That's not chicken feed: U of G gets $3.5M gift for poultry research

Mar 13, 2024

Improving innovation and sustainability in the Canadian poultry and egg sector is the goal of a new $3.5 million gift from the William and Lynne Gray Foundation and L.H. Gray & Son Limited to the University of Guelph.

The gift will create the Bill and Lynne Gray Chair in Advanced Poultry Technology Management in the Department of Animal Biosciences within the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC).

With the goal of elevating the Canadian poultry and egg sector on the global market, the gift will help advance technologies and systems that are key to sustainable and profitable production.

We are incredibly grateful to Bill and Lynne Gray’s commitment to fund this chair, which will help OAC advance its mission of improving the Canadian and global food system,” said OAC acting dean Dr. John Cranfield. “This gift will help elevate our strength in poultry production research and teaching.”

The chair will also work closely with faculty in the School of Engineering on environmental control issues such as lighting, ventilation, sanitation and biosecurity, using new and emerging technologies to help control the spread of avian diseases.

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Video: 2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science: "Using science to assess and improve the welfare of dairy cattle"

Dan Weary is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and Doctorate at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. His research focuses on understanding the perspectives of animals and applying these insights to develop methods of assessing animal welfare and improving the lives of animals. His work has helped drive changes in practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of social housing for pre-weaned calves). He also studies cow comfort and lameness, social interactions among cows, and interactions between cows, human handlers and technologies like automated millking systems that are increasingly used on farms. His presentation will outline key questions in cattle welfare, highlight recent UBC research addressing them, and showcase innovative methods for improving the lives of cattle and their caretakers.