Funded PhD Studentship: Refining the feeding value of rye for broiler chickens (PhD project)

Refining the feeding value of rye for broiler chickens (PhD project)

Primary supervisor: Professor Vasil Pirgozliev, Department of Agriculture and Environment

Non-academic partner: The Silcock Fellowship

Project Title: Refining the feeding value of rye for broiler chickens

Project description:

The studentship covers the current Home Student (UK, Isle of Man & Channel Isles) tuition fees plus a yearly stipend. For 2025/6 this equates to £20, 780 per year, with potential increases each academic year in line with UKRI. 

International applicants would need to be able to fund the difference between home and overseas fees (£11, 382 for the 2025/6 academic year) with a proportion being paid in full before Visa documentation can be issued.

The National Institute of Poultry Husbandry at Harper Adams University is a purpose-built research facility designed to conduct high impact research investigating solutions towards improving poultry production, nutrition, health and welfare; whilst safeguarding animal, human and environmental health. 

The candidate is expected to have a good knowledge of animal science, nutrition, physiology and biochemistry. It is desirable that the candidate has good practical abilities with handling and managing poultry, however, technical support and training will be provided. 

The annual rise in the price of dietary ingredients keep poultry industry under constant pressure how best to allocate its resources for economically viable and sustainable poultry production. Maize and wheat are the most common energy sources used in EU and UK poultry diets. To keep up with feed demands, alternative energy sources, including barley, sorghum and rye have also been investigated. Rye (Secale cereale L.), one of the most relevant cereal crops in Central Europe, is also grown in the UK. Hybrid rye is resistant to fungal diseases, has a high tolerance to low temperatures, droughts and irregular soil pH, requires lower nitrogen input and delivers nitrogen and agrochemical savings without compromising yields. Due to the relatively high non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) content, rye was traditionally used in a very small amounts, about 20%, in broiler diets compared to wheat, which can be the only cereal in diets. However, modern hybrid rye varieties have been developed with a lower content of NSPs. In addition, dietary NSP degrading enzyme supplementation reduces the negative effects of NSPs on poultry performance. Locally sourced ingredients are becoming more prevalent, challenging some of the traditional enzyme strategies in regard to substrate presence and ultimately, optimal efficacy. Partial substitution of wheat, other cereals, with rye in broiler diets may be a more sustainable approach in dietary formulations, bringing environmental and economic benefits, thus research on the incorporation of rye in broiler diets is required. 

This PhD project will continue the research on rye from the ongoing PhD project “Understanding and improving the feeding value of rye for broiler chickens”. The aim of this PhD is to refine the feeding value of rye for broiler chickens during different feeding/growing phases. The use of exogenous NSP degrading enzymes will also be studied. The project will assess the impact of diets on health, welfare and growth performance of chickens. The project will involve a series of in vivo poultry experiments and supporting downstream analysis, including laboratory based and statistical data analysis.

Closing Date: 08 Jun 2025

Department: Academic Staff & Research Degree Studentships

Salary: As per advert