“Since 1 June 2007, Euribrid is part of Hendrix Genetics B.V. “Our

Transcription

Thijs Hendrix
*1955
Harry Hendrix
*1926 +2010
Thijs Hendrix
*1884 +1954
“Since 1 June 2007, Euribrid is part of Hendrix Genetics B.V.
“Our family & company take great pride in embracing the past to catch the future”
Thijs Hendrix
Président
Hendrix Genetics B.V.
Villa “de Körver”
Boxmeer, the Netherlands
European Union
July 2009
©Copyright Kingsley Smith 2011
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The History of Euribrid
Founders
Location
Company Development
Staff
Products: Layers
Products: Broilers
Marketing
Franchises
Bibliography and Resources
Founders
Wilhelmus Hubertus Hendrix was born in Oirlo (Venray), Limburg, south of the Netherlands in 1896, the
youngest child of Engelbertus and Anna Maria Hendrix. He had an older brother, Johannes (Jan) and a
sister Anna. His family moved to Boxmeer in December 1903 and set up business as an agricultural
merchant in the Spoorstraat. The first indication that Wim Hendrix would follow his father in agriculture
was found in notary documents in 1916. His father’s business was entered in the Boxmeer trade register
in 1921. In June 1925 Wim married Johanna Maria C. Reynen and two
months later the family business was transferred to his name at the
Chamber of Commerce and Factories in Venlo. Over the next 12 years
Wim and his wife had six children of whom Engelbertus (Bert) would
later enter the family business.
Wim Hendrix 1896-1965, Founder of Hendrix Fabrieken N.V. and Euribrid BV.
(Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
In 1928 Hendrix Fabrieken NV began advertising compounded feeds for sale in a Boxmeer trade
magazine and employed extension staff. The company grew to become one of the largest private cattle,
poultry and pig feed compounders in The Netherlands. Farmers who purchased feed had access, within
the framework of the business management at the time, to adopt several the services of the company. A
pig farmer for example, purchased Hendrix bred piglets and Hendrix produced feed and they were
treated by a veterinary surgeon approved by Hendrix who advised products from Intervet. Eventually the
pigs ended up in the slaughterhouse of the company. Where such a link was lacking the farmer did not
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get the premium price for his pigs. In the cooperative sector, such as Cehave Landbouwbelang, similar
integration models were applied. Fifty one years later the family sold its shares to British Petroleum in
1979.
The idea to start a poultry business was not Wim Hendrix’s. The inspiration came from Ir. Guust P.A. van
den Eijnden. Following graduation from Wageningen Agricultural University van den Eijnden completed
post-graduate studies at Aberystwyth in Wales, home of the famous "S" strains of grass and clover. At
Wageningen and Aberystwyth he would have been aware of the developments in hybrid corn that had
been produced in the U.S. by Pioneer since 1928 and by DeKalb Genetics since 1934. The Pioneer poultry
department, Hy-Line, was selling semi-inbred line crosses in the early 1940’s and DeKalb placed their
hybrid layers on the market in 1946. He may have been aware of the visits to the UK by Henry B. Wallace
in 1949 and 1950, and the collaboration
between Henry B. Wallace and Cyril Thornber
which amounted to swapping some pure lines
(John Harrison personal communication, and
Thornbers Annual 1954).
The text reads “Henry B. Wallace and Cyril Thornber in
America examining some Thornber Breeding stock which
was exported to Hy-Line Poultry Farms, Des Moines”
(Reproduced from the Thornbers Annual 1954)
Van den Eijnden was working as a corn breeder in the C.I.V. cooperative in Ottersum. He was selling his
hybrid corn to the CHV in Veghel who gave him 6c/kg more for his hybrid corn on a licensed basis.
Because of his hybrid corn breeding van den Eijnden recognised the potential of hybrid chickens. In the
beginning of 1951 he obtained the Hy-Line brochures from the headquarters in West Des Moines, Iowa.
He immediately wondered if The Netherlands was a suitable country to make it work in Europe. He did
not have the resources to start the business on his own but he found out from his brother-in-law that
Wim Hendrix was doing similar things.
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Left Ir. Guust van den Eijnden, Co- Founder of Euribrid N.V. (Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics) Right Mr A.J.S. Derks with Wim
Hendrix on his right (Reproduced with permission of Martinus Nijhoff)
Van den Eijnden approached Wim Hendrix with the intention of trying to interest him in supporting his
idea of producing hybrid chickens. Wim Hendrix asked van den Eijnden to explain the concept to a lawyer
employee, Mr. A.J.S. Derks (Meester Derks) and left them to discuss the idea. Half an hour later Hendrix
returned and Derks said there was something in it. That was how the idea of hybrid chickens was
introduced to the Hendrix organisation in 1951.
In the summer of 1951, Mr. Derks and Guust van den Eijnden went to England to introduce themselves
to Henry B. Wallace. A daughter of Mr. Derks accompanied them to be, if necessary, their translator. In
September 1952 Guust van den Eijnden and Bert Hendrix, the eldest son of Wim Hendrix, travelled to the
Hy-Line farms in West Des Moines, USA. That resulted in the European agency. In 1953 Henry B. Wallace
made a counter visit and in 1954 Wim Hendrix visited Iowa with advisor D. Mossel, Bert Hendrix and
Guust van den Eijnden, who in November of that year was hired with a long term contract to Hendrix. In
August 1955 Mr. and Mrs. Cyril Thornber and Henry B. Wallace, visited the Hendrix H.Q.
After this trip, several more visits were made, culminating in November 1958 with the visit of the father
of Henry B. Wallace, Henry A. Wallace to Boxmeer. Henry A. Wallace was the founder of Hi-Bred Corn,
later to become Pioneer Hi-Bred, and was a Secretary of Agriculture and a Vice President in the Franklin
D. Roosevelt era.
However there were many difficulties to overcome before the idea was realized. The poultry
cooperatives in The Netherlands were totally against it and De Bilt, the Government organisation for the
management of chickens and egg industry, was totally against it. The view was that it would be
impossible to import “miracle chickens”. The Dutch believed that The Netherlands was the most properly
organised country in poultry breeding and production. There was a huge resentment of the prospect of
hybrid chickens following WW2 when Europe had a fresh memory of the idea of a superior race of
people through selective breeding. The cooperatives also warned that the introduction of the U.S.
breeding methods would create a dependency on U.S. technology. The hybrid chickens would be a
potential danger to their own poultry races and existing Dutch breeders. But it became a matter of time,
not a question of if, when things would start to happen in The Netherlands.
From the beginning Wim Hendrix knew he was definitely right to make his vision work in The
Netherlands. Actually the first hybrid chickens arrived in Belgium in 1951 and were used to launch some
clever publicity. Some chickens had been brought up in Belgium. Van Haeren, the Director of egg laying
competitions in Belgium, France and Germany for 50 years allowed the Hendrix Hy-Line stock to enter
the competitions. All of them were won by the new Hendrix product. Advertisements and articles in
papers were creating good publicity and promoted the superb quality of the hybrids. Hendrix started,
under supervision of Marinus van den Eijnden, brother of Guust van den Eijnden, a new brochure - HyLine News- to promote the idea and the quality of the new hybrids. This was similar to the Hendrix feed
brochure. The pressure of the business itself really won over what the government was doing to stop it.
In a parallel development in 1951 an International Breeding Congress in Paris produced a report totally
focused on the hybrid breeding system.
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The Dutch Cooperatives were in a very protective mode lead by
their Chairman Mr. J. Tucker. Although poultry imports were
prohibited in The Netherlands, Hendrix knew how to import
fertilized hybrid eggs. Mr. G. Richter of the Laboratory Nobilis,
part of the Hendrix Organisation, was able to import eggs for the
purposes of vaccine production. On April 16th 1951 he made a
request for the import of 720 hatching eggs from hybrid laying
hens to the Director of Animal Health and Production located in
Gravenhage. The purpose was to be able to do tests to get a
higher virus concentration in the vaccination against pox and
diphtheria. Letters had already been sent by van den Eynden to
Henry B. Wallace at Hy-Line to include eggs from lines suitable for
dams and sires. In a few weeks time 720 test eggs of different
lines arrived in The Netherlands ready for “vaccine production
testing”. On the 29th April 1951 the first eggs were placed in an
incubator by van Duynhoven in St Anthonis.
Left. Jan Grens holding the first Hy-Line eggs from America. Right. G. van den Mortel and H. ten Haaf with the first Hy-Line
chickens hatched on 20 May 1951. (Reproduced with permission of Martinus Nijhoff)
Henry B. Wallace visited Boxmeer in November 1959
L-R. E. Hendrix, Mr. M. Goosens, Ir. E.H.Tan, Ing. M. van den Eijnden, W.H.Hendrix, S. Seinen,
Henry B. Wallace, Ir. G. van den Eijnden, dhr. Nuihaus. (Reproduced with permission of Martinus Nijhoff)
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In November 1958 Henry A. Wallace visited Boxmeer.
L-r Ir. G. van den Eijnden, E. Hendrix, Ing. M. Van den Eijnden, W.H. Hendrix. (Reproduced with permission of Martinus Nijhoff)
TOP
Location
The company has been based in Boxmeer from the onset and until 1979, the take over of Hendrix by
British Petroleum (BP), it was part of Hendrix Fabrieken N.V.. Euribrid was located in the Hendrix
Fabrieken factory/office buildings complex in the Fabrieksstraat (nowadays “Wim de Körverstraat” ), the
construction of which started in 1946. These buildings also housed the Nobilis vaccine laboratory
founded by Hendrix in 1949. In the photo below the Euribrid office was situated in the building just to
the left of the chimney stack. The Nobilis laboratory was located on the right backing onto a soccer field.
The site, on the street renamed as Wim de Körverstraat, about 100m from the Villa de Körver, is now the
location of Intervet, a descendant of Nobilis.
The Hendrix Fabrieken headquarters in Boxmeer until 1975. (Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
The family home of Wim Hendrix, the Villa ”de Körver”, was on Spoorstraat 69 and today it is the
headquarters of Hendrix Genetics B.V. Building started on the house on 10th February 1937 when the
first brick was laid. The building costs were 13.717,- Dutch Guilders (Euro 6235,-)
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An aerial photo in 1939 of Villa “de Körver” (two storey house on RHS) with the poultry feed mill (LHS)
and the office building on the street front. (Reproduced with permission of Hendrix Genetics)
A new headquarters was planned and building finished in 1974 on Veerstraat in Boxmeer with Euribrid
located in it. In 1979 all of the Hendrix companies were located here. This HQ served BP Nutrition after
the takeover of Hendrix Fabrieken in 1979 and later became the HQ of Nutreco in 1994.
The new Hendrix Fabrieken headquarters built in 1974 later to be the BP Nutrition and Nutreco HQ in which Euribrid was
relocated to in 1974(photo taken in 1984). (Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
Euribrid's breeding farms were located in a radius of approximately 40 km around Boxmeer. Some of the
notable farms were for the early Hybro and Hy-Line breeding programs. At the beginning of development
of Hybro a new farm was developed at Milheeze in 1956 (about 25k SW of Boxmeer) to house the females
lines. The main Hy-Line farm for GGP’s, build in 1953, was carefully located very close to the Hendrix
H.Q., not far from the Boxmeer railway station. In the Carmelietenstraat the testfarm for feedtests was
rebuild in 1963 for the pure line birds for brown egg layers
Left. Hybro farm at Milheeze where the Hybro female lines were established in 1956. Right. The Hy-Line Brown breeding farm
established in 1963 on Carmelietenstraat in Boxmeer. (Reproduced with permission of Hendrix Genetics)
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The Hybro farm at Herveld opened in 1995. (Reproduced courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
There were 2 new Hyline PS farms build in 1964, with a total capacity of 150.000 PS, at Vredepeel and
Overloon, about 15k SW of Boxmeer.
In 1971 a new farm was built at Beugen (2k N of Boxmeer) for the Hisex white layer pure line stock. In
1978 the layer pure line farm,mainly for brown egg layers, in Boxmeer was replaced by a new Research
Centre in Venhorst with a complete new egg quality research laboratory.(about 18k east of Boxmeer).
To replace the Beugen Research Farm,a complete new breeding farm, mainly for white egg layers, was
opened in 1987 at Herveld (about 50 km NNW of Boxmeer), which farm was rebuild for the female lines
of the Hybro breeding program in 1993. Strict bio-security measures were implemented at the new
facility and the opening ceremony was held at the VIV exhibition at Utrecht. The opening ceremony was
performed by Dr. P. Simons, then the President of the WPSA with Euribrid Chief Executive Paul Jeenes
and Dr. S. Korver, the Euribrid Research Director in attendance.
In 1980 already a new research farm for only the male lines of Hybro was started at Siebengewald..
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Development
This article in “Poultry Industry” in 1971 was quite prophetic. “Since the EFTA countries plus the Common
Market Six contain 220 million people, about 10 per cent more than the combined population of the United States
and Canada, only the fragmentation of Europe into competing national groups can explain why it so frequently lags
behind America in technology. As integration becomes reality in the "old world" however, the American lead in
certain fields, such as poultry breeding, is liable to be whittled down by the advances of large groups. Euribrid N.V.
of Boxmeer, The Netherlands is part of such a group, and has established an international reputation for its hisex
layers and hybro broilers. The Netherlands has predictably become a focal point for progress and success in
agriculture, since the sale of farm produce was her main source of income for centuries. From the end of the war
however, The Netherlands has been transformed from an agricultural country to a highly industrialised one while
many of her traditional customers have increased their own livestock production and reduced their imports. In these
circumstances, the Dutch have tended to develop agricultural operations with a sophisticated technological basis
and high product value, into which the breeding stock of Euribrid logically fits.”
From October 2007 the exclusion of ownership by a North American company of a significant layer brand
was complete; the ownership of the layer breeding brands was within Hendrix Genetics and the EW
Group in Germany 1
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From October 2007 the exclusion of ownership by a North American company of a significant layer brand was complete; the
ownership of the layer breeding brands was within Hendrix Genetics (Warren, Golden Comet, Babcock, Bovans, DeKalb, Hisex,
ISA and Shaver) and the EW Group (Hy-Line, Lohmann and H&N). Within 50 years of the Wallace’s creating Hy-Line, the first
hybrid layer, all hybrid layers with significant international sales are now owned by European companies. The situation in the
poultry meat breeding stock brands is almost the same. Cobb-Vantress Inc. (owned by Tyson Foods Inc.), the global number one
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Hendrix Fabrieken N.V.
A snapshot of the development of Hendrix and related companies involved in the poultry industry.
1928 Wim Hendrix started mixing feed as Hendrix Fabrieken N.V.
1949 Wim Hendrix founded a company called Laboratoria Nobilis.
1950 Developed the first Nobilis inoculum for Fowl Pox Ovo-Diphterin. In the following decade, there
was virtually one new product introduction per year, including against Newcastle disease, coccidiosis and
infectious bronchitis, all developed for use in poultry.
1951 Founded the poultry division of Hendrix Fabrieken N.V. for the distribution of Hy-Line layers in
Western Europe (but not including Spain where distribution was operated by a Spanish company).
1952-53 Breeding development started on Hybro in Belgium. From than onwards called Euribrid.
1953 Partnership with Hy-Line and named Euribrid.
1956 Introduction of Hybro, the first hybrid broiler breeder from a European company.
Late 1950’s Extensive research on pure race pig lines.
1961 Laboratoria Nobilis sold to KZO and later in 1965 through that company’s purchase of the
veterinary division of Aspro-Nicholas in France, which had the name Intervet.
1965 Hypor formed.
1968 Hypor pig breed introduced for sale in Western Europe.
Mid 1960’s Hy-line Brown development started, followed by the change to Hisex Brown.
1969 All the animal health activities of KZO were brought together into one company, and named
Intervet International N.V. (the name Nobilis still exists, although it is now the brand name for a range of
poultry vaccines).
1970 Hisex White and Brown layers for sale world-wide and cessation of Hy-Line distribution.
1970 Hypor sales in Belgium through Euribrid Belgium.
1971 Introduction of Hypor pig breeding programme into Japan with partners Tohzai Sangyo Boeki
Company, later taken over by the Mitsui group.
1973 Formation of Hypor Spain.
1973 Acquisition of Pilch Inc, Troutman, North Carolina from DeKalb Genetics.
1975 Formation of Hypor International to carry on business in Japan, Philippines and elsewhere.
1975 Trouw, founded in Rotterdam in 1931 to import fishmeal and animal meal for cattle feed, becomes
part of BP Proteins and BP Nutrition is founded.
1979 Euribrid acquired by BP Nutrition (via a complete take-over of Hendrix Fabrieken) to form the core
of the breeding activities of the BP Nutrition division. At that moment Euribrid contributed to the
groupresult of Hendrix 10% of the group turnover and 30% of the to group EBIT.
1981 Hybrid Turkeys Inc of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada acquired.
1986 Establishment of PT Hybro, a GPS joint venture in Indonesia for Hybro and Hisex.
1987 Establishment of Ozanac Hybro, a GPS joint venture in Turkey.
1991 Acquisition of Clock and DeCloux Inc, Ithaca, New York for Hisex distribution in USA.
1991 Hendrix family acquire Bovans after Hypeco Poultry Breeders and CPI stops trading (unrelated to
the founder Wim Hendrix).
1994 Management buyout of BP Nutrition establishes Nutreco, with Headquarters in Boxmeer.
1998 Euribrid layer breeding activities Bovans and Hisex merge with Hendrix Poultry Breeders in a 50/50
joint venture known as Hendrix Poultry Breeders BV (HPB) and become a Nutreco company.
2000 HPB acquires Dekalb Poultry Research (including J.J.Warren Inc. and Kimber Farms), from Toshoku
Japan/Cargill USA.
in broiler breeding, to a lesser extent in terms of volume, Perdue, and to a much lesser extent than Perdue, Peterson Farms, are
the only major poultry meat breeders owned by American companies. Another major meat breeder is the EW Group (Arbor
Acres, Lohmann Indian River, Ross, Nicholas Turkeys and British United Turkeys). A smaller player, with more diverse products is
Groupe Grimaud with the Hubbard broilers and Grimaud Freres Selection (muscovy, mulard and pekin ducks, rabbits, turkeys,
pigeons, guinea fowl, geese, and meat chickens).
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2005 Hendrix Genetics BV founded by Antoon van den Berg and Thijs Hendrix.
2005 Hendrix Genetics acquires Institut de Sélection Animale (including Shaver Farms Canada and
Babcock USA) and SFPA (Société Francaise Production Avicole) from Natexis Industrie, Paris, France and
acquires HPB from the Hendrix family in Ospel.
2007 Hendrix Genetics purchases Euribrid from Nutreco. In line with Nutreco’s strategy “Rebalancing for
Growth” Nutreco decides to let grow Euribrid outside Nutreco to industry leadership.
2008 Hendrix Genetics acquires from Glon-Sanders (majority owned by Sofiprotéol) the number one
French privately owned pig breeding company: France Hybrides.
2008 Sofiprotéol acquires a 12% longterm strategic minority shareholding in HG.
2009 Hendrix Genetics acquires Shade Oak Swine, a Canadian Duroc breeding company.
Back to the beginning
The people who develop businesses sometimes have a vision of the end point and strive to achieve it by
overcoming all kinds of obstacles. Wim Hendrix played a vital role in building the international breeding
company. He had impressive personal initiative and enormous perseverance. He had the personality and
confidence to build up a business and a passionate belief it would grow to an international size. Over 25
years Hendrix guided development of his business. Many of the steps that Hendrix undertook were in
the face of private and institutional opposition. In 1951 the majority breeders throughout Europe were
strongly opposed to new breeding methods because it upset vested interests and traditional breeding
practices.
Hybro was the first development. Its beginning was in the early 1953 at the Belgium town of Lanaken
about 13 km south of the border and 112 km from Boxmeer. Hendrix firstly promised the Belgiums that
they could start as quickly as possible with their own breeding centre and they could get import licences
for single cross hens. The Belgium Government encouraged a product from the homeland that would
stop the import of the North Netherlands Blue (Noord Hollandse Blauwe). It had all the attributes
required accept dark feather stubble: quick growth, good feathers, white skin, good conversion and good
meat. The breeding plan was set up by Guust van den Eijden. His contact with the Hy-Line breeding
program convinced him of his ability to breed a new broiler that would enable Euribrid to fill the gap he
felt existed in the European broiler market. The first Hybro product was on the market in 1955. It started
from scratch using such raw material as the discarded day old cockerels from the commercial egg
hatcheries, in particular those producing the popular Rhode/Sussex sex-link. As development progressed
changes were made to the lines used in the cross. A large number of broiler breeder lines had been
purchased on the open market. At that time they were freely available. The development proceeded and
the next Hybro was derived from four synthetic lines from stock of various origins including the American
White Cornish and White Plymouth Rock.
The Hybro was introduced into Denmark. It was very difficult in the beginning, government controls
meant that no chickens were imported. Hendrix introduced Hybro stock by concealing some breeding
eggs in a box underneath a load of stones. Once breeding was started the Danes were unimpressed, no
Danes were involved because they could not understand the concept of the breeding program and so
the Hybro breeding stopped. For many years Wim Hendrix continued to annoy the national government
and agricultural organisations, in The Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany. By 1960/61 Euribrid
N.V. had 13 million Hy-Line layer hens in Western Europe and an annual output of 100 million Hybro
broilers. By 1961 the company had over 200 employees with their own health care and a publication HyLine News. In 10 years Euribrid had grown into a huge business in West Europe and had made a
significant difference to the breeding systems. In 10 years Hybro had grown to be the most successful
broiler in Europe.
Hy-Line During the 1950’s in The Netherlands it was as if time had stopped. However, a lot of hard work
saw the introduction of Hy-Line stock on to the market. There was continual harassment in press articles
and letters against the cooperation with Hy-Line. Wim Hendrix kept up personal discussion and visits to
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all the relevant government agencies in the De Bilt and Den Haag. A lot was going on among interested
parties. Visitors to Boxmeer received extensive maps with documentation and pictures that was called
“the Hendrix thinking over”.
In Germany the increasing market share showed the strength of the new breeding system. Euribrid
stayed in the German market, despite the efforts of the German Association of Economic Poultry
Breeders and other associations. In 1953/54 they started selling with 14,000 Hy-Line breeders and 7
years later the total turnover was 4.1 million chickens. Euribrid Germany had in 1960/61 over 57
employees, breeding centres at Hesepe and Brockhagen with 22,000 birds, 90 Hy-Line breeding houses
and the market share of German breeding hens was 12 to 15%.
Wim Hendrix thrived in an atmosphere where there was industrial and governmental opposition.
Although he was always at loggerheads with the government he did receive awards and official praise.
These interactions had a positive role in the framing and implementation of government regulations and
laws. Without the opposition of many people the outcome would have been very different. Because of
the opposition the development went a lot quicker. Hendrix succeeded because his fighting instincts
were ignited by the opposition to his dream. During the early stages Hendrix was so obsessed with the
hybrid breeding and all the challenges that it created that for a month he neglected the feed department
much to the displeasure of the employees.
During the initial years from 1955 to 1960, there were some very positive results although research costs
were high and financial losses were incurred. At one stage Hendrix was seriously worried about the
possibility of failure. The set-up costs were quite exorbitant and Hy-Line Belgium gave financial support
since the Belgium government backed the development. The bulk of Hybro parent stock sales were from
grandparent farms in the Boxmeer area or from distributors in other countries such as Hy-Bred Poultry
Ltd in the UK. In The Netherlands Hendrix was also involved in the final product through its own
processing plants and by parent stock sales to competing feed integrators. By early 1970’s the Hybro
broiler had achieved about 30% of the European market, both East and West. Sales of parent stock were
around 6 million/year.
The research and development costs of a poultry breeding operation are very high so a breeding company has to think of the world as its market if sales volume is to be sufficient to recoup these costs and
make profits. Euribrid set out from the beginning to be an international organization. A substantial
financial backing is required to carry out a development programme well in advance of any return from
the market. Hendrix Fabrieken N.V. was able to fulfill that role, a diverse organization employing in the
1970’s around 2,500 people, with feed mills in The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and substantial
interests in chicken processing, cold storage and spice manufacture. Hendrix produced about 600,000
tons of feed/year, slaughtered 700,000 broilers a week in its own processing plants and provided cold
storage for over 5,000 tonnes of products at Boxmeer. That was how Euribrid was able to be the first
European breeder to succeed as a major force in global food production.
In the 70’s there was a new political and economic climate in Europe. There was a large measure of unity
in the Common Market (Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and West Germany), and
by the end of the 70’s United Kingdom, Denmark and Ireland joined the fold. Europe, as the European
Economic Union, formed a unified market of more than 200 million, corresponding in population to the
United States. Since Europeans were largely the source material of the American people, and there was
no reason why, given similar favourable circumstances, they should not hold their own in competition.
Euribrid N.V., with a youthful staff, whose average age in 1970-71 was 32, pursued an independent line
of management and development from its holding company Hendrix Fabrieken N.V. In The Netherlands
the company employed some 20 independent hatcheries to handle hatching eggs exclusively. A further
40 hatcheries took broiler stock, but not necessarily on an exclusive basis. The hatcheries owned the
birds and also dealt with sales. However the hatcheries were in turn visited by Euribrid's advisory staff.
About 95 per cent of all Euribrid stock were sold as reared pullets. The hatcheries retained farmers
prepared to rear birds under a contract. Eighteen week white pullets sold for about Dfl 7 - 8.
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Sales of commercial stock were handled by nine subsidiary companies – called "daughter" companies at
the time- into more than 67 countries. For instance in Switzerland a subsidiary was started in Dozwill in
1969, under the management of Franciscus X. Furrer, for the distribution of Hy-Line and Hybro Stock,
taking over from Hybrida A.G.
Separation of Euribrid and Hy-Line
In the mid-60s the dynamics of the relationship between Euribrid and Hy-Line was causing problems. The
level of heterosis achieved in the second generation of breeding the Hy-Line GP lines was below
expectations though it started to improve again in 1968. Turnover was low in 1966/67. Euribrid was
developing breeding technical and commercial independency in the middle 50’s with the Hybro broilers
and had developed two new products in the 60’s, the Hyline Brown (with Hy-Line help) and a hybrid pig
Hypor. The Hyline Brown was an average performer in the 60’s used mainly by Euribrid’s existing
breeders and customers. Hy-Line did not have a brown egg product and were therefore not really
concerned about this performance. That’s why Euribrid started their own breeding program for brown
egg layers in 1967 and launched the first Hisex brown in 1968
The break with Hy-Line White started in 1968. Euribrid believed Hy-Line was treating them as a
distributor rather than an equal partner and were starting to work towards being an independent
breeder. A white egg product was required to fill the gap and breeding it did not create many problems.
However marketing was focused on the American branding and that would no longer exist if they broke
away too soon with their own white layer. In 1968, contrary to what Hy-Line had agreed not to do, they
started to send more and more of their Indian broiler, Indian River, to the Far East.
Euribrid decided to make a definite break with America. Thus after 18 years of close cooperation they
transformed from a European to a world-wide sales organisation. In January 1970 they began to warn
their customers and business associates that change was imminent and in September the change from
Hy-Line to Hisex White began. More than 500 layer breeders in 20 countries continued to operate with a
different white layer without knowing the performance profile. The company had developed a trusting
relationship with its customers because Wim Hendrix saw his clients or customers as partners. The
decision to break away in 1970 was significant in the development of the breeding division. The market
share of Hy-Line was shrinking in Western Europe and Euribrid was building its marketing share outside
Europe. The Euribrid American division took over Pilch in 1973 and in the following year Euribrid
exhibited in their own right in the U.S. The Hisex Whites were entered in various Random Sample Tests
(RST) starting in 1972. As can be seen in the results of the combined RST, in the Tables below,
performance from 1975 was as good as the best in the U.S. and Canada.
Quality and Service
The purpose of management in achieving a growing market share was to sell a quality product that was
not just a chicken. The presentation of a first quality product in every aspect was crucial to this purpose.
The breeding division aimed to give the commercial producer of layers or broilers a genetic package that
achieved high profit margins in current economic circumstances.
In 1979 BP Nutrition acquired Euribrid and it was important to top management, 50 years since the
beginning of the feed division, that they wished to produce more parent sales particularly as exports. At
the end of 1979 Euribrid exported to 80 countries world-wide. Since 1976 every year 45% of the growth
of the breeding division turnover was abroad. In the local market Euribrid products produced between
30 to 40% of division turnover. From a starting point in 1970 Hisex had grown by 251%, Hypor breeding
pigs 186% and Hybro broilers 313%. The export of poultry grew by 394% to 1979 and the pigs grew by
512%.
The managers wanted to see steady growth and stabilization of products within the division. In 1976
poultry started to decline whereas pigs were recovering from a slump in 1974. In 1979 Hisex had a 35%
of the domestic market and worldwide was starting to show stabilization. The view was that a higher
market share could only be achieved with a stronger product differentiation using a very modern
13
distribution and service system. It was preferable that they saw the world trends going to the brown egg
market through the Hisex brown breeding hens. The Hybro broilers, where Euribrid had a domestic
market of 38% in 1979, had a very strong growth of turnover. In 1979 the share of the broiler market was
6% in the world and 5% in the EEC. In the third world countries the broiler was a relatively new product
with a high risk, and the Euribrid main product became the Hybro parent stock. A growth of 8 to 10% per
year was expected.
Hydon Turkeys was a promising new product that was introduced in 1979. Euribrid took over the
bankrupt Coolen BV Indico, a once successful business. The world-wide the production for that year was
300 million and in the EEC 90 million, with an expected growth of about 10% per year.
Hendrix Business Philosophy
Euribrid was following the Hendrix philosophy in the poultry markets in respect of quality, marketing,
product-image, service and product information. The competition was owned by multinational
companies such as the Rockefeller Corporation, Merck, Sharp and Dohme and Cargill all of which were
based in the USA. They focused on product sales, with very low-margins and without intensive product
information and support. In contrast Euribrid gave a very complete information package of the product
and technical services. The breeding products that came as part of Euribrid’s vision were only good if
they fitted in to the specific business model. The division was fully prepared to provide information and
advice for the live product and also husbandry practices. Because the Euribrid product was more
expensive to produce and service, normally it took one or two years before the product differentiation in
the sales results were visible. Success in the American market was difficult. A low exchange rate existed
in the late 70’s and the Americans had cheaper feed and low transport costs. The purchase of Pilch Inc
was to change that whole process permitting a U.S. base for all Euribrid products. The general perception
was that the products were high quality and had a growing market share.
The production manuals supplied by Euribrid were provided as small booklets, slightly smaller than A6
size and were unique in respect of the size in the industry, and as such helped define the brand. Euribrid
staff organised training for customers as part of the service package.
The Hisex Brown and Hybro technical information booklets
14
Ad van Hedel in a training support role
A Euribrid training seminar for world-wide customers
Hendrix and Euribrid combine layer breeding
In 1998 a letter of intent was signed by the boards of Euribrid B.V., a subsidiary of Nutreco Holding N.V.
and Hendrix Poultry Breeders to merge their layer breeding activities (Hisex and Bovans) in a 50/50 joint
venture with the aim of expanding their joint market position and reducing the overall cost base. The
annual turnover of the new company was expected to be approximately 25 million guilders. The Bovans
and Hisex breeds continued to be distributed through the existing channels.
1999 Reorganisation
A letter from the Managing Director
Over the last 12 months Euribrid has been organizing itself into a product group structure for each of its main areas of
activity. The reason for this is to increase the focus on customer service, product quality, and to bring product
development closer to the market place. The result is five clearly defined, self sufficient groups and a compact staff office
to provide some central support services. To better reflect this new organisation structure and to improve
communication to customers and suppliers Euribrid has changed it legal structure and names of legal entities.
The most obvious of these is that Euribrid B.V. has been renamed to Hybro B.V. and will assume only
the activities of our Hybro product group and serve as the basis for our corporate staff. Two new
companies have been established Hifeed B.V. and Hypor B.V. for our feed export and pig breeding
activities respectively. Hybrid Turkeys remains under the legal structure of Nutreco Canada Inc. In October of last
year our layer breeding activities were merged into Hendrix Poultry Breeders B.V. which is a Nutreco
joint venture. In the attached page you will find a complete overview of company names, relevant bank,
telephone, fax, VAT and company registration numbers. Please make a note of those changes that are
relevant to your dealings with our company. Despite these changes to the legal structure, I wish to
assure you that there has been no change in the ownership of Euribrid's activities. The name Euribrid
will continue to be used as the name for all the animal breeding businesses within Nutreco. All of the previous
obligations incurred by Euribrid B.V. will be honoured in the future.
We are dedicated to offering a full continuation of products and services and trust that you will not
suffer any inconvenience from these changes.
Yours sincerely
Antoon van den Berg
Managing Director
15
TOP
Staff
Directors and Managers
,
Bert Hendrix, son of founder was General Manager from 1953 to 1978 then Anton Billiet, a Belgium,
General Manager took over from 1978 to 1992. Mr. Vogels was commercial manager from 1968 to 197,
.followed up bij Mr. Rob Veltman until 1992.
Mr.Marinus van de Eijnden was the manager of Euribrid in the Netherlands up from the beginning to
1987.
Guust van.den Eijnden (founding father of Euribrid) was Managing Director and Research Director until
his death in march 1983.He was also several years member of the executive board of Hendrix Fabrieken
N.V.. His planned successor Mr. Kees Hajer died in an car accident in Mexico in 1982.
Jaap Vente was Director of Research for all products from 1985 to 1988 and afterwards for Hybro to
1992. After leaving he joined Pas Reform, the incubator manufacturer,
Dr. Siem Korver was the next Research Director.
Paul Jeenes was CEO from 1992 to 1997.
Antoon van den Berg was CEO from 1997 until early 2000.Since 2005 he is CEO of Hendrix Genetics.
Aalt Dijkhuizen was CEO from 2001-2002. Since 2007 member of the International Advisory Board of
Hendrix Genetics.
Roald van Noort was CEO from 2002 until 1 June 2007. Under his leadership Euribrid was merged into
Hendrix Genetics.
Richard van Wijnbergen was General Manager of BP Nutrition and the founding father and the first CEO
of Nutreco (management buy out that led to the formation of Nutreco in 1994 and subsequent listing of
Nutreco on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in June 1997. A.o., Henk Bakker, Wout Dekker and Antoon
van den Berg were members of his top team). He was the first CEO of Nutreco until his retirement in
1999. Since 2007 he is Chairman of the International Advisory Board of Hendrix Genetics.
Euribrid UK when set up in 1970 was managed by initially by Jim Colvin and Nelson Thompson was sales
director.
Geneticists
Originally a corn geneticist, Guust van den Eijnden was the head geneticist from the inception.
Ad van Hedel was up from 1962 his assistant for broilers and responsible .
Addie Vereijken, originally a plant breeder, was an assistant to Ad van Hedel in the Hybro program and
for a while was involved in the Hybrid turkey program. He also later moved to the Breeding Research
Department within Nutreco for DNA research.
While distributing Hy-Line, Euribrid were establishing pure lines for Hy-line Brown. Mr. Han Tan, with
periodical assistant of the Hy-line geneticist Loyd Schweitzer was responsible for that layer program.
When Han Tan left in 1966, Kees Haijer took over and was later also responsible for the Hisex white layer
program together with his assistant Theo Peters.
Guust van den Eijnden became Technical Director of Euribrid in 1968. These five steered the breeding
program until 1983 when Kees Haijer was tragically killed while travelling in Mexico and in the same year
Guust van den Eijnden also died.
The geneticists Piet Koeken started his work for the Brown Layer Pure Lines in 1978, and left the
company with the reorganization nin 1993
Jan Sallevelt, starting in Euribrid in 1978 with turkeys, was placed in 1984 on the White egg program ,
with Arian Groot as his assistant, while Theo Peters was concentrating on the Brown egg program. In
1987 Jan Sallevelt moved to the commercial sector and Arian Groot took over his work for the pure lines
for white egglayers.
16
Gerald Albers, who later headed the Breeding Research Department within Nutreco, started his project
on DNA research in 1986. This research centre was started to carry out work on DNA analysis, marker
selections, developing new software to do all the statistics for all the breeding programs; Addie Vereijken
was responsible for the creation of a lot of the statistics software and the general organisation side of the
breeding business.
Ad van Hedel
Ad van Hedel came from a family farm in the south of The Netherlands. He studied biology with
specialism in genetics with specialization in population genetics. He finished study at University in 1961
and stayed one more year as an employee. Then he joined Euribrid for started in the broiler breeding
program. After about 10 years he became more and more independent in guiding the Hybro program. He
was responsible for the Hybro breeding program until 1994. It became progressively technically more
demanding with travelling for sales support an important part of the job. He was also responsible for the
Hypor program and for five years, together with Theo Peters, responsible for the HyLa rabbit program in
France. During 1978 to 1980 Euribrid took over Hybrid’s turkey breeding which entailed travelling to
Canada for 6 years or so.
Arian Groot
Arian Groot was a graduate of Wageningen Agricultural University where he specialised in genetics and
breeding. He joined Euribrid in 1984 as a geneticist for the layer program, starting with the Hisex White,
then after a few years he became responsible for the Hisex White program. In 1993 he took on Hybro
broiler program for about 7 years after which he joined Hendrix Poultry Breeders responsible for layer
sales and marketing and by 2003 was the Sales and Marketing Manager.
TOP
Products: Layers
Euribrid started breeding programs for their brown and white egg layers in the mid-1960’s and initially
launched the Hisex Brown in 1968 followed by the Hisex White 2 years later. The development of the
Brown Layer in 1964 , the Hyline Brown, was eventually with the support of Hy-Line when the brown egg
market in Europe was rapidly expanding. But after2 years of terrible results with the Hyline Brown (the
844), Euribrid decided to go their own way with creating the Hisex Brown.
The company was unable to use the letter Y in the name of their new layers. So while it could not be
Hysex, a product differentiation was achieved with Hisex. There was also a ruling that governed the use
of capital letters in product names; so in various publications hisex white and hisex brown may be seen,
or a mix of Hisex white and Hisex Brown. The unravelling of this naming has been avoided here and
capital letters are used.
Hisex Brown
The Hisex Brown was the first own layer Euribrid marketed. Brown egg sales were increasing throughout
Europe in the 1960’s and in Britain in 1970 there was a close balance between white and brown egg
sales. The Brown was entered in RST in Britain and at the Northern Ireland, Gosford RST in 1969/70 the
Hisex Brown produced 250.6 at 72 weeks of age. It was also the best brown egg layer, and, when the
brown egg price bonus was added in, came second overall, just five pence behind the white egg winner.
The feed conversion was 2.225kg feed/ doz. eggs, with an average food intake of 130g/day. Mortality
was 6.5 per cent and the final average carcase weight was 2.370kg. This was a result that gave the Brown
credibility for prospective purchasers and there was a definite improvement in commercial performance
over that seen in the mid-1960s, and this also no doubt helped the cause of the Hisex White when
introduced the following year. The manager of Euribrid Ltd in the UK, Jim Colvin, was confident of the
17
prospects for both Brown and White on the basis that his order books were full up to the end of March
1971 helped no doubt the very good result in the Gosford trials.
Measuring shell deformation of Hisex Brown eggs
A 1970 Poultry International advertisement claimed that on commercial farms throughout Western
Europe with a sample size of 100,000 birds the Brown produced 267.8 eggs over 13 months, a feed
conversion of 2.87, an average egg weight of 63.1g and a mortality of 12.7%. It was claimed that: “the
results showed that the hisex brown produces the most possible eggs, on the least feed practical and at
the lowest practical cost. hisex brown eggers do offer extra profit potential because of their more prolific
egg production, the unexcelled quality of their eggs, their hardier livability during both rearing and laying
and their thriftier feed conversion. Because of its extreme docility, the hisex brown is an exceptionally
easy bird to manage, and will readily adapt itself to almost every environment. Moreover, hisex brown
has a good carcase at the end of lay.”
A Hisex Brown in the 1990’s (Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
An independent review of the Hisex Brown was presented in a
Poultry Testing Assessment dated July 1971 following the Gosford
1969/70 Trials:
“What kind of bird is the Hisex Brown? It is one of the smallest body
brown egg stocks, tends to mature early and like a number of them has
the brown and white feather markings. When one visits the Euribrid
Headquarters in Boxmeer, meets the young and enthusiastic team of
technical and commercial staff and sees the way they organise the
development and production of their stocks one is extremely impressed.
Compared with some of the other international poultry breeders, Euribrid
are relatively new to the scene. The fact that they have stocks throughout
the world apparently performing well, indicates just how hard they have
worked and how dedicated they are to their aims of achieving a major slice of the world's stock markets. This
performance of the Hisex Brown in public laying tests can only be measured on a few tests that finished in 1970.
The bird is in a large number of tests in the current year but only interim results are available at this stage. The
information on the Hisex Brown, from public laying tests, is confined to 1969-70 tests at Gosford in Northern
Ireland, Ploufragan in France and Starbroek and Merelbeke in Belgium. In these tests the level of performance of
the Hisex Brown have in each case has been compared with the performances of other brown egg stocks. The
comparisons are made with the 'leading group’ of brown egg entries, i.e. those birds with the highest profit scores
in each test. Comparison with the test averages has the disadvantage that it is only the average of stocks in that
particular test. It is safer to assume that the best stocks will enter the tests. Therefore the 'leading group’ is likely to
18
be a fair assessment of what is currently best whereas the test average is unlikely to be an assessment of the
average of all stocks available.”
Hisex White
Euribrid held the franchise for the Hy-Line White until 1970 and then launched their own white egg
layer, the Hisex White. It was the fourth product launched by Euribrid which had already launched
Brown, Hybro Broiler and the Hypor hybrid pig. From January 1970 they started to warn their business
associates that they were going to change. A press release in Poultry International in November 1970
stated that the company was intending to distribute the Hy-Line layer for some years to come. In
September the change from Hy-Line to Hisex White began. At the time of launching the bird slotted
between the ultralight weight and the medium hybrid, which had a level of food consumption then
regarded as unacceptable. It had the size and temperament to stand up to commercial farm conditions
but meet the 108-114g/day consumption requirement of that period in Europe.
The first Hisex White for commercial sale
(Reproduced with permission Poultry International)
It was introduced into the UK in October 1970 through the already
established distribution of Euribrid Ltd. Euribrid marketed the bird as
capable of about 280 to 290 eggs in a 13 month laying period with an
average egg weight of 61g. The body weight at 20 and 72 weeks of age was 1.450kg and 1.980kg,
respectively. Typical feed conversion was 2.64 with a feed energy level of 2750-2800 kcals/kg The White
had mortality levels of 5.3% during rearing and 1% per month during lay; it was claimed to have
outstanding levels of disease resistance and was easy to manage in cages or on litter.
A Hisex White in the 1990’s (Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
19
Left Measuring food intake in Hisex White males, Right Pedigree egg collection
The period of introduction of the Hisex White and Brown layers broadly coincided with the peaking of
the number of RST being conducted throughout Europe and North America. Being first, second or third in
any category, or overall, in a Test was always a significant marketing opportunity for a breeding
company. In 1973 Euribrid announced that throughout Europe the Hisex White achieved nine first places,
three second places and three third places in the 15 tests they had entered. And they staked a claim that
the White was the most profitable white egg layer in the world.
The Random Sample Egg Production Tests in the U.S. and Canada and Europe were analysed in two year
segments to adjust for year, test location and housing effects. The simple data were adjusted and then
regressed to account for variations in the number of tests entered, number of years entered and the
number of replicates per test. The results were presented every two years starting in 1960 in the U.S.
and 1978 in Europe. In the U.S. a publication was produced by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture and in Europe, a report was published initially by the Agricultural
Development and Advisory Service (ADAS) in England and later in the World’s Poultry Science Journal.
The Americans completed the statistical analyses of all the data and presented 80% confidence limits.
These confidence limits are shown in Income over feed and chick costs only in the tables below. In
Europe the results were presented showing stocks that were significantly better (+) or worse (-) than the
average at the 10% level of significance.
When the Hisex White was first entered in the American RST, some notable breeds were absent,
particularly Warren and DeKalb. But included was the Thornber 808 hybrid from Mytholmroyd,
Yorkshire, England and Kath Line from the Vechta district in Lower Saxony, Germany. Thornbers began
poultry breeding in 1906 and in 1955 was probably the first of European breeder to produce a hybrid
layer. By entering the American RST they were attempting to establish themselves in that market. The
Kathmann family began poultry breeding in 1892 and produced the Kath Line hybrid layer in 1958,
probably the second European company to breed a hybrid layer. They established a base in Canada and
entered the American RST to extend a foothold in the N. American market. Thus uniquely there were
three European breeders in the early 70’s trying to become established in the North American market.
Only Euribrid was successful. The results were summarized in 1972-74 RST report. In the tables below all
the American data have been sorted by the IOFAVCC and all the European data have been sorted by the
egg production number.
Breeder
An extract from the 1972-74 two-year Combined Summary of the U.S. and Canadian RST.
IOFACC $
Strain
Laying
Egg Production
Egg Weight
Mean (80% CL)
Mortality %
HH Number
g
White Shells
Shaver
Babcock
Euribrid
Park’s PF
Starcross 288
B-300
Hisex White
Keystone B-1
5.6
9.5
8.0
6.3
245
242
242
233
3.73a
3.65ab
3.46abc
3.37bc
60.8
60.3
60.0
59.6
20
Thornber PBD
Kath Line
808
H 63
9.3
11.9
220
212
3.26bcd
2.93d
59.1
58.9
Brown Shells
Harco
Sex Link
5.4
225
3.31a
62.7
Babcock
B-380
6.1
233
3.24a
61.9
Welp’s PBF
650N
4.6
229
3.21a
60.3
Tatum Farms
T-173
5.6
226
3.19a
62.7
Hubbard FI
Golden Comet
5.0
223
3.13a
63.6
Shaver
Starcross 579
8.1
211
2.70b
62.2
Means (within shell colour) with the same postscripts are not significantly different at the 5% level
Breeder
Shaver
Euribrid
Hubbard
Babcock
DeKalb
DeKalb
Strain
Laying
Egg Production
Mortality %
HH Number
White Shells
288
Hisex White
Hubbard Leghorn
B-300
XL
K-137
3.9
4.5
5.6
6.3
8.8
8.9
258
257
251
242
244
224
IOFAVCC
$
Egg Weight
g
5.14a
5.14a
4.64b
4.46b
4.32bc
4.08c
61.2
59.6
60.0
58.9
59.6
59.6
Brown Shells
Shaver
579
2.7
237
4.42a
62.4
DeKalb
Amber Link
3.3
242
4.37a
60.8
Hubbard
Golden Comet
7.1
230
4.26a
62.2
Warren
SSL F
3.2
233
4.15ab
63.6
Babcock
B-380
3.1
234
3.86b
61.7
This was last combined summary of the U.S. and Canadian RST.
Breeder
Shaver
Euribrid
Babcock
DeKalb
H&N
Hubbard
Strain
Laying
Mortality %
Egg
Production
HH Number
White Shells
288
Hisex White
B-300 V
XL
Nick Chick
Hubbard Leghorn
5.0
5.3
6.2
6.0
6.9
7.7
256
257
249
251
238
245
IOFACC
$
Egg Weight
g
5.09a
5.05a
4.95a
4.89a
4.43b
4.40b
63.4
60.3
61.0
61.0
59.6
61.0
Brown shell
Shaver
579
3.9
242
4.76a
65.0
DeKalb
Amber Link
5.5
250
4.72a
62.9
Hubbard
Golden Comet
5.6
244
4.64a
63.1
Babcock
B-380
3.9
249
4.58a
64.5
DeKalb Warren
SSL F
5.1
238
4.53a
65.5
An extract from the Combined European RST completed in 1978
Breeder
Euribrid
Shaver
Strain
Hisex White
288
Egg
Feed efficiency
Production
HH Number
White Shells
270+
268+
2.66+
2.63+
Egg Mass
Kg
Egg Weight
g
15.5
15.8
58.260.4
21
Lohmann
DeKalb
Babcock
LSL
XL
B-300
262
260
259
Euribrid
Bovans
Warren
Babcock
Hubbard
Hisex Brown
GL54
SSL
B380
Golden Comet
2.70
2.69
2.69
15.3
15.4
14.8-
60.6
58.958.2-
Brown shell
259
2.79256
2.71
272+
2.66+
261
2.70
256
2.76
15.4
16.3+
17.0+
16.0
15.5
60.2
62.4+
63.4+
62.7+
60.6
+ or – strain deviates from the average in a desirable or undesirable direction at the 10% level of significance
Breeder
Strain
Euribrid
Shaver
Lohmann
DeKalb
Babcock
Hisex White
288
LSL
XL
B-300
Euribrid
Bovans
ISA
Babcock
Lohmann
DeKalb
Hubbard
Hisex Brown
GL54
Brown
B380
LB
GL
Golden Comet
Egg
Feed efficiency
Production
HH Number
White Shells
Egg Mass
Kg
Egg Weight
g
292+
2.47+
283
2.54+
282
2.52+
276
2.58
2702.64
Brown shell
286+
2.60
279
2.62
276
2.66276
2.65
276
2.71271
2.63
270
2.62
17.6
17.7
17.7
16.9
16.2
59.8
62.3
62.2
60.6
59.3
18.0
17.9
17.4
17.5
17.4
17.5
16.8
62.7
64.3
64.1
63.4
63.0
65.0
62.8
Breeder
Strain
Egg
Feed efficiency
Production
HH Number
White Shells
Lohmann
DeKalb
Bovans
Euribrid
Hubbard
Shaver
Babcock
LSL
XL
White
Hisex White
White
288
B-300
303
294
291
289
287
281
278
ISA
Lohmann
DeKalb
Hisex
Hubbard
Brown
LB
GL
Brown
Golden Comet
292
288
284
282
268
Egg Mass
Kg
Egg Weight
g
2.35
2.38
2.37
2.42
2.49
2.47
2.49
18.8
17.8
18.2
17.8
17.7
17.3
17.0
61.9
60.4
62.1
61.5
61.5
61.3
60.8
2.41
2.49
2.52
2.48
2.67
18.7
18.2
18.0
18.2
17.0
64.3
63.2
63.3
64.7
63.3
Brown shell
A statistical analysis was not carried out on these results
Breeder
Lohmann
Strain
Egg
Feed efficiency
Production
HH Number
White Shells
LSL
306+
2.29
Egg Mass
Kg
Egg Weight
g
19.1
62.3-
22
DeKalb
Hisex
Shaver
XL
White
288
Hy-Line
ISA Warren
Lohmann
Hisex
DeKalb
Brown
SSL
LB
Brown
GL
305+
2.31
302+
2.31
300
2.28
Brown shell
301
2.33
300
2.28
300
2.24+
295
2.30
294
2.46-
18.518.518.6-
60.961.562.0-
19.2
19.5+
19.6+
19.0
18.4-
63.6
65.3+
65.1+
64.3
62.4-
Breeder
Strain
Egg
Feed efficiency
Production
HH Number
White Shells
Bovans
Lohmann
Hisex
DeKalb
ISA Babcock
Shaver
White
LSL
White
XL
B-300
288
Bovans
ISA Warren
Hisex
Lohmann
Shaver
Hy-Line
DeKalb
GL
SSL
Brown
LB
579
Brown
GL
311+
309+
305
301
297
295Brown shell
310+
304
300
298
295
293292-
Egg Mass
Kg
Egg Weight
g
2.11+
2.13+
2.18
2.13+
2.10+
2.25-
18.5
19.8
19.1
18.7
17.9
18.5
59.864.1+
62.862.5
60.362.9
2.17
2.11+
2.202.16
2.13
2.212.33-
19.7
19.3
19.4
19.1
18.4
18.7
18.5
63.7
63.7
64.7+
64.2+
62.263.2
63.5
An extract from the Combined European RST completed in 1997 and 1998
Breeder
Strain
Egg
Feed efficiency
Production
HH Number
White Shells
Lohmann
Bovans
Hisex
Shaver
LSL
White
Hisex White
288
Bovans
Hisex
Hy-Line
ISA-Warren
Lohmann
GL
Brown
Brown
SSL
LB
321+
319+
319+
305Brown shell
322+
315
315
312312-
Egg Mass
Kg
Egg Weight
g
2.14+
2.21
2.16+
2.23-
19.9
19.0
19.4
19.3
62.059.560.963.4+
2.19
2.20
2.21
2.15+
2.17+
20.3
19.7
19.8
19.7
19.5
63.3+
62.7
62.8
63.0+
62.5
23
Breeding Systems Hisex2
At that time an important part of the Hisex breeding program was to have breeding facilities with a
replicated uniform environment across all buildings so that all the birds have the opportunity to perform
to their genetic potential in the same conditions. Euribrid constructed three identical breeding facilities
that became the heart of the program producing the data on which genetic improvement is based.
The second feature of the program is optimal biosecurity to keep all the birds free from diseases.
Hendrix Genetics have a large gene pool and the safety of these unique lines is paramount to keeping the
ability to create products for customers as the commercial production systems change over time. The
gene pool was expanded substantially when DeKalb was purchased in 2000. DeKalb’s gene pool included
lines from Warren, Dryden and Kimber; just prior to the sale to Hendrix DeKalb was producing 13
different commercial products. All the lines were copied and brought to the Stevensbeek farm which
was emptied to accommodate all the DeKalb gene pool. This allowed the lines to be monitored for a few
generations for “genetic quality”, to examine the birds for the incidence of disease problems such as
leucosis, salmonella and mycoplasma.
Now the breeding values of all lines are estimated using the BLUP system. All the main facilities were set
up to measure feed intake so that FCR testing is conducted on all lines. All the main commercial lines are
included in a broad recurrent selection test program. The males are tested on all the main lines and for
the most important lines a reciprocal recurrent test is carried out. The tests are replicated in three
countries – The Netherlands, Guatemala and Canada. In 2003 there were approximately 250,000
recurrent test birds in the field.
Another important element of the breeding program is to recognise the several types of customers who
are involved in the distribution and production chain. The delicate balance is maintained between the
final product and the parent stocks traits. Very early in the set up of breeding program quite a lot of
emphasis and selection pressure was placed on parent stock traits, because the hatcheries and parent
stock farms are the first customers. There was recognition that a good performance was required in RST
in order to sell the birds, so improvement of traits of the commercial hen must keep pace with the
competition.
An equally important philosophy is that a balanced selection is maintained over the different traits and
that any improvements are gradual, so that at each replacement of stock there are “No surprises for the
customers”. For instance if there is a need to change egg size in one product it is changed gradually so
that other traits are not adversely affected. There is an ever present possibility that pushing a trait in a
desired direction might produce change in an undesirable direction in one or more other traits to the
overall detriment of the final product.
There are several pure lines farms in which all the houses are equipped with the so-called Filtered Air
Positive Pressure system as part of the maintenance of biosecurity; the farms are also completely
enclosed by fences and have a service room for staff. Every 14 days all the houses for pure lines and
grandparents
are
checked
for
all
the
important
diseases.
There is an egg research laboratory where the quality (shell strength, shell colour, albumen quality,
inclusions) of the eggs of all hens are tested. An initial selection of the best families is based on laying
house performance and egg quality. Hatching eggs are produced and the resultant chicks are grown as
pure line replacements and grandparents. At 16 weeks the final selection is based on the BLUP and other
information. The accuracy of the breeding value estimates is steadily improving particularly in the low h2
traits. This has enabled selection decisions to be made earlier and the generation interval is decreased as
a consequence. The best families go to the laying houses and the rest go to GPs farms. One of the farms
containing the gene pool lines is used more as a test farm to anticipate other regulations such as not
debeaking, alternative housing and questions about vaccination programs.
2
The breeding program applies to all the layer products in Hendrix Genetics (Bovans, Euribrid and DeKalb) at the
time (2003) that the main bulk of the information was gathered for this historical story.
24
The other crucial factor to work with is time; the time taken for genetic progress to reach the commercial
level. There is always a three year lead time; products are produced in the anticipation of what will be
required in three to four years across a range of markets.
There are two components in the breeding program. One is the pure line information under ideal
circumstances on the pure line farms and the other is the recurrent test information and reciprocal
recurrent test information from the field. The latter is the crossbred performance under field conditions
from which heterosis is also measured. These tests also include experimental crosses. Besides the
experimental lines those of the competition are measured. Competitors cooperate in these tests. The
locations of hatching eggs of specific crosses of the competitor’s stocks are provided so the right
hatching eggs are obtained.
The selection environment for the pure lines is housing in single cages, but in the recurrent tests multibird cages (five or six) are used to make performance reflect the commercial environment. Within a test
country (Guatemala, Canada, W. Europe) the housing environment and feed quality is different.
The big white egg markets of Brazil, Japan and the U.S. use corn-soya feeds whereas in Europe a lot of
by-products are used so it is important that the recurrent tests are tested on different feeds. In the pure
line farms it is important to keep the flocks disease free. But in the recurrent tests there is disease
pressure and that is important for the selection for robustness and disease resistance.
In the recurrent tests males are combined with C and D females and produce approximately 100
crossbred offspring. After rearing, all the half-sibs are housed in multi-bird cages (five or six). All the data
is collected on a cage basis and a lot of repeats are needed to increase the repeatability to make the data
more accurate.
The main production traits under selection are egg numbers,liveability, sexual maturity, feed conversion
and laying persistency. A lot of emphasis is placed on persistency because currently hens are more or
less at optimum age of sexual maturity and there are very limited further genetic gains in peak
production. In egg size the main emphasis is on early egg size and not to large at the end of lay
The main thrust is to improve feed conversion by increasing egg mass output rather than decreasing feed
intake. Thus feed intake is monitored to ensure hens eat enough. Pure line hens have individual feed
containers with enough feed for eight or nine days at which time it is weighed, emptied and refilled. The
feed intake measurement starts at the moment that it is not affected by sexual maturity.
Body weight is important in relation to feed conversion and is also correlated with egg size. In some
markets the spent hen is of value. For instance in South America where the value is about US$2 it is very
critical to have an end of lay body weight around 2.0kg. Because the Nera is coming close to a dual
purpose hen, the right body size is important.
Egg quality. For every hen in the pure lines egg numbers during the complete laying cycle are recorded
using hand held computers. Eggs are weighed regularly over the laying cycle and quality tests are carried
out on these eggs: shell colour in the brown lines (the West European and Asian markets like dark shells
with good uniformity), shell strength, Haugh Units (albumen quality is particularly important in those
products that are marketed in Japan), blood and meat spots. Egg quality is also measured in the
recurrent tests.
Reproduction. All families are hatched individually so fertility and hatchability data is monitored
continuously. Similar data is available for the males in the Rec.test program .
25
Promising areas in biotechnology are researched at Nutreco labotory (and collaborating University
departments) where common developments can be progressed. Mr Gerard Albers, head of Breeding
Research, coordinates the work for all the groups: layers, broilers, pigs, turkeys, and salmon,
The products of the competitors are tested with the company products in-house. The RST are useful as
long all the main competitors enter providing an independent estimate of relative performance. The
Bovans, DeKalb and Hisex products are entered in all current RST including those that are on alternative
systems. Many customers may have the resources to conduct in-house assessments of competing
products, performances in their unique environment is the most valuable. For many customers the RST
can act as a useful guide to potential new products, prior to conducting an in-house test.
DNA-markers and related technology are used for three purposes:
1 evaluating lines by their fingerprints to determine how close they are genetically and that is used to
make certain combinations.
2 to use the DNA profile to control the pedigree.
3 to explore different aspects of physiology in e.g. ascites tests, robustness and disease resistance.
However in the day-to-day selection it is not yet used intensively as a selection tool. All of the R&D
information is combined with the computer generated performance and breeding value information and
the geneticist makes the final decisions.
TOP
Products-Broilers
Hybro
The Hybro Logo
In 1955, independent of the breeding team at Hy-Line, after a very large investment and years of hard
work on the original farm in Lanaken, the Belgium team created a broiler that initially was a cross
between brown single cross hens and English Sussex roosters. The second version launched in 1956 as
the first hybrid broiler was derived from four synthetic lines from stock of various origins including the
American White Cornish and White Plymouth Rock. The first sales were parent stock in 1957 to Belgium.
These produced a white feathered, white skinned broiler.
At the outset the Hybro tended towards a heavy weight layer with outstanding hatchability, livability and
FCR. Euribrid sister companies controlled distribution in seven European countries and the remainder
were administrated either by joint companies or by exclusive franchise holders. While that degree of
involvement with marketing is expensive for a breeder it ensured that control over quality, reproduction
and distribution was maintained.
Sexing
26
The Hybro geneticists set out before anyone else to sex broilers at day-old with the view to rearing them
separately. Initially sexing was by early and late feathering genes and was prompted by the fact that
Dutch packers offered premiums for sexed broiler day-olds. It was fairly common in The Netherlands for
male broilers to be sent to the processing station a week before the females, thus securing higher and
more even grading. This system gave growers considerable savings at no extra cost to themselves.
Feather sexing was introduced in 1966. A compromise feeding programme is necessary in "as hatched”
growing. Whereas with separate sexes specific rations can be formulated and real economies achieved
because (in the 60’s) females could be changed to a cheaper finishing ration at three to four weeks,
whereas males should not be changed until four to five weeks. It also meant that the grower could clear
the entire female flock ahead of the males because their feed conversion efficiency drops after eight
weeks. Sexed growing also meant a closer uniformity of weights.
female !!!!
male
Sexing the Hybro broiler.
The primary flight feathers in the male are almost twice as long as the secondary coverts
(Reproduced with permission Poultry World)
Later a trait was fixed that gave males a superficial gold down around their heads, while the rest of the
down was white. Whether this was successful or not at the commercial level has not been documented.
As the breeding progressed the stock were taken to Milheeze 25km from Boxmeer. Milheeze was
established in 1956 after permission had been granted to import stock from Belgium under strict
quarantine regulations. The female lines were established at Milheeze with the White skin males lines
kept in Lanaken and the Yellow skin parents were bred at Boxmeer.
Market Share
The effectiveness of the product and the distribution was to see the Hybro achieve a market share in
Continental Europe of 24% in 1964, 30% in 1967 and 33% in 1968. Initially the main markets outside The
Netherlands were Belgium, France, Germany, Spain and Italy where the main product was parent stock.
A Hybro Mini was developed for the French market. In Eastern Europe important countries were Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and the Soviet Union. The USSR, DDR and Bulgaria took delivery of stock and
every five years or so made a request for more. In the USSR the business started in 1967 and later
purchased pure lines. Not necessarily the best lines were delivered but out of 30 or so lines held by
Hybro, four lines that could be regarded as A, B, C and D, were delivered. With each delivery Euribrid also
had meetings or colloquia in Boxmeer or Moscow. In Bulgaria the deliveries were on a smaller scale and
replacements were often only just one line. Hybro maintained a 30 to 33% market share in the early 70’s.
At that time sales of their parent stock were six to seven million/ year in Europe.
27
Hybro parent stock of the 1960’s (Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
A Hybro broiler in the 1990’s (Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
Male and female Hybro parents of the 1990’s (Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
In South Africa Hybro mainly sold to Rainbow Farms, which were as Grandparents, from 1972 to 1982. In
the 70’s Korea, Japan and Philippines in the Far East, and the Middle East countries mostly purchased
Parent stock. However, in Arbil region of Iraq for instance, Grandparent stock was purchased.
The USA Market
Hybro had wanted to be in the USA market for some time and realised this by purchasing Pilch from
DeKalb in 1973; although some Hybro grandparents were in Oregon in the early 70s these were not used
to produce parents for the USA market. The breeding program of Pilch was based in Iowa. The Pilch
product had a slightly less productive breeder and a faster growing broiler, and although all lines were
available to be utilized none were swapped between the two breeding programmes. The breeding
28
programmes maintained and improved the distinction between the Pilch and Hybro products. Pilch had
been in The Netherlands from about 1963 with parent stock with certain broiler integration companies,
yet not in competition with Hybro. Pilch continued its operations in the USA for another 20 years finally
closing in 1993. The facilities at Troutman were leased to an integrated broiler company in North
Carolina, some of the staff joining the integration. Euribrid management had decided to withdraw the
Pilch product from the U.S. market because it was not entirely suited to U.S. conditions and management. New product development and testing was underway in the Netherlands and a return to the
U.S. market was planned when the company had a product that was suited to the needs of the U.S.
industry. Pilch customers in The Netherlands were supplied for a short time using Grandparent stock.
Global Distribution
By 1965 Hybro had an impressive list of distributing companies across the globe:
Authorised HYBRO Distributors (Poultry International, 1965)
Europe
Austria
Belgium
France
GB and Ireland
Germany
Greece
The Netherlands
Italy
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Africa
Ghana
Kenya
Rhodesia
Togo
North America
Middle East
Iran
Iraq
Lebanon
Turkey
Asia
Ceylon
Japan
Okinawa
Philippines
Republic of China (Taiwan)
Hybrid Beratungsdienst Urlaubskreuzstrasse No. 192 Maria-Enzersdorf, NiederOesterreich
Hybro Belgium Schoonhovenbos 10 Aarschot, Belgium
Hybro France 92, Rue des Resistants Armentieres (Nord), France
Hy-Bred Poultry, Ltd. Hyfield, Chester High Road Neston, Wirral, Cheshire,
England
Hybro Deutschland, Deutsche Geflugel-Hochzucht G.m.b.H,
Postfach 205, 455 Hesepe Post Bramsche, Germany
Mr. Takis Georgasopoulos 13, Ippokratous Street Athens, Greece
Hybro, The Netherlands P. O. Box 30 Boxmeer, The Netherlands
Euribrid S.p.A. Via Zamboni, 9 Bologna, Italy
Granja Minaya, S. A. , Carretera del Pinar (la Rubia) Apartado 205 Valladolid,
Spain
Hybro Scandinavia P. O. Box 33 Viken, Sweden
Hybrida AG, Schijpfheim, Luzern, Switzerland
Ghana State Farms Corporation P. O. Box 2309, Accra, Ghana
Mr A. J. Winmill, Ministry of Agriculture, Dept. of Veterinary Service, P. O.
Kabete, Kenya
Mr. Charles Stewart Alexandra Avenue P. O. Box 69 Hartley, Rhodesia
St. Anthony Poultry Farm, Box 90, Lome, Republic of Togo
Wallace Chicks Inc, PO Box 20004, St. Petersburg, Florida 33702, U.S.A.
Baby Cock, Avenue Shanaz Janbe Banke Melli Foroshgahe Jojeh Khorooss, Tehran,
Iran
Mr. S. Shadid Al-Whatba Street, P. O.Box 203 Baghdad, Irak
Mr. Fouad Salaam, P.O. Box 3617 Beirut, Lebanon
Mr. A. N. Katircioglu, Resadiye Caddesi No. 18, Eskisehir, Turkey
Three Acre Farms, Ltd. 2 Kotelawala Gardens Colombo, 4, Ceylon
Hy-Deo & Company, Ltd. Likura Building 11, 1-chome 5, Higashi Azabu,
Minatoku, Tokyo, Japan
East Asia Breeding Stock Co., 588, Arakawa-baru Aza Arakawa, Haebaru-son,
Okinawa (Ryukyu Islands)
Winmar Poultry Farm, Inc. R-501 Paramount Building Rosario St., P. O. Box
749 Manila,Philippines
Tung Ying Industrial Co., Ltd., H 42 Sec 1, Ti Hwa Street Taipei, Taiwan
In 1969 Euribrid started a subsidiary in Dozwill, Switzerland, for the distribution of Hybro stock under the
management of Franciscus X. Furrer. This subsidiary took over from Hybrida A. G.
29
In the UK, Euribrid Ltd. was a change of company name from HyBred Poultry Ltd, based at Neston on the
Wirral Peninsula. Although a small farm over 90 per cent
of Euribrid's UK output was directed through production
centres in Ireland. Grandparent stock were at Hi-Lay
Holdings Ltd., at Dundalk, Eire.
From these sources hatching eggs were imported in to
Neston which were then redistributed by road, while some
deliveries went direct to Aberdeen, for instance, which
could only take eggs supplied from Ireland, since at that
time all poultry movements into Scotland were prohibited
for biosecurity reasons.
Further back in the supply chain, contract farmers played
an important part in Euribrid's method of obtaining
hatching eggs. This was particularly true in Northern
Ireland, where in 1969, 30 and 40 farmers were involved in
this way, with less than 10 in England. The reason for the
popularity of Ireland was its comparatively disease-free
status gave breeders a chance to sell stock into any other part of Britain and, if required, other European
countries with no fear of quarantine regulation "reprisals". However there were higher feed costs than in
England, and a high quarantine charge imposed by the Ministry of Agriculture, but these costs did not
outweigh the advantage of low disease incidence.
Breeding Programme
Customers always had a choice of white or yellow skin broilers and a mini, although the mini was phased
out when a significant share of the French market was not realised. The Hybro selection team always
focused on a balanced bird and customers were able to request faster progress in the development of
the broiler traits or breeder traits. This segmentation occurred in the late 1980’s and in time to the
named separate products.
Initially all the normal size products were from parents with very high chick production and this was
eventually called the Hybro N (feather sexable), where the emphasis was on breeder performance for
the middle of the road customers. Field results covering 60 flocks of Hybro N showed an average peak
production of 83%, with 88% peak hatchability. High production coupled with low feed consumption was
the key to Hybro N's high return on investment. The progress in seven week body weight from 1985 to
1990 was 2.0 to 2.3kg, with FCR improving from 2.03 to 1.94.
The Hybro G (non-feather sexable) was developed for the meat yield segment market with breeders
achieving an acceptable performance. The trend towards valuable parts continued. Further processors
were especially in the market for prime parts. Hybro put great emphasis on broiler characteristics to
achieve a maximum yield for every link in the food chain. This meant an increase in the percentage of
prime parts but also on the quality of the meat. Another development was the separate feeding of
breeder males leading to improved fertility. More attention was given to disease prevention and
resistance, e.g. by analysis of the MHC-complex, underlining the quality of the breeders and broilers.
Euribrid recognized that the changes in demand and narrow margins left little room for 'moderate' or
'good'; only 'excellent' paid off.
Weighing broilers (Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
By 2000 more divergence had taken place with the Hybro BG, Hybro BN, and Hybro G being marketed.
Where the BN focused on breeder performance, with a very good broiler, BG gave a faster growing
broiler where the main criteria were the performance of the broiler breeder package including the
broiler growth rate. The Hybro G was the same brand of the early 90’s which focused on the bottom line
30
performance, mostly on FCR to reduce feed cost and breast
meat yield to increase the output for further processing in
completely integrated companies. To develop the G brand,
the company undertook extensive carcass evaluation.
Agreements with processors were set up to do the cut-up
work. All the pure lines and various line combinations were
evaluated. Final products of the competitors that were
available in The Netherlands were purchased to undergo
carcass evaluation.
The Mini (yellow skin) was strictly for the French market. The
Mini did not take off world-wide. Although ISA marketed the
Vedete as the broiler breeder of the future no other countries
followed. So because the French market was too small to have
a breeding program devoted to a mini it was stopped.
At the outset Hybro was bred for physical strength and
performance. With a female parent that produced so many
eggs, the Hybro selection programme had a head start to
obtain improvements in broiler performance. Hybro, like
many of its competitors, was bred for the slaughter house
traits, meat percentage and yield, and the growing house
performance, growth rate, feed conversion and livability. Feed costs, all of which vary widely from
country to country, were and still are the largest single cost in broiler production. On average, in the
60’s, it accounted for about 70% of all costs. Although feed costs were important growth rate was also
crucial. It was recognized from the beginning of the breeding program that the fewer days that it takes a
broiler to reach its specified weight, the shorter the feeding time and efficiency would improve. And
finally regardless of the feed conversion efficiency and cost of feed, if a bird is culled because of leg
weakness before it reaches slaughter weight feed efficiency decreases. This has a larger effect in the
latter half of the growing period when the majority of the feed costs have already been incurred.
The costs of a breeding program rise when a full selection program is under way. Initially a total of
300,000 birds were being used in basic breeding research. The cost of putting a male in pedigree pens in
1968 was put at £100 by Dr van Hedel. At Milheez, about 40 lines were maintained of which four were
used for the commercial product. From the four lines 1,000 of each sex were hatched every week and
selection began at eight weeks, when it was mainly concerned with growth rate. The numbers were
reduced to 200 females and 50 males and were retained until 10 months of age when selection for
breeding potential reduced the numbers to seven pens of 14 birds with a male in each pen. To simplify
record keeping the females were held in individual cages until the final selection for the breeding pen
stage was made. Thus selection improved growth rate and breeding characteristics at the same time.
Artificial insemination of Hybro females (Courtesy of Hendrix Genetics)
The "small' line was from a recessive dwarf mutation that occurred, reducing bodyweight by one-third
and became the female line of the mini. Egg weight was similar to the normal Hybro but there was a
considerable reduction in food consumption and in the final product a normal-size Hybro parent male
masked the dwarf gene thus producing a normal broiler chick.
Thirty years after its introduction the Hybro broiler traits (feed conversion and high percentage of
valuable parts) still had highest priority. This resulted in an improvement of the live weight from 2kg by
49 days with a FCR 2.03 in 1985 to 2.3 kg and 1.94 FCR in 1990. Newly added selection traits, such as a
strong skeletal frame and resistance against specific diseases were in this group of characteristics.
31
Breeding a better breeder was important where the cost price of day old broilers is of primary
importance. Separate feeding during the laying period in the first place enabled Euribrid to breed heavier
males without hurting hatching results. It also activated the market for Hybro mini where separate male
feeding is necessary.
Hyla Rabbits3
The rabbit breeding program was in France where the market for rabbit breeders was larger than the
rest of Europe combined. The idea was to follow the broiler pattern- selling parent stock around the
country. A French geneticist was appointed to conduct the breeding program starting in 1968.The rabbit
breeding industry was well organized but not industrialized. Industrialization in the rabbit industry was
much slower than the experience with broiler. This breeding program continued for five years and then
stopped because of the slowness of industrial development program.
Turkeys
In the late 70’s Euribrid took over the Coolen Turkey Breeding program (INDICO). When Jan Sallevelt
joined Euribrid one of his first activities was the Coolen turkey program and marketing of the Hydon was
continued. About one year later Euribrid acquired Hybrid Turkeys of Canada and all the Coolen genetic
material was transferred. The history of Hybrid Turkeys of Canada is covered elsewhere in this historical
series.
TOP
Marketing
Reproduced with permission of Hendrix Genetics
The two images above were used in a Poultry Industry advertisement in 1970 at the time when the Hisex
White was introduced. The image of the White, a sort of cardboard cut-out, was a puzzle when on the
same page in the advertisement an artwork of a Brown’s head is shown.
3
Rabbits were always considered a part of a poulterer’s (one who deals in dead fowls and game) products and are
included here in the Euribrid story; however the Hypor products are excluded from this part of the Euribrid story
for this reason.
32
Reproduced with permission of Hendrix Genetics
In November 1970 the company ran an advertisement in Poultry International outlining their marketing
plan for all their products -Hybro, Hisex and Hy-Line- featuring the fingerprint chick shown above, which
seems to imply that the products and services offered were as unique as a fingerprint. It was more than
10 years before DNA fingerprinting was first used as a term in genetic research.
One of the main strategies in marketing was that Euribrid claimed that customers purchased results and
research:
“Euribrid, with headquarters in the Netherlands, is one of the largest animal breeding organizations in the world, a
thoroughly marketing-minded organization. That means that chicks and eggs and (soon) hybrid pigs are only part of
the total product you buy. Euribrid feels responsible for your results and provides, therefore, the benefit of their
extensive research. They give the advice and the service that will enable you to get maximum profit from the various
Euribrid lines, such as Hybro broiler breeding stock, Hisex hybrid birds producing brown eggs and, for most of
Europe, Hy-Line white egg layers.” (Poultry International November 1970).
In a 1971 Poultry Industry advertisement Euribrid set out to emphasize the cooperation they had with
their franchise hatcheries throughout the world:
Your Hisex hatchery works very closely with Euribrid, Europe's largest poultry breeding organisation, so not only are
you assured of better products you also get exceptional technical service and product information. In addition to the
extensive use made of scientific research within their own organisation, Euribrid also co-operate and have built up a
very close relationship with laboratories, breeding organisations and scientific institutes in all parts of the world.
These worldwide contacts ensure continuous application to new ideas and developments. The co-operation of
Euribrid with Associated Hatcheries offers you, the egg producer, the guarantee of greatest possible security in
buying day old chicks and growing pullets. Nothing is left to chance for in today’s market conditions attention to
detail is vital. Customers using Euribrid products obtain the best economic results with the help of sound practical
advice and service. Scientific research and service have earned Euribrid and their Associate Hatcheries the
reputation of being the most progressive and reliable breeding organisation in Western Europe. Over many years
Euribrid products have earned a worldwide reputation. Hisex layers are distributed all over the world through Associated but independent hatcheries. Euribrid maintain their own basic breeding farms and have national sales
organisations in most Western European countries including Belgium, England, France, Germany, The Netherlands,
Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.
All of this marketing was aimed at giving confidence to existing Hy-Line and new customers that they
would receive of support for the Hisex products based on a very professional and competent team.
Euribrid had a huge investment in the new layer products and wanted to achieve an instant market
penetration in what was a very competitive market.
Euribrid set out to gain a foothold in the British market with a series of advertisements in poultry
magazines during 1970 and 1971 to highlight the capability of the Hisex White and the improved Hisex
Brown. Euribrid took on the mantle of the largest breeder in Europe in this marketing drive. The fact that
the Hisex Brown was the brown egg winner at the Gosford Laying Trials 1969/70 was very fortunate for
this marketing campaign. The main focus of the advertisements was the superiority of profit margins
33
expected from Hisex layers. The Hisex White would achieve the lowest practical cost per kg of eggs and
“the efficient, profit-minded poultry farmer keeps records and will, therefore, keep hisex white layers.”
And
“Because of their outstanding egg production, their eggs of supreme quality and of just the size egg
buyers demand, their excellent growing and laying house livability and their strong resistance to adverse
conditions, hisex white layers offer, totally, more profit.”
The company claimed that the bird “adapted itself to almost every environment and was an exceptionally
easy bird to manage. Low mortality and extreme docility had been bred into the Hisex white. Many years
of wide-scale testing had proved that the bird laid plenty of quality white eggs for current grading standards and ensured excellent live-ability in the rearing and laying stages.” Euribrid took advantage of the
swing to brown eggs in the timing of the launch of the Hisex Brown in the UK. This ensured early
recognition and a ready market.
Introduction into the U.S. was given a boost when the Hisex White performed very well in the RST in
which it was entered. At the 1975 Atlanta Show the Hisex White had just won the Missouri RST.
The purchase of Pilch Inc. from DeKalb was a calculated aim to get a distribution network for the layers;
Pilch having a widespread network as one of the most successful broiler breeders in the early 70’s. In the
late 60’s Pilch had the dominant share (around 40%) of the U.S. parent stock market. Many large layer
operations were pleased with the initial results they achieved with the Hisex White. For instance Gold
Kist, an agricultural cooperative, in the SE USA, that was progressively increased its poultry operations in
the 70’s said “ Hisex laid so well we're reordering, our Hisex birds peaked high, too. They're calm and easy
to manage. Their livability's good. We're well pleased Hisex is winning Random Samples against the world's
best competition. We're proud of these results. They show just how good Hisex is in all the profit
characteristics.” (Poultry Digest, May 1976)
Marketing continued in 1976 with Euribrid making the claim that the Hisex “may be the world's most
versatile layer! Hisex hits 50% production sooner than any other layer you can buy, peaks higher, and keeps
laying with contest-winning persistency. Hisex converts feed with the efficiency you need to beat the high
cost of grain. And those Hisex shells! They'll be as important to you as Hisex hatchability is to your Hisex
distributor! Isn't it time you tried something new, something better for your business? Like your first flock of
Hisex, the high profit layer from The Netherlands. Euribrid's Hisex is now available in the United States and
Canada through fully qualified and service-proven distributors.” The latter statement was consistent with
the business philosophy of Hendrix by providing a good quality product and a support service.
In the UK in 1976 the focus of marketing was on quality: the quality of the layer and the quality of the
organisation behind it. And this continued to be the focus through the next decade.
In the 80s Euribrid continued to emphasize egg quality claiming to be the market leader. Achieving an
egg weight that is optimum for different markets around the world is difficult with one product. Some
breeders have offered a number of strains with different egg weight profiles. Euribrid however offered
just one white and one brown product with what they claimed, in the brown eggs at least, to be the ideal
average egg weight class: 60 to 65g. Emphasis was always placed on the steady increase in productive
output, increasing feed efficiency and good livability so that the Hisex Brown was in many cases,
producing brown eggs at a cost price lower than those of many White flocks.
In order to keep in front of this development a complete new egg quality research laboratory became
operational in 1978 at the basic breeding farm in Venhorst. Additional investment of a new basic
breeding farm at Herveld in 1986 reflected a commitment to white egg production. The new farm was a
fully computerised centre for research and development for the Hisex White. Constant investment in the
breeding facilities enabled them to work close to the market.
In 1989 the company claimed that their investment in breeding facilities around Euribrid's headquarters
reflected a close involvement with the market. They recognised consumer demand for a good quality
product was forcing animal breeders to place more emphasis on quality. As producers of basic breeding
material, they recognized this development at an early stage and adapted their breeding programme
accordingly. Hisex they said had created a White layer with a high general resistance a guarantee for top
34
results under all kind of climate conditions. In the European market in the late 80’s with its oversupply,
an excellent internal and external egg quality was a must.
In 1998 when Hendrix merged their egg breeding activities with Euribrid the philosophy for marketing
was: leading in breeding and meeting the demand. Consumers were showing increasing discrimination.
They wanted safe eggs, tasty, uniform and cheap. Hisex was, they said, perfectly positioned to give the
global market what it wanted. Hendrix had two of the world's best known layer breeds - Bovans and
Hisex. Hendrix worked on the strengths of the two breeds. They were known around the world for their
outstanding qualities as egg layers, each with its own special strengths. Bringing these two breeding
companies together meant additional benefits for egg producers. Each breeding program was going to
focus more strongly on its own special strengths to produce layers that fulfilled the needs of the specific
market segments. The combination of the two breeders produced one of the largest R & D programs in
the industry, focused on increasing the profitability of egg production. Hendrix was then a 50% Nutrecocompany which had more than 60 years of experience in poultry nutrition and live-stock management.
TOP
Franchises
Example of the development of a franchise: the early days of Euribrid in the UK
The Hisex White was introduced into the UK in October 1970 through Euribrid Ltd, formerly HyBred
Poultry Ltd. The company was managed by Jim Colvin from a base in Ireland. The UK headquarters at
Neston near Liverpool was a set of offices, a hatchery and three 6,500-bird houses. Over 90 per cent of
Euribrid's UK output was directed through production centres in Ireland. Grandparent laying stocks were
kept at Comber, in Northern Ireland, while the broiler breeders were with Hi-Lay Holdings Ltd., at
Dundalk, Eire. Some of the hatching eggs from Hybro and Hisex went to the Neston hatchery while
others went direct from Ireland to the hatcheries of Aberdeenshire Hatcheries, Aberdeen; Blue Barns
Poultry Farm Ltd., Co. Durham; Fred Horner (Hatcheries) Ltd., York; Feltons (Poultry Farms) Ltd., in
Suffolk; Ewart Hebditch Ltd., in Somerset; and, some to the Fountain Hatcheries in Co. Antrim, Northern
Ireland. The hatcheries supplied parent farms operated by contract farmers.
Ireland had a comparatively disease-free status giving breeders a chance to sell stock into any other part
of Britain and, if required, to other European countries without a quarantine hindrance. There were at
the time higher feed costs in Ireland and a high quarantine charge imposed by the Irish Ministry of
Agriculture, but these factors did not offset the advantage of low disease incidence. Several of these
hatcheries originally sold Hy-Line pullets, but in September 1970 Euribrid announced that they were
ceasing to co-operate with Hy-Line Poultry Farms, USA, and although the company retained the right to
sell Hy-Line birds for two more years.
The Hisex Brown, newly introduced into the U.K. in 1969, was the best brown egg layer in the 1969/70
Gosford Laying Trials with a hen day production level of 250.6 eggs, a feed intake of 130g/day, a 6.5 per
cent mortality, and a final carcase weight of 2.37kg. When the brown egg bonus was added it was second
overall, just 5p behind the white egg winner. This was an important result in the early 70’s when the
white and brown egg birds were still competing evenly for sales.
The franchise agreement was to start immediately with import of grandparents to sell throughout the
U.K. and Eire. The strong brown and white lines further strengthened Anglian's egg interests. Signatories
to the deal, for the share capital of which they paid £170000, were Mr. E. J. Hendrix, chairman of
Hendrix N.V., Euribrid's holding company, Mr. A. Edwards, managing director of Anglian, Mr. R. W. Hill,
chairman of Joice & Hill and Mr. J. Colvin, managing director of Euribrid Ltd.
TOP
Appendix
A brief history of Nutreco
35
The oldest Nutreco company, Skretting, was established in 1899 in Norway as an agricultural merchant
and moved into the production of fish feeds in 1963. In The Netherlands agricultural merchant Hendrix
was founded in the 1930’s supplying animal feeds. The company added poultry breeding and processing
introducing the Hendrix and Pingo names. Trouw was also established in the 1930’s and, in the 1950’s,
developed the first of its successful premixes and specialties including feeds for fish. In the 1970’s BP
Nutrition bought these companies together with others such as Nanta and Sada in Spain and MooreClark in Canada. Trouw Chile began providing fish feed in 1981 and Mares Australes, now part of Marine
Harvest began fish farming. Mares Australes and Marine Harvest McConnell were merged in 1999.
Marine Harvest McConnell also had fish farming activities in Scotland. These were augmented in 2000
through the acquisition of the farming and processing of Hydro Seafood in Norway Ireland and France.
Nutreco was formed in 1994 as a management buyout, backed by institutional investors. Further
acquisitions in Chile, Scotland and Australia underlined the company’s strategy of a balanced and
interrelated structure. Since 2001 the purchase of Agrovic, a vertically integrated poultry producer in
Spain, and of Ham Holding and of the meat processing facilities of Laurus in the Benelux, have further
strengthened the influence of Nutreco in the poultry and pork value chains. The acquisition in 2001 of
the premix activities of Ducoa established a presence in the United States. In 2004 Nutreco decided to
further develop in animal nutrition and fishfeed. It was decided that Marine Harvest (merged with StoltNielsen, subsequently sold to John Fredriksen, who merged Marine Harvest with Pan Fish and Fjord)
Pingo, Hendrix Meat and Euribrid (animal breeding) will be developed to industry leaders outside
Nutreco. Pingo was combined with Plukon. Hendrix Meat became part of Vion. Nutreco decided to
combine Euribrid with Hendrix Genetics, thus creating a global leader in animal breeding.
The strategy of Nutreco today:
“Nutreco is a global leader in animal nutrition and fish feed. Advanced feed solutions are at the origin of
food for millions of consumers worldwide. Quality, innovation and sustainability are guiding principles,
embedded in the Nutreco culture from research and raw material procurement to products and services
for agriculture and aquaculture. Experience across 100 years brings Nutreco a rich heritage of knowledge
and experience for building its future. Nutreco employs almost 9,300 people in 30 countries, with sales in
80 countries. Nutreco is listed on the Euronext stock exchange in Amsterdam and with annual revenues of
EUR 4.9 billion in 2008.”
Bibliography and Resources
Anon (1954) “Have American poultrykeepers anything to teach us? Thornber’s Annual 1954 p 21-24.
Anon (1971) The Hisex Brown Report. A ‘Poultry Testing’ Assessment, Poultry Testing, July.
Anon (1975) 1974 Report of Random Sample Egg Production Tests, United States and Canada. ARS, U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Blasing, J.F.E. (1986) Op het spoor van de Körver. Onstaan, groei en transformaties van de Brabantse
familieonderneming Hendrix'Fabrieken 1979/1930 Bedrijfsgeschiedkundig bekeken
Leiden, Nijhoff, 1986. 396 pp
Harrison, John (1998) personal communication, former production manager of Thornbers.
Working Group 3 (1981) Combined summary of European Random Sample Egg Production Tests 1978.
World’s Poultry Science Journal 37:218-221
36
Working Group 3 (1986) Combined summary of European Random Sample Egg Production Tests 198184. World’s Poultry Science Journal 42:276-285
Working Group 3 (1989) Combined summary of European Random Sample Egg Production Tests 198586. World’s Poultry Science Journal 45: 189-192.
Working Group 3 (1999) Combined summary of European Random Sample Egg Production Tests
1997/98. World’s Poultry Science Journal 55: 204-205
Web sites
Euribrid, “Leading in breeding”. http://www.euribrid.com/hybrosl.htmSnews 13/08/1999
Euribrid, “Leading in breeding”. http://www.euribrid.com/hisexsl.htm#philosophy 13/08/1999
Euribrid, “Leading in breeding”. http://www.euribrid.com/hybrosl.htm#news 13/08/1999
Nutreco, “Nutreco completes deal with Hendrix Poultry Breeders” http://www.nutreco.com/
.../press_releases 1/10/98.
Industry Magazines.
Poultry Industry
1970, December. Adding spice to the competition.
1971, May. Euribrid lays a firm foundation.
1971, December/January. A European breeding company.
Poultry International
1965, October. Authorized Hybro distributors.
1973, May. Euribrid buys Pilch.
1993, September. Euribrid closing US Pilch genetics operations.
Poultry World
1966, September. Euribrid, The Netherlands, their stake in broiler business.
1966, September. Sexing the Hybro.
1968, December. Attention! Integrator at work.
1968, December. Broiler breeders international.
1993, November. Hybro – something to spare.
World Poultry
1988, January. Euribrid’s brown layer shows gains.
1989, January. Euribrid take in quality.
Zootechnica International
1994, July. Euribrid continues to lead.
Euribrid Publications.
Eijnden, G. van den (1974) International developments in the breeding world; an overview of the most
important competitors of the broiler and laying sectors. Euribrid internal paper, 12th April.
1990’s. Corporate marketing brochure
1995. Newsletter: Direct and Indirect selection.
1999, April. Newsletter, hybro contact: Herveld officially opened.
37
Interviews
Frans van Sambeek at Hendrix Poultry Breeders HQ, 31/3/2003
Arian Groot at Hendrix Poultry Breeders HQ, 1/04/2003.
Ad van Hedel at Hendrix Poultry Breeders HQ, 1/04/2003.
Ir Heibour at Hendrix Poultry Breeders HQ, 31/03/2003
J.H. (Koos) Middelkoop at the Research Institute for Animal Husbandry, Lelystat. 24/03/2003
Translations
The translation of sections of the book “Op het spoor van de Körver” and the van den Eijnden (1974)
Euribrid internal paper by Mrs. Toos Grootscholten is gratefully acknowledged.
©Copyright Kingsley Smith 2011
38

“Since 1 June 2007, Euribrid is part of Hendrix Genetics B.V. “Our

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