Egg-ucation at Novus!

Over the course of the last few weeks, Novus Global Marketing summer interns Maggie Glidewell and Hanna Keene initiated a project called Novus Egg Days to educate Novus headquarters employees about the incubation and hatching process of chicks. Before the actual incubation happened, though, they were busy doing research and finding photos to make posters on what developments occur in the egg each week.

From there, they set up an incubator in the Novus conference center, equipped with fertilized eggs and informational charts for employees to see as they walked around the building. Even guests in the building were escorted over to the area to get in on the action…or lack of action in some cases.

This project was an exciting time at Novus because everyone was anxiously awaiting the chicks to hatch. Posters placed next to the incubator were updated each week to educate on the process and explain what was happening in the eggs as they sat in the warmth for 21 days until the action happened.

When the chicks finally hatched, there was a buzz all about the building. People were stopping to see the new additions to Novus and take pictures.

As with any project, not everything can go as expected. Early into the process a few eggs had to be removed because bacteria began to grow on the inside. Once the majority of the eggs had hatched, Maggie, Hanna and Lorryn Bolte, the Global Poultry Marketing Specialist, held a special event to extend the learning even more and examine unhatched eggs to determine possible issues inhibiting their hatching. Employees who were able to attend the event got a real-life lesson on the joys and hardships of chick raising – and also the smells of those gone bad.

Not only did Novus Egg Days provide a fun chance for employees to learn, it also helped solidify why we do what we do at Novus. Some possible problems in eggs that didn’t hatch could have been solved by better nutrition in the laying hens, for instance. This could also very well be the case at a large-scale hatchery. Our nutrition solutions aim to combat those customer pains. While obviously this was a small-scale experiment, it demonstrates the commitment of Novus to understanding the needs of our customers and the industry as a whole.