Joëlle - MSc Animal Sciences (internship Animal Nutrition at ABZ Diervoeding)

I am currently finishing my Master’s Animal Sciences degree in Animal Nutrition. Therefore I am doing my internship at ABZ Diervoeding, a medium-sized feed manufacturer for cows, pigs, poultry, sheep and goats with 5 factories throughout the Netherlands. The fact they only focus on Dutch farmers really appealed to me. Contact between the different departments is very thight, so I can learn a lot from all different parts of that company!

I work at the front office in Nijkerk on the department “Nutrition and Innovation”. My research focuses on dry cow feed rations in relation to colostrum quality. ABZ Diervoeding has a clear vision on how to feed cows in the dry period, but the relation with colostrum quality is extremely limited researched. Therefore, I was asked to set up a research in order to monitor the performance of cows around calving, i.e. colostrum production and quality, but also presence of health problems around calving. This will be related with their calculated dry period diet, especially focusing on energy level and source. I already performed a literature research and am now starting an experiment. For the experiment, the feed rations of 150 dry cows divided over 10 farms in the Netherlands are collected. Additionally, veterinarians will take blood samples from the cows 10-2 days before calving, in order to check the metabolic state of the animal. After calving, information of the calving will be collected as a colostrum sample.

At the moment, I am collecting and processing the data, that means that I am driving twice a week through the Netherlands to collect the colostrum samples from the farmers, while the other days of the week I am processing the data and keeping contact with the farmers and veterinarians. All that remains is to finish the data collection and to start my analysation. With the results, ABZ Diervoeding wants to be able to explain possible problems around calving (even) better, and also tries to improve the management around colostrum quality with feed in dry period.

Next to my own research, I have a lot of freedom to get to know the company and my personal interests for my future career. I got a tour through the factory, had several presentations from different departments (quality, procurement of the raw materials, logistics etc.), I can join feed advisors on their farm visits, and I may be present during other meetings.

I really enjoy working at ABZ Diervoeding and I am very curious about my data results. In the coming months I hope to gain even more practical knowledge, in that I can link the theory of my studies to real life practices.

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