University, and business partners MSD and HatchTech. Consultancy agencies CIQ Consultancy an Poultry Performance Plus contribute to the translation of the scientific findings to the poultry farming practice. The project I-COMP brings together expertise in avian immunology, egg incubation technology, and disease challenge models.
Incubation conditions
The research team aims to develop and validate an immune development scoring system, a framework that measures how well the immune system of a chick is developed at hatch. This system will be used to study how incubation conditions, in ovo vaccination and in ovo feeding influence the maturation of key immune cells.
Embryonic development
By linking embryonic development to vaccine responses and resistance to infection later in life, the project will help the poultry sector to optimise early-life health, reduce antibiotic use and improve animal welfare. “With the development of our tool we aim to support the development of robust, resilient chicks that are better prepared for the challenges they face from day one.”
Questions?
If you have any questions, please contact:
dr. CA (Christine) Jansen
Associate professor