Poultry Digest April/May 2014

Free range layer farm plans for and survives major bush fire

poultrydigestApril/May 2014

www.primarymedia.com.au

PIX PREVIEWTrade Display 2014

First high efficiency EC fans trial a winner for Victorian broiler grower

PIX/AMC 2014 – a must attend event for growers and the poultry industry

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Page 10: First high-efficiency EC fans trial a winner for Victorian broiler growerPoultry Digest visited a trial shed of broiler grower Joe Buttigeig in Victoria, where a technical trial was completed to show and test the energy efficiency and reliability of the ebm-papst AgriCool shed ventilation system using high-efficiency EC fans.

Page 22: Free range layer farmer in Newcastle region plans for and survives major bush fire

Page 4: Australia risks ‘missing the boat for golden opportunity in agriculture’ report warns

Page 6: PIX/AMC 2014 – a must attend event for growers and the industry

Page 28: Has the poultry industry lost control of its destiny and where do we go from here?

Page 44: PIX Preview Trade Display 2014

April/May 2014

Back LtoR: Joe Colla (Agricultural Automation); Luke Colla (HmiElectric); Christopher Hauck (ebm-papst); Andy Walker (ebm-papst); Alexandra Gray (ebm-papst) Dr Simon Bradwell (ebm-papst). Front: Joe Buttigeig.

When bush fires tore through NSW in late 2013 one free range layer farm that was threatened was June and Kerry Fuller’s from Campvale in NSW.

NEWS

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Australia risks ‘missing the boat for golden opportunity in agriculture’ report warnsAustralia risks missing ‘a golden opportunity’ to grow its agricultural sector, and addressing this requires a concerted and coordinated approach from all sector stakeholders, a new report on the competitiveness of Australian agribusiness has warned.

‘Agriculture in Focus 2014: Competitive Challenges’, by agricultural banking specialist Rabobank, said Australian agribusiness is facing mounting competitive threats throughout the supply chain, which require resolute and aligned action from industry and government.

The report, which examines Australia and New Zealand’s agribusiness sectors, identifies six key challenges affecting the competitiveness of Australia’s food and agribusiness industries, which are increasingly coming under threat from a growing group of highly-resourceful international competitors, including countries in South America, Eastern Europe and even Asia.

The report says the critical areas which need to be addressed as a matter of priority are: • rising production costs both on-farm and beyond farmgate • international market access • logistics infrastructure (in)efficiencies • regulatory pressures • capital constraints and • product innovation and development.

Rabobank General Manager Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory Luke Chandler said “while the rising demand growth for food from our Asian neighbours remains a golden opportunity, Australia risks missing the boat without a more co-ordinated effort from industry and government in addressing these factors, which threaten to impact Australia’s future competitiveness in world export markets.

“Broadly speaking, while the competiveness of Australia’s food and agricultural sectors has generally compared favourably in a global context in the past – and this has underpinned our prominent role in global agribusiness markest – this situation is far from static,” he said.

“Many of Australia’s competitors in agricultural markets around the world

are investing heavily and becoming much more productive, and this is very much raising the bar for our agricultural industries.”

Mr Chandler said food and agriculture is becoming the subject of increased focus from governments around the world as the challenge of meeting the food needs of a growing and wealthier global population places pressure on farming enterprises.

“However, we need to realise that Australia is not the only agricultural exporter looking to capture this increasing demand,” he said. “Over the past decade highly-resourceful developing countries have begun to assume a greater role in the global export trade of food and agriculture products.

“The potential of countries in South America and Eastern Europe is obvious, but even some major food-importing countries and regions, such as China and the ASEAN-5 nations, are playing a greater role in shaping the export landscape.”

As opportunities to boost direct on-farm cost competitiveness become harder to realise in Australia, the report says, the nation’s food and agribusiness sector must look to broader factors to maintain its competitive edge.

Market access challenges The report notes, for example, the

pressing issue of improving Australia’s international market access, where the process of de-constructing trade barriers in foreign markets is proving to be “very complicated and drawn out”.

As a case in point, in the area of international market access for beef, the report says increased lobbying

from international competitors is risking Australia being left behind when it comes to global market access and trade relationships.

“Negotiating ‘most favoured nation’ status for Australia’s food and agriculture suppliers in key markets would ensure local suppliers aren’t needlessly being placed at a disadvantage to our competitors,” Mr Chandler said. “This includes prioritising the further seven Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) Australia currently has in progress, not including the FTA with Korea which is soon to be ratified. Including Korea, the countries involved in these FTAs account for 45% of Australia’s current trade.”

In addition, Australia’s beef industry must set itself apart by investing in strengthening relationships and knowledge exchange frameworks with their foreign counterparts.

“Clearly there is a fundamental need for industry to build even closer working relationships with counterparts in foreign markets through the greater exchange of technology and education, and sometimes investment downstream in the supply chain to provide greater reassurance around long-term supply,” Mr Chandler said.

Inefficiencies in logistics infrastructure

Addressing the inefficiencies in Australia’s logistics infrastructure is another priority in lifting the competitiveness of the agricultural sector, the report says.

“Higher on-farm costs and slowing productivity growth in many sectors in Australia relative to global peers have increased the importance of driving efficiencies in alternate parts of the supply chain,” said Mr Chandler.

“In the grain industry for example, strong infrastructure and quality improvements by our global competitors is exposing a relative lack of investment in Australian grain logistics infrastructure and the corresponding level of efficiency with which Australian grain reaches export markets,” he said.

“This requires commitment to a unified industry-wide, long-term strategy to invest in infrastructure improvement which involves unilateral

“The report indentifies six key challenges affecting the competitiveness of Australia’s food and agribusiness industries”

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NEWS

PIX/AMC 2014 – a must attend event for growers and the poultry industryThe Poultry Information Exchange (PIX) has always been a vital event for all in the commercial poultry industry but the 2014 PIX is particularly important if only for the significant changes that have taken place since 2012.

In that year PIX combined with the Australian Milling Conference (AMC) and now in May 2014 these two important industry groups combine to again delivering a bigger and better trade exhibition as well as conference papers with greater depth and relevance to modern poultry production.

The combination of animal rights activism; consumer and social pressure groups and the immense power of our two big retailers, have fundamentally changed the production protocols for both broiler chicken meat and eggs.

There is little doubt that retailers would like to sell as much free range product as they claim consumers want, but this situation has been affected by the hard line attitude taken by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to both labeling and definition of ‘free range’.

This situation has lead to the creation of both RSPCA and now FREPA accredited broiler meat and eggs.

So rapid has been the expansion of ‘welfare friendly’ production that many in the industry are unsure about what it all means for them and the future of the industry.

Visitors to the combined PIX/

AMC 2014 will be spoilt for choice in the quality of speakers and the topics they cover as well as making sufficient time to visit the 130 plus stands in the exhibition hall so its worth planning ahead.

Go to the PIX/AMC 2014 website at www.pix.org.au and look at the programs for both events and then look at the exhibitors list to make sure you don’t miss the vast array of products, services and on-stand advice this event offers.

After the opening address and keynote speakers on Monday May 26, Philip Wilkinson from UK 2 Sisters Food Group will discuss UK experiences with real outcomes of more stringent welfare standards.

Philip was long experience in running not only a major chicken integrator business but in dealing with often conflicting supermarket requirements.

Next Heather Neil, head of the RSPCA (Australia) asks and answers the question, ‘Has the introduction of RSPCA standards improved chicken welfare?’

Next industry experts James Kellaway AECL traces his ‘Roadmap towards animal welfare standards – egg industry,’ and Vivien Kite, ACMF does the same for the broiler industry.

In the Concurrent Sessions (Arena 1B. chicken meat) the last speaker just before ‘beeroclock’ is Steve Teitzel, an experienced broiler grower whose

topic is ‘Retrofitting sheds to meet RSPCA standards’. This is definitely a topic broiler growers need to learn about.

For layer farmers, particularly those operating or considering free range production, Peter Scott (Scolexia), speaking in the ‘Egg –Food Safety – egg quality session (Room –MR 5.6) after lunch on the 26 reveals ‘Strategies for salmonella prevention on egg farms.’

In the Chicken Meat Biosecurity Session after morning tea on the May 27, Margaret McKenzie from Inghams Enterprises will speak about range control for disease management and she will be followed by FREPA board member and broiler grower Sandra Pegler on ‘Range management in practice’.

Peter Scott is also speaking on the following day in the session after morning tea (11.00am-12.30 am approximate) on ‘Minimizing the risk of avian influenza on free range (egg) farms’.

Of interest to innovators in the poultry sector will be speakers in the AMC program ‘Food and Feed for Asia: Combined feed and flour keynote session’ after lunch on May 26.

Professor Frank Dunshea from the University of Melbourne will speak on the topic of ‘Innovation and production of high value food products for China.

The following speaker Rob Cumine, Farm Manager for Coles supermarkets, reveals ‘What matters to consumers.’

input from government, supply chain operators and industry participants.”

‘Road map’ for future Mr Chandler says that while the

solution to the competitive challenges to Australian agriculture does not lie in any one direction, there is a ‘road map’ that can guide industries to build a more competitive and sustainable base for the sector into the future.

“While some competitive factors such as exchange rates and wage costs are beyond the sector’s control, many other issues can be successfully addressed through the concerted and coordinated action of industry and government institutions,” he said.

“There is no question that a food

and agriculture sector that has better access to global markets, ready access to capital, more efficient logistics infrastructure, higher value product and processes, a highly sustainable environmental impact, and more affordable production inputs will be better placed to capture the ‘Asian dining boom’.”

“However, the objective should not be for Australia to ‘feed the world’.

“The reality is Australia is not in a position to supply and compete in the high-volume markets,” Mr Chandler says. “Rather our focus needs to be on developing into high-value markets where we can compete on quality and other sought-after attributes where

consumers have the capacity to pay. Australia will not be the food bowl of Asia, but we can be the delicatessen.”

Rabobank group Executive Country Banking Australia Peter Knoblanche said Agriculture in Focus 2014: Competitive Challenges was the first in a series of reports the bank would be releasing which would examine the issues impacting the agricultural sector along the entire length of the supply chain.

“In our view it is vitally important that these issues are examined and addressed in order that our agribusiness sector can benefit and prosper in delivering a vital product to an increasingly hungry world,” he said.

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First high-efficiency EC fans trial a winner for Victorian broiler grower

consumption, increased air velocity, decreased mortality rate, improved bird spread and lower noise,” said ebm-papst Account Manager Christopher Hauck.

The trial was undertaken over the course of a whole batch (47 days) during Victoria’s summer in January and February 2014. The shed performance was compared to the neighbouring shed of exactly the same setup in which conventional, belt-driven AC fans using staging controls were used.

Poultry Digest had the chance to see the retrofit for themselves and to speak to both the fan manufacturer (ebm-papst) and controls developer (HmiElectric).

From this visit it was obvious that ebm-papst, HmiElectric and Agricultural Automation had together designed a completely new way of managing tunnel ventilation sheds.

“The use of ebm-papst EC fans

effectively halved the number of fans needed from 24 to 12,” said Christopher.

“The sidewall fans for minimum ventilation were no longer required, while the air velocity and bird comfort seemed to be improved.”

In discussions with the team they revealed that the entire shed ventilation is managed by speed controlling the EC fans using the existing controller with the addition of an interface.

Agricultural Automation and HmiElectric provided the installation, commissioning and programing of the fans, and hence ebm-papst and its partners were able to provide a turnkey solution to the grower.

The AgriCool shed ventilation system can be installed in any tunnel-ventilated shed.

“We chose Joe’s farm for this trial because it gave us four identical chicken broiler sheds which were

By ALEX BEDWELL

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Poultry Digest recently visited a trial shed of broiler grower Joe Buttigeig in Victoria, where a technical trial was completed to show and test the energy efficiency and reliability of the ebm-papst AgriCool shed ventilation system using high-efficiency EC fans.

“The trial confirmed and exceeded expectations regarding lower power

ebm-papst A&NZ Managing Director Simon Bradwell and HmiElectric Director Luke Colla (right).

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built to the latest standard by shed manufacturer Eddy Dimech in 2010,” said Christoper.

He confirmed that the sheds are of a standard size, 170m in length by 17m in width and both sheds held 55,000 birds for the trial. All the trial sheds were fitted with power metering during the whole growing cycle and measurements of temperature and humidity were taken inside and outside.

One of the sheds was retrofitted with 1250mm high-efficiency, direct-drive, three-phase EC fan motors with in-built speed control from ebm-papst.

A motorised shutter system was supplied by Agricultural Automation which was fitted on the air intake side of the fan. The existing AgroLogic controller was supported by a control interface developed by HmiElectric, which converts the existing AgroLogic stage controls into a speed control signal for the EC fans.

In controlling these high efficiency EC fans via the HmiElectric EC fan interface controller, no side wall fans were needed, which reduced the total number of fans needed from 24 to 12.

“This interface is the linking part between the existing AgroLogic shed controller and the EC fans still enabling the use of the existing controller,” said Hmi Electric’s Luke Colla.

“This interface also controls the motorised shutter which opens as soon as the fans start operating and fully closes as soon as the fans stop running, thus allowing to fully insulate the shed while no fans are in operation.”

All the other sheds are controlled via AgroLogic climate controllers using conventional on/off operation (staging).

“Where a standard system would run four out of 16 fans at 100%, then gradually add on more fans, with the ebm-papst AgriCool system, it is possible to run all EC fans at 20% and then gradually increase speed of all fans, matching the exact air movement requirements at any given time,” said Luke.

This results in a significant reduction in energy usage as well as performance control.

The use of ebm-papst EC fans together with the interface comes with extensive safety and redundancy features. In case of controller failure or cable break, all shutters automatically open and all EC fans will run at a defined speed ensuring sufficient ventilation and cooling is provided to the livestock.

“ebm-papst EC fans are extensively protected against the harsh environment in poultry broiler sheds,” Christopher confirmed and said that special precautions have been undertaken to provide additional reliability and safety to the livestock.

1. High efficiency 50” direct drive fans by ebm-papst fiited to shed end wall. 2. ebm-papst shed in the foreground with control shed to the right. 3. The interface also controls the motorised shutter which opens as soon as the fans start operating.

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The AgriCool Shed Ventilation Systems are high efficiency, high performance ventilation systems allowing for the optimum performance of broiler sheds. AgriCool will drive down the power consumption of sheds while optimising cooling, air circulation and control.

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system,” Luke added.He also said that he is confident

that even after three years of testing and measuring this new system, further efficiencies can still be achieved.

Christopher projects an efficiency increase of up to 60% for the next batch.

“I believe that our direct drive fans could be even more efficient, especially in the first two weeks of the test” he said. “We also had a water pump for the cool pads fail during a day which reached over 40 degrees C which caused the EC fans to run at full speed before anyone noticed.

“This means that the EC fans ended up using a lot more electricity than they

Left: overview of power data from AC abd EC ventilated broiler sheds. Below: Air velocity fancomparison.

Above: High efficiency EC fans are controlled via the HmiElectric EC fan interface. Right: Christopher Hauck from ebm-papst in the control room.

“The EC fans are equipped with stainless steel shaft, nuts and bolts, bearings sealed for life, galvanised rotor plus additional coating against corrosion,” said Christopher.

“The blades are of strong die-cast aluminium coated in black paint which is highly anti-corrosive, ensuring the fans’ performance even at high pressure and constant run-time.”

Christopher explained that because the fans have direct-drive motors (no belts, pulleys, tensioners etc.) there is no maintenance required throughout the fans’ lifetime.

He also explained that the ebm-papst fans have a higher air velocity. The 12 15inch ebm-papst fans have an air velocity of 3.4m/s compared to the 16 15inch standard belt driven fans which have an air velocity of 3.3m/s. He said that if they had used 12 15inch standard belt driven fans they would only have an air velocity of 2.8m/s. “That’s why we only need to run 12 of the 15 inch ebm-papst fans,” he said.

“The use of EC fans also resulted in a more stable temperature profile and even airflow throughout the shed. Airflow is adjusted constantly and steplessly, thereby enabling the controls system to react immediately and accurately to the ever-changing conditions in the shed.

“The birds in the ebm-papst shed were more evenly spread out as they got more even airflow with more even temperatures and there were no hot spots,” Christopher said.

He believes this provides a better growing environment which was also corroborated as the ebm-papst shed also achieved a marginally lower mortality rate.

Christopher Hauck explained that the conventional shed used 9576kWh of electricity compared to the ebm-papst shed which used 4615kWh, resulting in a saving of 4961kWh. This represents a 52% lower power consumption.

A comparison of both types of fans at the same air performance proves that the EC fan shows a huge increase in specific fan efficiency, namely 29.1 CFM/W (EC fan) and 14.6 CFM/W (belt-driven fan).

“The ebm-papst fans have soft starters, which means there is no in-rush of current which can possibly damage or overheat the electrical

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would normally.”When talking about the cost of the

fans Christopher suggested that the turn around cost for retrofitting sheds is less than three years.

“However,” Luke said, “if the ebm-papst fans are installed into new sheds their ventilation system would almost cost the same as installing belt driven fans as less fans are needed and no cross fans need to be installed”.

To see the fans find out more information about the new tunnel ventilation system, ebm-papst, HmiElectric and Agricultural Automation will have stands at PIX. The Australian agent for ebm-papst fans is Agricultural Automation.

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CRC NEWS

Poultry CRC project leader Dr David Cadogan, from CRC partner Feedworks, has recently submitted the final report for his project ‘Influence of betaine on embryo survival, hatchability and progeny performance’.

This was a two-part project investigating both the value of Danisco’s Betafin S1 as a feed additive in layers, and the effect of Betafin S1 on broiler breeders.

The presence of betaine enables microbes, plants and animals alike to be more resistant to temperature, osmotic, disease or environmental stresses.

As temperature variation and fluctuation does occur in commercial incubators, this raises potential issues for embryo development and survival. Impaired embryo development produces a considerable loss in broiler and layer performance and health.

The benefits of natural betaine supplementation have been investigated in other species, including humans. For example, Van Wettere et al. (2012) demonstrated that betaine significantly improves embryo survival in gestating sows by reducing blood homocysteine (a blood toxin) and reducing (temperature) stress on the sow.

Betaine is also an extremely good source of methyl groups, which are used to spare the amino acid methionine, increase carnitine levels and methylate DNA to maximise its integrity and gene expression.

The layer experiment was designed to investigate whether significant amounts of dietary natural betaine can accumulate in the eggs laid by commercial hens.

For broilers, the potential benefits of natural betaine supplementation was investigated in Ross 308 broilers, measuring the hatchability, percentage of chick culls and hatched weight under commercial conditions.

Hy-Line laying hens were offered either a control diet (zero betaine) and a treated diet (1000ppm of betaine) in a 6 week trial.

Overall results indicated the natural betaine supplementation significantly increased the betaine content of the eggs (P<0.001) from 0.46 mg/100g (control) to 1.37 mg/100g (treated), representing a 3 fold increase (equating to 0.91mg/100g).

However, this had no significant effect on other production parameters

of the laying hens (there was a numerical 2.4% increase in egg weight by the treated diets).

For broiler breeders the commercial evaluation of natural betaine was tested in 7000 Ross 308 broiler breeders, run in two blocks, with a partial crossover (one shed had both a control and a treated diet at different times) of treatments (control and betaine treated diets at 2000ppm of betaine).

The broiler breeders were 32 weeks of age, and were offered the control and treated diets for a period of 24 weeks. Results showed natural betaine significantly improved hatch rate from 84.75% to 86.89% (P=0.004), but had no effect on hatch weight or number of chick culls.

“A 2.5% improvement in hatch rate is worth approximately 1.5 cents per egg” said David, “and if 750,000,000 eggs are produced per annum to produce 600,000,000 broilers, then this

Natural betaine benefits broiler chicks

Dr David Cadogan (centre) with Professor Bob Swick and Mark Dunlop.

18

is worth approximately $11.3 million dollars to the broiler industry”.

It is also highly likely that natural betaine will also improve the hatch rate in layer, duck and turkey breeders. Additionally, increasing natural betaine to layer diets could also promote health benefit to egg consumers.

“The potential in-ovo effects of natural betaine in chick development and subsequent growth and carcass characteristics could be significant, and this strongly warrants further investigation” said David.

Currently, at a 2kg/tonne dose rate, betaine would cost between $9 and $10 per tonne to incorporate in breeder diets. Therefore, further research is necessary to assess the effects of lower (more cost effective) doses.

For further information on this project, or to request a copy of the Final Report, please contact the Poultry CRC [email protected]

Tesco cartons go plasticTraditional cardboard cartons are being replaced by plastic versions at Tesco in the UK.

Egg cartons made of pulp or cardboard are to be replaced by recyclable plastic packaging to save more than a million free-range eggs from going to waste every year after a successful trial by Britain’s biggest egg retailer.

Tesco’s free-range eggs are currently sold in pulp cartons so if an egg breaks in transit, it can seep through the box and damage packs beneath.

But the supermarket has trialled a recyclable plastic packaging made from old drinks bottles. When an egg breaks, the seepage can be contained in one pack.

Tesco has trialled the new 12-egg packaging in nearly 200 stores. Tesco is the UK’s largest egg retailer, selling around 1.3 billion eggs every year.

Spokesman Lee Gray said: “We know that plastic packs reduce food waste – now we have a pack that will reduce food waste and offer customers a more environmentally friendly packaging solution.”

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By PETER BEDWELL

Free range layer farm in Newcastle region plans for and survives major bush fire

When bush fires tore through NSW in late 2013, it was the Blue Mountains region that got most of the media coverage. However other locations like the Newcastle region also experienced horrendous fires as temperatures soared to record levels and huge fires burnt out of control.

One of the farms that found itself threatened by a massive fire was the two shed free range layer farm run by June and Kerry Fuller who have operated the Campvale NSW farm since 1985, firstly as a broiler farm for Steggles, but today the operation is a 10,000 birds per hectare free range layer farm.

They produce for Free Range Egg Farms operated by Ray Leach and Poultry Digest ran a story on this interesting enterprise in its Feb/March edition.

Go to www.primarymedia.com.au, latest issues and open the Feb/March issue. The story is on page 34.

The farm was originally built as a layer operation so it has returned to its original purpose, firstly as a larger capacity free range operation and more recently converted to 10,000 bph protocols that are consistent with Free

Range Egg Farm’s ‘ecoeggs’ brand.“Our hens have at least eight hours

a day access to the range areas that consist of both natural and improved pastures,” Ray explained.

“All our ‘ecoegg’ farms provide an average maximum of 10 hens per square metre or less in the sheds and an average maximum of one bird per square metre or less on the range areas during daylight hours.

“In our experience there are rarely more than 50% of the birds on the range at any time so the effective load on pasture is around .5 hen. /m2,” he added.

The location of the farm, next to an area of state forest, offers isolation and some biosecurity advantages but at the penalty of having fires risk on the doorstep.

On the night of October 17, 2013 that risk turned to harsh reality when w

Background trees behind June Fuller and her birds show how close to disaster the farm came.

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a huge fire took hold in the adjacent forest.

The Fullers, being experienced farmers who had lived and worked in their environment over many years, were aware of the risks and had planned accordingly.

“Power outages are frequent in this area at the best of times and we knew if fire took hold one of the first things to go would be mains electricity supply so we have always invested in well maintained back up generators with plenty of capacity,” Kerry said.

“The power requirements for the farm, feeders, stirrer fans, and the water pump for drinker lines, are relatively low, but what we have is a big power surplus for our high capacity water pumps.”

The strategy the Fullers had developed was to run high pressure irrigation hose over critical areas of the sheds and other farm infrastructure including the family home on the property.

Knowing the speed with which bush fires travel through the area the plan was, when alerted to fire, to start the powerful pumps and flood rooves, ramps and walls and thoroughly soak the ground around the shed.

The other problem faced by the Fullers was that in all probability when fire approached they would be forced by authorities to evacuate.

On the day of the big fire at least they got some warning and with the pumps going flat out all critical areas of the farm got well watered.

As Kerry predicted, an early casualty as the fire took hold was the mains power supply but by switching to the stand-by generator system they still got plenty of water spread around before being forced to leave the property at 7.00 pm.

Having done the best they could to secure the property it was soon to be time for another piece of interesting technology to take over.

ChookCam, an innovation developed by the Free Range Egg Farms enterprise, primarily to allow consumers to actually watch the birds using their range and surroundings, continued to operate as the fire approached.

By 9.30 pm the fire had raged to the boundary fence of the Fuller’s property but the pumps and the Fuller’s plan worked.

Though the flames came to within a few metres of the sheds, they and almost all their hens survived and so did the valiant little ‘ChookCam’ located less than 10 metres from the inferno and it recorded the whole event.

When the Fullers returned the next day, though the farm had survived, just over 100 hens had perished, probably from the radiant heat at the end wall w

v

of the shed nearest the fire in adjacent bush.

With almost all their precious livestock intact and their farm and house saved and the generators still operating the next concern was fuel.

The power was still out and with fires still burning in the area it was likely to be out for some time.

Critical was the diesel fuel supply for the generators. The Fullers were okay but a few hundred metres down the road Paul Maskey, who runs a farm supplying pullets to amongst other farmer, the Fullers, and other growers in the Free Range Egg Farms Group, was after two days without power, running low. Roads were still closed so options were limited.

Fortunately the Fullers boat, which

runs on diesel power and has generous tanks, which were full, donated fuel to keep the generators running. It took two and half days before power was restored.

When Poultry Digest visited the Fullers farm with Ray Leach in March all was back to normal.

The nearby bush was still blackened as a testament to the severity of the fires but the paddocks had recovered their pasture and production was running along perfectly.

June reflected on the events of the October 17, 2013 and their narrow escape.

“We understand consumer concern for animal welfare and why they like the idea of free range, but there’s a lot more to running a layer farm than just looking

1. Kerry Fuller, experienced layer farmer. 2. Paul Maskey, neighbour and supplier of pullets in the area. 3. Six months after the fire the range has recovered. 4. Chookcam recorded the fire at its closest on October 17, 2013.

24

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v after the range, which we do.“Apart from maintaining all the

equipment vital to looking after the hens in the sheds which is where they spend most of their time, we have to make sure predators and vermin are kept away from the property.

“Every night I walk the sheds to make sure all the birds are okay. It’s a vital task and I must admit I do talk to the birds as well as keeping a close eye on them – you have to know your birds.

“We do keep a graph for monitoring the performance of the flock, but a lot of managing the birds comes from intuition and long experience,” June said.

On its website The Australian Egg Corporation Ltd states that ‘it believes all egg production systems have their own advantages and disadvantages in relation to hen welfare.

“Recent scientific research undertaken by the University of Sydney demonstrated that hen stress levels are similar across cage, barn and free range environments, with the key determinants on hen welfare being hen husbandry not the system used,” a view that reinforces June’s belief in looking after her hens.

The Fullers birds, Hy-Line Browns, are supplied by Paul Maskey from down the road and they are allowed out onto the range at 25 to 26 weeks of age and stay in lay until around 78 weeks.

Paul, who has been a pullet grower since 1979 and supplies birds as far away as the Queensland border, has a preference for the Hy-Line Brown bird.

“Apart from other attributes which make the bird adaptable to alternative rearing systems, he believes that the breed is “less prevalent to feather pecking”.

As a matter of history the Hy-Line business was started in 1953 by Ray Leach’s father.

The business model for Ray Leach’s Free Range Egg Farms is interesting in that it is based on the contract grower system that has been a key factor in the success of the broiler industry in Australia.

“We want to attract experienced farmers from either the broiler or layer sector to our business model: we can take the uncertainty that seems to be prevailing in the commercial poultry industry at present, out of a growers life,” he said.

“We have supply contracts from the major retail groups and know that our business of supplying eggs that consumers want has plenty of potential to grow.”

On the question of barn laid as an option to satisfy consumer demand and supermarket ‘cage free ‘policy Ray agrees that this production model will grow, maybe to 25% or even 30% of the overall market.

“This will mean considerable investment on the part of growers to move from cage to barn laid but we offer assistance in financing the shift to more sustainable and commercially viable production,” Ray said.

“There is certainly confusion over egg labeling and who is going to be selling what in the future.

“The ACCC’s intervention over labeling, associated stocking density issues and prosecutions of egg suppliers, certainly hasn’t been of any real help to consumers who may have less choice over what egg products they buy rather than more,” Ray said.

“The policies of retailers and the ACCC have certainly contributed to shortages on supermarket shelves right now and this situation will get worse before it improves,” he predicted.

“At Free Range Egg Farms we have the industry and marketing experience to adapt to what the market wants and we can help growers adapt their operations to supply that demand be it free range or barn laid based,” Ray concluded.

1. Flooding the sheds with high volume pumps using generator power saved the sheds and hens. 2. The Chookcam not only survived the blaze but recorded it.3. Ray Leach, MD of Free Range Egg Farms, with the much sought after eggs from the Fullers farm.4. Nest boxes and egg collection system is from Vencomatic.

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NEWS

Has the poultry industry lost control of its destiny and where do we go from here?

Big retail and even smaller shops all seem to want one type or another of what is seen by consumers as being welfare friendly poultry products.

This means free range or more recently, RSPCA approved broiler meat and either free range or barn laid eggs.

The poultry industry in its efforts to meet what retailers required has attracted the attention of the consumer regulator, the ACCC, which has undertaken numerous prosecutions for what it regards as misleading labelling against broiler meat producers, duck meat growers and free range egg farmers.

There is little doubt that both extreme animal rights groups and consumer action groups like ‘Choice’ as well as social action organisations like ‘Get Up’ have encouraged regulators in their efforts.

Given that big retailer policy demands ‘welfare friendly’ poultry products and the ACCC is unwilling to allow larger commercial operations to label their products as being ‘free range’ as in the case of 10,000 bird per hectare free range layer farms, the move to RSPCA approved farms by growers and integrators was an obvious one.

At least the RSPCA broiler code allows for the operation of enclosed sheds, which though the code presents complications for growers, it at least offers good levels of biosecurity if care is taken to observe well proven and sensible measures to prevent the entry and spread of disease on farms.

If the ACCC sticks to its stated intention to favour free range layer farms with populations on range of 1500 hens per hectare or less, there are dangers with this path that would not be

obvious to the consumer action groups and politicians who decry ‘factory farmers’.

All free range layer farms, whatever the stocking density, pose a greater biosecurity threat than enclosed production methods like cage or barn laid.

If consumer pressure continues to generate a big market for free range products and the ACCC only allow low stocking density farms to label their product as being ‘free range’, the logical result will be an explosion in the number of small free range poultry operations.

The lower returns from small farms will inevitably in most cases result in the use of less sophisticated equipment like nesting systems and grading/packing equipment.

Unless extraordinary care from these small scale farmers is taken that could result in more ‘floor’ eggs or damaged eggs ending up in the hands of consumers.

So the risk is two fold – from the farms themselves greater exposure to avian disease risk, particularly from diseases like avian influenza and from substandard eggs – salmonella.

In pointing out some of these risks potentially posed by small scale free range layer farms, Poultry Digest recognizes that there are many well run

free range operations like the Rohde family farm reported on in the Feb/March issue and the free range farm featured in his issue.

Both these operations are run by farmers with not only years but generations of experience in livestock management. No, the risk may arise when inexperienced ‘lifestyle farmers’ with little of no intensive livestock experience jump into a gap in the market created by the joint actions of retailers and regulators.

But the consumer, we are told, only cares for ‘natural products’ and what they see as conditions they favour despite the fact that more than half a century of scientific experience has developed an industry that delivers cheap and safe food.

That industry, driven by regulators and retailers, is now being forced to abandon the lessons of long scientific research and expertise.

When disease strikes it will not be the fault of the tireless regulators or the retailers whose policies only offer welfare friendly product but ‘factory farmers’ who Australia’s media love to criticise.

In past issues Poultry Digest has pointed out that one of the real problems the industry faces is the wealth of Australian consumers who are prepared to pay up to 50% more for essentially the same product produced in sometimes more hazardous and less efficient conditions.

If, in the future our economy that has stayed strong (while in Europe, the US and elsewhere on the globe economies tanked as a result of the GFC), should fall into recession with the inevitable rise in unemployment and overall wealth generation the willingness to spend considerably more of ‘animal welfare friendly’ products may change.

This has occurred in the UK, where many of the executives in big retail, gained their experience.

You don’t need to hire a focus group so beloved of both politicians and big retailers to discover that in the last few months Australia has lurched to the right.

Though the swing against Labour and the Greens was pretty universal it was particularly sharp in the outer

By PETER BEDWELL

“The consumer, we are told, only cares for ‘natrual products’ and what they see as conditions they favour despite the fact that more than half a century of scientific experience has developed an industry that delivers cheap and safe food”

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suburban populations of our large cities.Many consumers may be getting

just a little fed up with inner city over remunerated baby boomer elites telling them what to buy and how to behave as consumers.

Ex-Labour PM Paul Keating famously described such groups when they incurred his displeasure as ‘chardonnay swilling socialists’ and ‘Balmain basket weavers’.

Without doubt the animal rights groups and social activists that may influence the directions of our regulators, derive a significant proportion of not only their influence, but also their revenue from these ‘urban elites’.

So what to do? In simple terms the supermarkets

which control 75% of Australia’s retail spend will only in the future sell ‘cage free eggs’, which in terms of our production systems means either free range or barn laid – a concept not readily understood by consumers.

The ACCC has basically stated that it will be unwilling to sanction free range labeling of eggs on farms with stocking densities of 1500 birds per hectare or less.

To satisfy demand for free range eggs even before the supermarkets declared their ‘cage free ‘ policies would not have been possible by relying on supplies from farms of 1500 bph or less- so does that mean the alternative is for current cage production to convert to barn laid?

That would involve significant expense that to be for producers viable would, ultimately, have to be passed on to the consumer.

The options are simple – abandon cage layer systems in favour of barn laid, which is what has happened in Europe or continue with cage layers and find a path to consumers other than the two big retailers who have stated that they will no longer sell the product.

Another approach would be to persuade regulators to adopt a policy towards free range that allows for production system densities that recognize the need for commercial realities in production scale.

The key for the cage layer system which may still account for the majority of egg sales is take a message to at least half the market for eggs is that their choice in what to buy is being resisted by supermarkets supported by fringe groups and their political allies who believe they know better.

So our corporate regulator and consumer action groups like Choice and

Get Up have, through their efforts to obstruct not only high density free range operations, but also by campaigning against cage layer production, actually reduced consumer choices.

And in the process ensured that all consumers will ultimately pay more for eggs!

What about the broiler industry? There the free range debate has been overtaken by the almost universal move by integrators towards RSPCA broiler codes.

Adopted by some of the smaller players initially, now both Baiada and Inghams appear to have recognised retailer pressure and joined up.

This development has the advantage of consumer and supermarket support but comes at a cost to production efficiency.

Will the prices charged for RSPCA broiler code products by big retail provide enough margin for integrators to

compensate growers for lower stocking densities and more labour input?

If so, there are clear advantages beyond consumer acceptance to the RSPCA poultry codes – they provide an additional impediment to imports of chicken meat beyond the current disease prevention protocols that keep our industry free of uncooked chicken meat imports.

However, as always with chicken meat cost is the key. The primary reason that chicken is the most consumed meat in Australia is that it is cheaper than all its competitors like beef, lamb and pork. If it looses that

edge it is in danger of loosing its market pre-eminence.

It is worth asking the question – why is beef and lamb so much more expensive than chicken? This is an industry that still requires feed and infrastructure costs that are higher than those faced by the red meat industry at least.

The answer – exports! Why should beef and lamb

producers accept less for their product than they can get from overseas markets like Japan and Korea?

Maybe a lesson for the chicken meat producers there!

New Zealand, a country with higher energy and feed costs than Australia, is successfully exporting at least a quarter of its production into key markets in Asia like Hong Kong, Macau and parts of mainland China.

Not only has this made the New Zealand industry more profitable, it has driven up prices in the domestic market. It is probably no secret that much of Ingham’s profits in recent times derive from their New Zealand operations (including feed mills).

Speaking at the ABARES Outlook Conference held in Canberra recently, key Rabobank executive Berry Martin identified Africa and Australia as the only two major areas of landmass able to expand crop production to satisfy the demand that will be created by Asian middle classes increasing meat consumption.

By Asia – we mean China primarily! That market doesn’t appear, at this

stage anyway, to care that much about animal welfare production systems.

The primary concerns will be food safety, availability, and of course cost.

Australia has the potential to satisfy those key criteria but only if we continue to use every advantage that science and technology has delivered to our efficient production systems.

By all means in the short term address the current needs of our pampered consumers but we must remember that in the end our industries strengths are low cost, safety, and a tasty healthy ever-available product. Jeopardise any of those criteria and ‘welfare friendly production’ wont be any help to us.

In fact we could turn the moral arguments pushed by the urban elites on their head, (and the organisations that support them) and show that our prime concern is to help feed the world in a era of growing shortage rather than satisfy the views of noisy minorities and the regulators.

NEWS

“The options are simple – abandon cage layer systems in favour of barn laid, which is what happened in Europe, or continue with cage layers and find a path to consumers other than the two big retailers who have stated they will no longer sell the product.”

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HEALTH FEATURE

Evaluation of different protections of butyric acid on performane and egg characteritics of White Leghorn layer hens

T he present study was

conducted to determine the effect of supplementing the diet of hens with different forms of butyric acid on performance (feed efficiency (FE), egg production (EP)), egg quality (egg weight (EW), egg mass (EM), shell weight (SW), shell thickness (ST) and egg density (ED)) and digestibility of energy and protein.

The treatments were: sodium butyrate protected with palm stearine (SBP) and calcium butyrate (CB). Two thousand four hundred ninety 38-week old White Leghorn (BV 300) laying hens were use in this experiment.

They were housed in 30 identical pens, each containing 83 birds, and 10 pens were used per treatment. The hens were fed with diets (168 g CP and 10.88 MJ ME / kg). Both forms of butyrate were included at same dosage of butyric acid (280 g / mT) for a period of 16 weeks.

Responses were compared with an unsupplemented treatment. The pooled data of four periods (16 weeks) indicated that incorporation of butyrate in both forms in layer diet did not influence (P > 0.05) EP, FI, FE, EW, EM, SW or ST. However, ED improved significantly (P < 0.05) in groups fed both forms of butyrate compared to those fed control diet without butyrate. The improved ED might be due to non-significant (P > 0.05) increase in shell thickness in layers fed both forms of butyrate.

Supplementation of SBP significantly improved the digestibility of energy (P < 0.001) and protein (P < 0.005) compared to those fed the control diet or diet supplemented with CB. The percentage of eggs produced by SBP (84.04%) was higher than control (83.43%) and CB (83.14%) groups without significant differences. Similarly, feed intake to produce a unit EM in SBP (2.191 g) was lower than

those fed other two diets (2.236 and 2.247 g). Livability in SBP (96.2%) was higher than control and CB (95.8 and 94.8%, respectively). Haugh unit score was higher for SBP group compared with Control and Calcium butyrate (73.58, 72.25, 71.83) with non significant effect (P > 0.05).

Digestibility of energy and protein improved significantly in SBP compared to those fed the other two diets. From the obtained data it can be concluded that supplementation of the diet with sodium butyrate protected with fat increases eggshell quality, nutrient digestibility and layer production when compared to the control.

IntroductionConventionally, antibiotic or

chemical growth promoters are used as a tool to reduce pathogen count in the gut in commercial poultry, which also enhances feed efficiency (Jin et al., 1997).

But, the use of antibiotics as routine feed additives are being discouraged due to consumer concerns about the safety and possible threat of developing drug resistant pathogenic bacteria (Leeson, 2007) by consuming poultry products from such practices. Several alternate approaches like the use of essential oils (Lee et al., 2004), probiotics (Panda et al., 2003; Rama Rao et al., 2004), and organic acids (Panda et al., 2009), are suggested to maintain optimum gut health in lieu of chemical or antibiotic growth promoters in avian diets.

Butyric acid, an organic acid, is known to play a vital role in the development of the gut membrane (Mallo et al., 2012) and reduce the population of harmful bacteria in the chicken gut. Butyric acid is, however, a corrosive liquid, so, in order to facilitate its use in animal nutrition, it is transformed into a salt (amongst other transformations and mixes). The

efficiency of butyric acid predominantly depends on the salt into which it has been transformed.

Butyrate salts have very different solubilities, being much higher for the sodium butyrate, 115 g /1000 ml, than for the calcium butyrate, 6 g /1000 ml (Mallo et al., 2012).

The liberation of the butyrate anion into the intestinal lumen, and the transformation of that anion into butyric acid or its direct absorption by the enterocytes, can be controlled with adequate protection. As calcium butyrate solubility is very low, it allows a slow release of the butyrate anion into the intestinal lumen; while sodium butyrate requires a physical protection(given by vegetable fat) in order to ensure the slow release of active principle.

This experiment was conducted to compare the addition of two presentations of butyric acid (sodium butyrate protected with palm stearine, SBP and calcium butyrate, CB) in layer diets on egg production (EP), feed efficiency (FE), egg mass (EM), egg weight, egg shell quality, Haugh unit score and digestibility of energy and protein.

Materials and methodsA total of 2490 White Leghorn (BV

300, Babcock) laying hens (38 weeks of age) were distributed equally among 30 replicates (four bird colony cages – 83 birds per replicate).

The cages were on an elevated platform in an open-sided poultry house (ambient temperature range 23-39.2°C). A control diet (CD) containing 10.88 MJ ME and 168 g CP/kg was prepared. The CD was supplemented with two forms of butyric acid (sodium butyrate protected with palm stearine, SBP and calcium butyrate, CB) independently to provide a uniform dose of butyric acid (280 g/T). The CD without butyric acid supplementation was fed to another

By M. PUYALTO, S.V. RAMA RAO AND J.J. MALLO*

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34

HEALTH FEATUREgroup to compare the performance of layers fed diets with and without butyric acid. Each diet was offered ad libitum to ten replicates from 38 - 54 weeks of age.

Eggs were collected twice daily to record daily egg production (EP) and quantity of feed consumed to produce an unit egg mass (feed efficiency – FE). Average egg weight (EW), egg density (ED), egg breaking strength, shell weight and shell thickness were recorded on all the eggs produced during the last 3 days of each period (28 d interval). Egg mass (EM) was calculated by multiplying the average EW and EP percent and expressed as g per bird per day.

During period 4, a 3-day metabolic trial was conducted (six replicates per treatment) after 7 day adaptation period to study the apparent digestibility of energy and protein by the total excreta collection method. The data of all 4 periods were pooled and subjected to a one way analysis of variance (Snedecor and Cochran, 1980).

Results and discussion

The pooled data of 4 periods (16 weeks) indicated that incorporation of butyrate in both forms in diet did not influence (P > 0.05) EP, FI, FE, EW, EM, SW or ST. However, ED improved significantly (P < 0.05) in groups fed both forms of butyrate compared to those fed the CD without butyrate.

The improved ED might be due to non-significant (P > 0.05) increase in shell thickness in layers fed both forms of butyrate. Haugh unit score was not affected (P > 0.05) by treatments in the present study. The percentage of eggs produced by SBP (84.04) was higher than control (83.43) or CB (83.14) groups without significant differences. Similarly, feed intake to produce a unit EM in SBP (2.191 g) was lower than those fed other two diets (2.236 and 2.247 g). Livability in SBP (96.2 %) was higher than CD and CB (95.8 % and 94.8 %, respectively) fed groups.

Supplementation of SBP significantly improved the digestibility of energy (P < 0.001) and protein (P < 0.005) compared to those fed the CD or CB supplemented diet. The improvement in layer performance observed in this study could be due the beneficial role of protected sodium butyrate.

The calcium butyrate (CB) was found to be ineffective in improving these parameters. Supplementation of sodium butyrate was reported to enhance the development of intestinal

epithelium (Mallo et al., 2010) and reduce pathogenic bacteria count in chicken intestine (Van Immerseel et al., 2005; Fernandez-Rubio et al., 2009).

Though the majority of layer performance parameters showed improvements with SBP supplementation compared to the control group, the difference did not reach significance, which may be due to dose of the organic acid included in the current study.

The non-significant improvement in layer production parameters observed in SBP fed groups in the present study may partly be due to the beneficial effects associated with optimum gut development (Mallo et al., 2012) and possible reduction in pathogen count in the intestine (Rama Rao et al., 2004). From the obtained data it can be concluded that sodium butyrate protected with fat is more effective than calcium butyrate, as it increases eggshell quality, nutrient digestibility and layer production.

SBP sodium butyrate protected with palm stearine, CB calcium butyrate, EP egg production, FI feed intake, FE feed efficiency, EW egg weight, EM egg mass, SW shell weight, ST shell thickness, ED egg density, BS egg breaking strength, HU Haugh unit scoreReferences:Fernández-Rubio C, Ordóñez C, Abad-González J, Garcia-Gallego A, Honrubia P, Mallo JJ & Balaña-Fouce R (2009) Poultry Science 88: 943-948. Jin LZ, Ho YW, Abdullah N & Jalaludin S (1997) World’s Poultry Science Journal 53: 351-368.

Lee KW, Everts H, Kappert HJ, Wouterse H, Frehner M & Beynen AC (2004) International Journal of Poultry Science 3: 608– 612.Lesson S (2007) Nutritional Abstracts and Reviews 71: 1-5. Mallo JJ, Balfagón A, Gracia MI, Honrubia P & Puyalto M (2012) Journal of Animal Science 90: 227–229. Mallo JJ, Gracia MI, Sanchez J, Honrubia P & Puyalto M (2010) XIIIth European Poultry Conference Proceedings, pp. 171-738. Mallo JJ, Puyalto M & Kis I (2012) International Poultry Scientific Forum Proceedings, Abstract 328. Panda AK, Reddy MR, Rama Rao SV & Praharaj NK (2003) Tropical Animal Health and Production 35: 85-94. Panda AK, Rama Rao SV, Raju MVLN & Shyam Sunder G (2009) Asian Australian Journal of Animal Sciences 22: 1026-1031. Rama Rao SV, Reddy MR, Raju MVLN & Panda AK (2004) Indian Journal of Poultry Science 39: 125-130. Snedecor GW & Cochran WG (1980) Statistical Methods, Oxford and IBH Publishing Company, New Delhi, India. van Immerseel F, Boyen F, Gantois I, Timbermont L, Bohez L, Pasmans F, Haesebrouck F & Ducatelle R (2005) Poultry Science 84: 1851-1856.

*NOREL S.A. Jesús Aprendiz 19, 1º A, 28007, Madrid, Spain; [email protected] * Project Directorate on Poultry, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030, IndiaThis article was recently presented at Australian Poultry Science Symposium and published with permission.

v

CRC NEWS

36

Waste to energy – the potential of BiodigestionWith many limits in efficiency being reached within poultry production parameters, producers are looking at further cost savings via incremental gains.

One such prospective cost saving is the potential resource that may be found in waste streams generated from growing, processing and hatching chickens at a commercial scale.

This prospective saving coupled with an increasing cost of disposal of these waste streams sets the scene for industry to reap the benefits of investigating technologies to turn these traditional costs into potential revenue.

Poultry CRC participant Active Research has recently completed a project titled ‘Adding value by sustainable waste processing’.

Looking to mitigate waste streams from poultry hatcheries and processing facilities, and recover energy in the process, the project utilised a reactor-based Anaerobic Digestion (AD) system to treat waste streams that have traditionally been sent to landfill.

A workshop was held recently at Ingham’s Enterprises Somerville processing facility in Victoria to discuss the outcomes of this research, and the potential for commercial application by industry.

Project leader Mr David Halliday, was joined on the day by 24 delegates from Inghams, Baiada, Hy-Line Australia, DMD Poultry, Turi Foods, Australian Chicken Growers Council, Victorian Farmers Federation, Victorian Chicken meat Council, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Poultry CRC.

The workshop discussed David’s research, introduced the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and heard from Dr Tim Munster from CSIRO on nutrient (N, P & K) recovery from waste. For those unfamiliar with Clean Energy Finance Corporation, we would strongly encourage you to learn more at their website.

The project tested the handling, pre-treatment and digestion processes for three types of waste; mortality birds, hatchery waste and processor waste.

After maceration of waste material to a pumpable homogenous material with a particle size <3mm, waste was

exposed to 40 kHz sound waves, in a process known as sonification.

David explained, “In order to achieve efficient digestion, and thereby reduce retention time, you need to expose the waste to microbes in the digester quickly and efficiently, and for this purpose we used sonification.

“This technology utilises sound waves to disrupt cell structure, thereby presenting the contents of the cells to microbes such that the digestion process starts immediately, as the microbes do not have to penetrate cell walls”.

In addition to the reduction in time required for digestion, less sludge is produced and methane production is maximised.

A significant amount of trial time was also consumed in engineering solutions to cope with the high propensity for foam and rafting to build up in the head of the reactor. Additionally, separating egg shells from the hatchery waste was also required as shells proved problematic to digest.

Whilst it is believed that these two

challenges have been met, the lost time heavily limited the ability of the project team to conduct extended runs of material, and in turn robust data on gas yields was difficult to obtain.

However, anaerobic digestion was successfully achieved across all waste types in as much as high strength, difficult to handle materials were successfully converted to biogas and a much lower-strength liquid, with minimal residual volume of undigested material remaining. The biogas produced at all stages contained a high proportion (in the order of 70%) of methane.

The project yielded a greatly improved understanding of the mechanical and analytic issues likely to be confronted when digesting poultry industry wastes.

Of particular benefit are the pre-treatment processes plus management of foaming and rafting, which, if not handled properly, can seriously affect the digestion process.

However, there are a number of aspects of the design that have not been tested at larger scale.

The project clearly demonstrates the potential for a reduction in landfill costs, energy and nutrient recovery for fertiliser manufacture from the digestate, and to provide another income stream for the poultry industry as a whole.

For further information on this project please contact the Poultry CRC [email protected].

Left: CRC Program leader Dr Tim Walker with David Halliday from Active Research.Below: Oliver Yates from Clean Energy Finance Corporation speaks to delegates.

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INNOVATION, QUALITY, PERFORMANCE

38

CRC NEWS

Multi-disciplinary team seeks to understand free range farming’s questions

I would like to talk about what free range poultry production actually means in Australia. This stems from the fact that no two free range farms are the same.

Consider the range of issues impacting on free range farms, including climatic conditions, species of plants (vegetation), soil type, landscape, water source, wild bird populations, insect populations, size of the farm, indoor vs. outdoor areas, shed and nest-box designs, stocking density, litter type inside the sheds, breed of birds, feed, environmental management, etc…

In Australia, currently 40% of eggs and 15% of meat chickens are produced free range, with dramatic increases expected over the next five years. In the case of eggs, this shift is facilitated by the two supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths, as they have decided to phase out cage egg sales during the next few years.

Can the Australian egg industry meet the demand for eggs by 2018? This is a difficult question for egg farmers because not very long ago some 30% of egg farmers dropped

By MINGAN CHOCT, CEO Poultry CRC

out of the industry due to changes in regulation related to cage size.

However, ethical and sustainable production of food is the future trend for consumers in the developed world and thus it cannot be ignored.

Regarding the free range situation in Australia, the question is whether it is possible to have a uniform standard for

a highly diverse production system, that is, is a ‘one size fits all’ approach to free range production appropriate?

The answer is, obviously, “no”. So what will be the common areas across all types of free range operations? What will make them more sustainable in terms of food production, bird health and welfare, and environmental management points of view?

The Poultry CRC is looking into conducting a survey of free range poultry farms across the country. The survey results will underpin the commissioning of rational, evidence-based research projects to address the important scientific and commercial questions pertaining to free range operations.

The survey team, led by Dr Mini Singh of The University of Sydney, will consist of researchers from numerous partners including the South Australian R&D Institute (SARDI) the University of New England, Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and Poultry Works.

I thank them for their enthusiasm, professionalism and collaborative effort!

International Egg Commission ConferenceThe International Egg Commission’s Business Conference was opened by the organisation’s President Cesar de Anda in Vienna recently.

The event’s delegates heard about the importance of traceability, food safety and specialist egg products – all important when it comes to the commercialisation of eggs, an area producers need to focus on.

“The world’s egg producers should be proud of the IEC. We need to construct our own future, and everyone must play a part in this,” said de Anda.

The importance of the consumer was widely discussed. In host country Austria, for example, it was mentioned that animal rights and environmental concerns are important to consumers.

Konrad Blas, from the country’s Agriculture Ministry, commented that this helped to drive the strategy for quality production.

One of the most striking presentations at the conference’s opening event was that given by Professor David Hughes, who looked at the recession and its impact on purchasing.

Hughes noted that consumers worldwide have cut back on spending in shops. Comfort is being sacrificed, while discounts and online purchases are increasing in popularity. He added that, in his home country of the UK, supermarket chains are turning part of their retail space into cafes, restaurants or bakeries, to occupy space that is no

longer needed for groceries. They are also building fewer outlets

and those that are being built are small and, overall, their smaller shops are performing better than larger branches.

“What will this mean for the egg industry?” Hughes asked.

Delegates were also told that the egg industry has not always been as good as it could be in communicating the benefits of eggs – for example, their nutritional value.

The example was given of water exported from Fiji and celebrated as the ‘elixir of life’. Something similar should be done for eggs, highlighting that the egg is one of humankind’s oldest foods, and working with retailers may be one way to achieve this.

Santrev_DVD Cover 2_O.indd 1 28/02/11 5:14 PM

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PIX PREVIEW TRADE DISPLAY 2014

Santrev’s ongoing commitment to free range shedsWith the push for free range getting stronger, Santrev is renewing its ongoing commitment to delivering high quality free range sheds to processors and growers across Australia and spearheading the drive to cover the increasing requirements.

This includes having finished an eight shed facility in Rosewood late last year, currently building a six shed facility at Coominya and building a two shed facility at Esk in the near future. As a grower itself, Santrev is uniquely qualified to build free range.

“It’s important to all our clients that we know and understand their needs, the best way for us to do that is by owning and managing our own farms,” said Santrev Director Richard Sanday.

According to The Poultry Cooperative Research Centre, currently 40% of eggs and 15% of meat chickens in Australia are produced free range, with dramatic increases expected over the next five years.

Whether or not the industry can meet the demands is a serious concern, with Coles and Woolworths phasing out caged eggs.

“Thankfully, Santrev will to continue delivering our uniquely designed, tailor made sheds to meet growers’ requirements in order to fill the

industry’s needs,” said Richard. “Specifications include Santrev

full side wall opening systems, roof ventilation system, unique free range cooling system and solid and curtain side wall options.”

Keen to demonstrate the company’s expert builds, all PIX attendees or anyone looking to build free range sheds are welcome to visit a Santrev designed and built, modern free range farm in Queensland.

If you are interested in attending a farm visit or want to discuss building options, Call 1300 815 888 or visit www.santrev.com to get in touch to one of the Santrev team members.

Santrev can offer the full turnkey package, from design to ongoing management support and is eager to put its 40 year’s of building and 30 year farm management experience to use for growers and processors Australia wide.

Richard Sanday and Luke Trevanion from Santrev at the Peru Poultry Congress

GE Silos, new to PIX but not new to the industryGE Silos has been manufacturing the highest quality silos for more than 34 years. Since the first silo was built the company’s focus has been on making the best silo for the industry.

“We have created many improvements over the years which have derived from listening to the market and the problems the industries face with storage,” said Lyn Comer, Managing Director, GE Silos.

“This is how we became the first manufacturer to introduce the heavy duty blower pipes which previously were a common problem on large poultry farms.

“GE Silos has become a trusted leader in the industry because of our attention to detail and our passion for silos.

“Silos are what we do and where all our focus is.”

GE Silos has been suppling to more than 50 of the major stockfeed companies, poultry house construction companies and small to large poultry growers.

“This is due to our history of great service, high quality products, and excellent backup service,” said Lyn.”

Come in and visit GE Silos and talk to the staff at PIX 2014.

44

PIX PREVIEW TRADE DISPLAY 2014Termotecnica Pericoli opens warehouse in MalaysiaTermotecnica Pericoli Srl of Italy, known and respected globally for its extensive range of innovative, quality and performance ventilation and climate management equipment and systems for the livestock industry, recently established and opened its first foreign manufacturing faciltiy, warehouse and full service facility in Malaysia, Pericoli Asia-Pacific Sdn. Bhd.

“This is the culmination of a clear vision for the Asian Pacific region, as the company has always recognised the potential and importance of this large developing market and its potential in the years to come,” said Mauro Pericoli, Director Termotecnica Pericoli.

“It was a logical first choice for this new global strategy and vision to establish this new 2,300 m2 manufacturing, warehouse and offices facility which has been designed and equipped with the most modern, updated manufacturing and assembly technology, equal to the main Italian facility, thus ensuring the same high levels of quality and performance as is currently available from Italy.”

“The primary focus will be on the production of the EOS/EWS and EOC

fan lines. The facility will have capacity to increase the company’s total global production capacity by 40%.

“It is worthy to note that it is the company’s vision and goal to operate with a combined team of Italian and local employees. The new warehouse will also be holding an extensive inventory of finished products (ready to ship) as well as spares and service parts,” he said.

“This is a starting point and our vision for the future is quite clear,” said Enrico Viscardi, Director of Pericoli Asia-Pacific.

“As an original design manufacturer (ODM) the goals of Pericoli Asia-Pacific will be to replicate the same high levels of Italian quality delivered to our customers through this new facility as is currently available from Italy, with the added financial and service benefits from a regional production location.

“One of the benefits of this strategic location will be the reduction in lead time and shipping cost into all Asian Pacific markets,” Mr Viscardi said.

For more information about all the company’s products visit the stand at PIX and talk to the representatives.

The new TermotecnicaPericolimanufacturing facility and warehouse which hasrecently opened in Malaysia.

IMEXCO & CMC: The next generation of poultry loadingCMC Industries and IMEXCO Australia will introduce during the PIX Brisbane exhibition 2014, the new version of the Apollo Broiler Harvester, christened the Apollo Generation 2.

IMEXCO has been the representative for CMC Industries (previously called Ciemmecalabria), since September 2004, and has provided Australia with its dedicated services since 1994 for the poultry and swine industry.

The first Apollo version was released onto the Australian market in 2004 with the support of IMEXCO.

Now both companies will introduce the Apollo Generation 2 and will also have on display the poultry forklift Agile, introduced into Australia two years ago. The Generation 2 has some exciting new features, controlled by the new on-board computer, the SmartScopic and the 3’s System.

The SmartScopic is a revolutionary system developed and field tested by CMC Industries allowing the loading of the birds into the poultry container even

more gently. It works together with the

weight system on the trailer and the customised software program, resulting in an optimal density in the boxes and a simplified operation.

The 3’s System or the Soft Start & Stop, allows the belts to start gradually allowing the birds to keep their balance and therefore staying calmer during the loading. In addition the 3’s System increases the accuracy of the weight system, due to the reduced speed when

the box weight is about to reach the programed weight.

Come visit these companies from May 25 to 28 2014 during PIX and discover other new features of the Apollo Generation 2.

For more information contact IMEXCO, a leading distributor of agricultural products for the intensive housing of livestock in Australia. Go to www.imexco.com or CMC Industries, a global leader poultry loading solutions at www.cmcindustries .com

DOL 539 Free-Range Climate and Production Computer

• Large graphic touch screen - navigation via icons on the screen• Special free-range functions

• Automatic change between free-range ventilation and normal ventilation• CO2 control, also in free-range mode• Basic and broiler production facilities

• Pop-holes to be opened automatically or manually (sensor on doors if manually)• Automatic ventilation turned off in free-range mode• Automatic change of alarm for high/low temperature

• CO2 ventilation active in free-range mode (will start ventilation if CO2 is too high)• Pressure alarm

• Fans only operate if needed (too high temperature or too high CO2)• When pop-hole door closes, the program changes back to “Normal ventilation”

All the required functions for ensuring optimum production under any climatic conditions.

Features

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46


Potters Poultry, the expert in cage free egg supplyBack at PIX/AMC 2014 will be the leading supplier of cage free poultry equipment, UK based Potters Poultry.

This company grew in Europe as consumer and retailer pressure wanted more cage free egg supply so as Australia moves down almost the same track this company’s expertise with cage free systems, including RSPCA approved rearing, will be of value to Australian growers.

Mike Button, Potters Poultry International Sales Manager will be back at PIX/AMC 2014 on the Potters Poultry International stand.

You can seek his advice, as he knows a lot about changing poultry production systems to suit our new market for ‘welfare friendly’ market. Mike Potter (centre) from Potters Poultry International.

Direct BioBedding introduces new recycled balesDirect BioBedding, the Ingleburn NSW company that has made a name for itself in a number of livestock industries, through its recycled softwood biosecure bedding material, has introduced a new range of plastic wrapped bales.

“These bales are ideal for the growing number of RSPCA approved broiler growers who may choose to reuse litter but need to ‘top up’ small areas in the shed,” said Rob James, Managing Director of the innovative recycling company which turns thousands of soft wood pallets into inert bedding material for poultry sheds.

Go to: http://issuu.com/

primarymedia/docs/pdaugust-september2013lores for the Poultry Digest story on this product.

“Up until now most of our business has been through the delivery of BioBedding direct to broiler growers by our walking floor truck fleet, but the new bales mean we can supply ‘top up’ bedding for users much further afield than our NSW base at very competitive prices,” said Rob.

At the time of going to press for our PIX /AMC 2014 issue, final details of sizes and specifications were still being relayed so go towww.directbiobedding for the latest updates. Rob James, Direct BioBedding

Agritech Australia offers state of the art equipmentBack at PIX/AMC 2014 is Agritech Australia which offers a combination of state of the art equipment from industry leading manufacturers around the world, such as ChoreTime grain handling, poultry feeding and watering equipment, Jamesway Incubator Company, Soteck Heat Recovery and air handling systems, KL Products Chick automation equipment and robotics, SKOV poultry ventilation systems and Smithway Chick transport trailers.

Amongst the new products promoted by AgriTech at PIX/AMC 2014 will be the new corrosion resistant Chore Time 57 inch 1.5 hp Endura Hy-Flo tunnel fan with PVC butterfly doors and cones.

Another new product will be Jameway’s new Platinum 2.0 series single stage incubators and hatchers

Long time poultry industry supplier Frankie Horwood, Managing Director of Agritech will be on the stand at PIX/AMC to assist growers with their requirements.

New Endura high-performance corrosion resistant 57” tunnel fan available from Agritech Australia.

48

PIX PREVIEW TRADE SHOW 2014OEC continues operations in new locationOEC has modified its operations to suit the industry move to RSPCA approved and free range growers requirements.

Run by Martin Simmons, OEC downscaled its operations in 2013 and moved to new premises near Cabool-ture (new phone 07 54292028 new fax 07 542920380) but continues to operate as an agent for the Israeli made Agrotop prefabricated sheds and a range of products that suit both free range and RSPCA approved poultry operations.

The revived OEC product range includes $500 perch winches as well as minivent and curtain opening winches.

“ Also EURO 36” and 50” hanging and exhaust fans, that perform well in free range or older style sheds as well as digital light dimmers that more accurately mimic progressive sunrise and sunset conditions, Martin said.

“This creates less stress for birds leading to better productivity.”

He added that there had been significant interest in the floor drying ‘Cubo’ fans sold by OEC, which Poultry Digest plans to include as part of a grower report in an upcoming edition. Talk to Martin at PIX and visit the web-site at www.oec.biz

Above: Israeli made Agritop sheds available through OEC. Left: Digital light dimmers that mimic sunrise and sunset in the sheds.

Agricultural Appointments: Platinum sponsor at PIXAgricultural Appointments is one of the oldest established recruitment companies in Australia.

The company commenced operations in 1979 initially to provide on-farm workers. Over the years the business has significantly grown and today provides talent nationally across the breadth of agriculture, agribusiness and the food industry. The company now has offices in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Co-Principals Ray Johnson and Brett Price acquired the business in 2013. Both can claim a long association with the poultry and stockfeed industries.

Ray completed a PhD and commenced his career as a research scientist where he worked predominantly in poultry nutrition. He has since held a range of senior management roles in Australian agribusiness, working for companies including Rhone Poulenc Animal Nutrition, Ridley AgriProducts,

Supercoat Petcare and NSW Farmers.Brett’s career spans over 25 years

initially as an animal nutritionist focused predominantly on feed production for the broiler and layer industries. For ten years he was Divisional Manager of the George Weston Feeds Division.

“We are delighted to be Platinum Sponsors of the Combined Conference at PIX because the poultry and stockfeed industries have been at the heart of our careers,” said Brett.

“Demand for talent currently exceeds supply in many sectors of the stock feed and intensive livestock industries”, said Ray.

“Our strategy is to employ consultants who have a depth and breadth of knowledge in the industries they serve”.

“There is high demand for animal nutritionists, territory managers, stock feed production staff, agronomists and poultry livestock managers”, he said. “Our networks developed over many years working in the industry

together with our large database of jobseekers are the key to us filling these vacancies”. Ray is also a presenter at the conference, talking on the key steps involved in investigating alleged feed related performance issues.

Brett and Ray extend a warm welcome to all delegates to visit their stand to discuss how to source talent or to gain an insight into career options.

Ray Johnson, Lucy Purcell and Brett Price from Agricultural Appointments

PIX PREVIEW continued page 72 w

Call for a quote: Etienne Misfud on Mob: 0428 481 811 or 0417 481 811 Office: (02) 4774 8764

Fax: (02) 4774 8415 Email: [email protected]

R & E SHEDSBuilt to Last

• Over 20 years experience in building poultry and machinery sheds• All styles of sheds – conventional, free range and tunnel sheds• Well known reputation for fast and efficient erection time without

compromising good quality workmanship• As the owner of R&E Sheds, Etienne Misfud oversees the whole job from

start to finish• Repairs, extensions, insurance work to any existing sheds• All sheds can be customised to suit any clients’ needs• All structural steel work manufactured at R&E Sheds, so no delays on

completion of the project• No project too small or large• We travel to all areas of Australia and New Zealand• Fully licenced to build interstate or overseas

R & E SHEDS

Call for a quote: Etienne Mifsud on Mob: 0428 481 811or 0417 481 811 Office: (02) 4774 8764

Fax: (02) 4774 8415 Email: [email protected]

R & E SHEDSR & E SHEDSBuilt to Last

• Over 20 years experience in building poultry and machinery sheds• All styles of sheds – conventional, free range and tunnel sheds• Well known reputation for fast and efficient erection time without

compromising good quality workmanship• As the owner of R&E Sheds, Etienne Mifsud oversees the whole job from

start to finish• Repairs, extensions, insurance work to any existing sheds• All sheds can be customised to suit any client’s needs• All structural steel work manufactured at R&E Sheds, so no delays on

completion of the project• No project too small or large• We travel to all areas of Australia and New Zealand• Fully licenced to build interstate and overseas

Project5:R&E Shedsfinal 25/03/14 2:26 PM Page 1

50

MAINTENANCE FEATURE

Elsewhere in this issue of Poultry Digest is the amazing story of how a free range layer farm escaped destruction in last year’s bush fires largely as a result of a great strategy by the farmer and his generator.

So we thought it might be a good time to look into stand-by power back up and selecting and maintaining the diesel powered generators that are vital to commercial poultry farms today.

To do this we met Luke Mansey who heads up City Generators, a company based at Warana on the Queensland Sunshine Coast, which sells, builds and maintains stand-by generators used in an incredible array of roles including poultry farms.

We met at an eight shed farm on Brisbane’s northern outskirts, one of many converting to RSPCA broiler code using four of their older curtain sided sheds, while there are four newer tunnel ventilated sheds with higher bird carrying capacity.

There are two back up generators that are regularly serviced by City Generators on the farm, one a more modern 200 KVa Cummins powered Onan unit, and a second older but still efficient 120KVa set up.

“This farm has a good back up strategy in that the newer more powerful unit can cover the new tunnel ventilated sheds in the event of a mains power shut down, while the older but well maintained unit is more than adequate for the power demands of the curtain sided sheds,” Luke said.

“This farmer takes good care of his power back up and services the generators every three months.

“If you do this generators can last a long time. The older generator on this farm was built in 1980 and at the last service had run for 539 hours. Properly maintained, a good unit can last for up to 40,000 hours dependent upon farm conditions.

“One of my concerns is that recently we have noticed that some farmers, unlike this one, are not getting their generators serviced and inspected as regularly as they should. At the same time the reliability of the mains power supply in SE Queensland is not getting any better.

“Outages often occur in the summer

months which is a worry too, and sometimes they can be quite prolonged depending on the circumstances that caused the failure in the first place.

“A modern stand-by generator on a typical farm with tunnel ventilated sheds can easily go through 40 litres of fuel an hour on full load,” Luke explained.

Key elements of maintaining reliability are similar to what would apply in automotive maintenance – cooling systems including hoses and radiator, fuel condition and batteries.

“A weekly start up and brief run doesn’t go astray either,” Luke said.

Apart from offering service contracts to growers, City Generators builds and stocks a broad range of generators.

“We recommend genuine Perkins or Cummins diesel power plants and Leroy Semor AC alternator equipment but we can source just about any mainstream manufacturers’ combination of engines and generators customers want,” Luke said.

“We offer a variety of finishes for

Selecting and maintaining the on-farm generator vital to modern poultry farms

Luke Mansey from City Generators on the Queensland Sunshine Coast.

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MAINTENANCE FEATUREthe generator unit’s protective cabinet including powder coated mild steel, galvanized steel, aluminum or even top quality 304 stainless steel: it depends on the conditions where the unit is situated.

“Door hinges and locks are also made from stainless steel so they won’t seize in harsh environments.

“Access doors are made as large as possible to enable ease of servicing and we use 50mm acoustic foam interior lining to keep the unit quiet in operation – no more than 70 DB in fact on most units.

“This feature is vital if generators are located near dwellings or any other area where excessive noise would be of concern to staff or neighbours,” Luke said.

“Our units feature an abundant fuel supply in tanks contained within the base. Any fluids that escape from the power unit’s fuel or cooling system are also contained within the generator housing.

“There are also external fluid drain ports to make the service process quicker and more efficient,” Luke added.

“The units are operated through a Deep Sea Electronic generator control module which is easy to understand and use: the control system is compatible with remote site monitoring.

“Our generators are designed to be capable of prime power rating on a 24/7 basis and our products are certified to internationally recognized ISO Quality 9001 standards.

“A critical feature of our products is the 24 hour on-call response emergency service.

“Regular maintenance is the best insurance against break down but if there are problems with a back up power supply sold by us we can be there in a hurry,” Luke said.

Discussing the whole debate around securing power supply to poultry farms as the industry goes through some remarkable changes, mostly driven by consumer welfare concerns, Luke raised the question of requirement by welfare agencies for secure power supply.

“Though there is requirement for modifications to the way birds are housed and treated in ‘welfare friendly’ certification, there seems to be little or no mention of taking specific steps to ensure the reliability of back up power should mains supply fail,” he stated.

“Surely one of the most fundamental of all welfare requirements for birds housed in modern poultry sheds is that

there is always power available.“Without power you can’t feed or

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“A competitive retail environment, increasing demand for ‘welfare friendly’

rearing methods combined with increased energy costs have all put pressure on grower finances.

“My sincere hope is that, in a effort to reduce expenditure, growers don’t neglect their back up power,” Luke concluded.

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PDDecember2013-January2014:PDFEBMAR09 24/04/14 10:49 AM Page 9

54

BEHAVIOURAL FEATURE

Go outside and play? Behavioural time budget of free range hens in a natural shrub structureBy H.LARSEN and J-L. RAULT*

T he main feature of free-range

production systems is the provision of an outdoor area. However, hens natural behaviour outdoors, remains poorly understood.

Some free-range farms see low numbers of birds outside, and/or uneven distribution across the range. Environmental enrichment such as the provision of trees, bushes or other types of cover could help solve these problems.

However there is little scientific evidence about what enrichment strategy will work and most importantly why. We investigated the behaviours performed by free-range laying hens in a commercial setting with a range area consisting of naturally occurring Kangaroo Apple trees.

We found that the hens performed a variety of behaviours (predominantly foraging, preening and perching) in these shrub-like structures, and that the primary use of these structures changed throughout the day. The search for structures that allow the hens to perform similar behaviours could ultimately optimise range use.

IntroductionAlthough it is assumed that free-

range production systems provide greater opportunities for laying hens to perform more ‘natural behaviours’, there is little scientific evidence about what those behaviours are and when and where the hens are likely to perform them. Use of the outdoor range by commercial laying hens in free-range systems is often limited to a small proportion of the flock at any one time (Hegelund et al., 2006).

It is also apparent that the hens’ distribution over the range is not uniform, with the hens usually staying close to the shed (Hegelund et al., 2006). Enrichment of the outdoor range as a means to encourage more hens outside and a more uniform distribution across the range has become an increasingly popular and necessary topic of interest. Ranges that contain natural structures such as trees and

shrubs can increase the number of chickens in the range, and with the right placement, could improve the distribution of the flock (Dawkins et al., 2003).

However, in many commercial settings there is not a sufficient established natural biota that will encourage range use. An alternative may be in the form of artificial structures that mimic the important principles of natural structures to the hens and therefore increase range use and distribution.

Items such as hay bales, shelterbelts, shade cloth and sand boxes have been investigated and showed marginal to significant improvements in either range use or distribution (Hegelund et al., 2005; Nagle and Glatz, 2012; Zeltner and Hirt, 2003; Rault et al., 2013).

However, the way hens perceive and utilise these structures is still poorly understood. Elucidating the behaviours performed by hens utilising the outdoor range will help designing reliable artificial enrichment in commercial settings that fulfil the hens’ needs.

The Kangaroo Apple (Solanum laciniatum) is a native shrub that occurs in temperate regions of South Eastern Australia and New Zealand. Kangaroo Apple is a soft wooded, tolerant, fast growing (>2m in approx. 6 months) and short lived (5-6 years) plant. On a commercial free-range farm in Victoria, Kangaroo Apple shrubs have been allowed to self cultivate and grow randomly throughout the ranges to form large (4 m high x 5 m wide) complex shrubs, that grow in tight groups forming larger shrubberies of up to 200m2.

After onsite visits and conversations with the farm managers, it became apparent that the laying hens utilise the areas in and around the shrubs more than any other location on the range. An observational pilot study on this farm was designed with the overall goal to use the information gained from observing the hens’ behaviour to apply to further research hypotheses on outdoor range design.

We had three objectives: 1): Establish the baseline behavioural time budget in an attractive naturally

occurring structure, 2): Derive principles from the behaviours observed during this study to aid the design of artificial enrichment structures, and 3): Generate hypotheses on the behavioural implications of outdoor range use based on the principles identified in this study for further research.

Methods We observed two flocks of ISA

Brown hens on one commercial free-range farm in Victoria with naturally occurring Kangaroo Apple shrubs in the range. Flock one contained 120 pullets 25 weeks of age that had arrived approximately one month before the start of the study.

Flock two contained 200 hens at 45 weeks of age, arriving approximately four months before the study, and 180 pullets at 25 weeks of age that had arrived one month before the study. The hens were not beak trimmed and had 24 h access to the range from mobile sheds that contained nesting boxes, feeding and watering areas and perches. Each flock were protected from ground predators by Maremma sheep dogs.

Observations were carried out using a Canon1000d SLR camera equipped with an intervalometer. The camera, tripod and protective case was placed in the Kangaroo Apple shrubs in an area that allowed for maximum field of view without obstructions from branches or leaves. Each field of view contained an approximate area of 15m2.

Scan samples were taken for three two-hour periods daily: 0730-0930 h (‘morning’), 1130-1330 h (‘midday’) and 1530-1730 h (‘evening’). During these periods, the camera was programmed to take continuous photos at two minute intervals for one second (average of three shots). A total of six days worth of photographs were obtained for each flock, equivalent to 1080 scans per flock.

Photographs were analysed by one observer to identify the number and behaviour of the hens present in the Kangaroo Apple area in accordance to a behavioural ethogram designed for this study.

The main behaviours recorded were foraging, preening, perching, dust bathing, walking, standing upright w

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BEHAVIOURAL FEATURE(head erect and alert, eyes open), lying (body and head on ground or head tucked under wing, not moving) and standing (in non alert position, neck not outstretched, eyes may be open or closed).

Behaviours were recorded only when they could be positively identified; hens that were obscured by conspecifics, branches, partially in the shot or where the head was not visible were counted but their behaviour was listed as ‘unidentifiable’.

Behavioural time budgets were constructed for each flock. Daily weather observations of wind speed, min and max temperature and rainfall were collected from the nearest Australian Bureau of Meteorology weather station. Results are presented as means ± standard error and results are considered significant at P < 0.05.

Results A combined total of 9517

behaviours were recorded from the two flocks over the study period. Flock one and two had much higher numbers of hens present in the Kangaroo Apple area in the midday session (58.4 ± 0.69 and 58.1 ± 0.75 respectively) compared to morning (18.9 ± 0.55 and 22.0 ± 0.63 respectively; both P < 0.05) and evening (22.7 ± 0.58 and 19.9 ± 0.60 respectively; both P < 0.05). Flock one also had higher number of hens in the evening compared to morning sessions (P < 0.05).

Foraging patterns were similar for both flocks, where foraging behaviours significantly increased in the evening session compared to morning and midday sessions (P < 0.05; Figure 1). Preening behaviours showed a decline

throughout the day for both flocks (P < 0.05).

Differences between the two flocks were observed in their perching and lying behaviours. Perching behaviours for flock one was highest at midday than in the morning, and finally, in the evening (P < 0.05).

Flock two did not differ significantly in perching behaviour by time period, and had lower proportions of this behaviour overall. However, flock two did show a significant increase in lying behaviour for the midday session over both morning and evening sessions (P < 0.05).

The overall proportion of unidentifiable behaviours was greater

in flock one than in flock two, likely due to the placement of the camera in the field. The visible area in flock one was more complex in the front than that of flock two, therefore more hens were obscured in photos by branches and leaves. This may also explain other differences in proportions of behaviours observed, in particular preening. Hens that were categorised as unidentifiable were often stationary, in groups and had often their head tucked.

Observations were conducted during early spring, temperatures were average for the season (min av. 10.5 ± 0.4°C, max av. 17.5 ± 0.7°C ) and rainfall low during the study period (1 day at 12mm, 1 day at 8mm 4 days at 1.6-2.2mm and the rest dry days). Regression analyses revealed that weather conditions had no significant influence on the number of hens using the structure, but we deliberately chose to avoid particularly poor weather days.

DiscussionMore laying hens utilised the

Kangaroo Apple areas at midday. This was somewhat contradictory to previous studies of range use, which have indicated that there is a peak in range use in mornings and evenings (Hegelund et al., 2006; Rault et al., 2013). As numbers were recorded only for the proportion of Kangaroo Apple area, we cannot judge whether the natural structures alter the diurnal pattern of range use. The hens may have been more attracted to other areas of the range during the morning and evening periods.

Analysis of the behaviours

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performed by each flock in each of the time periods indicated that the principal uses of the natural structure changed throughout the day. This is particularly evident in flock one, where the morning was dominated by preening, midday by perching and evening by foraging behaviours. Flock two also demonstrated changes, where preening decreased from morning to evening, foraging increased in the evening, lying behaviour increased midday as well as a decrease in alert vigilance behaviour.

This pattern of change suggested that the laying hens may utilise the Kangaroo Apple area more for grooming and comfort behaviours in the morning, resting and shelter in the warm midday periods, and more actively as a secondary foraging source in the evenings.

The overall complexity of the Kangaroo Apple is a favourable feature to the hens and our study showed that a large number of behaviours can be performed in this structure. Dust bathing is a behaviour that was conspicuously not observed in this study, possibly because the ground was moist at the time of the study, and not ideal for dust bathing. On site visits prior to the study, dust bathing was observed, in addition to the presence of many dust bathing divots in the ground. Our observations suggest that social facilitation is important in laying hen behaviour: in cases where there were multiple ‘groups’ of hens that were dispersed throughout the observation area, most of the individuals of each group would be performing the same behaviour, e.g. preening simultaneously, foraging in the same spot, or perching together.

Considerable variation exists between the two flocks, in particular age, group size, and range configuration. However, despite this variation, some important similarities between the two flocks’ behaviours indicated that the use of natural structures may follow predictable patterns. The particular behaviour performed in this natural structure provides valuable information for further research in the field of artificial enrichment of the range.

Conclusion Kangaroo Apple trees are a complex natural structure

that facilitate a large number of behaviours for free-range laying hens. The structure was utilised mostly in the middle of the day as an area for shelter and rest when the hens were most inactive, however primary use of the structure changed in the mornings and evenings. This indicates that the most effective artificial enrichment items could be complex enough to allow for changes in key use, as well as large enough to accommodate and shelter large number of hens throughout the day.

References: Dawkins MS, Cook PA, Whittingham MJ, Mansell KA & Harper AE (2003) Animal Behaviour 66: 151-160. Hegelund L, Sørensen JT, Kjær JB & Kristensen IS (2005) British Poultry Science 46: 1-8. Hegelund L, Sørensen JT & Hermansen JE (2006) NJAS 54: 147-155. Nagle TAD & Glatz PC (2012) Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 25: 584-591. Rault J-L, van de Wouw A & Hemsworth P (2013) Australian Veterinary Journal 91: 423-426. Zeltner E & Hirt H (2008) Applied Animal Behaviour Science 114: 395-408.

* Animal Welfare Science Centre, School of Land and Environment, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010This article was recently presented at Australian Poultry Science Symposium and published with permission.

BEHAVIOURAL FEATUREv

59

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Lilly to acquire Novartis Animal Health

NEWS

Eli Lilly and Company has announced an agreement to acquire Novartis Animal Health for approximately $5.4 billion in an all-cash transaction that will strengthen and diversify Lilly’s own animal health business, Elanco.

Upon completion of the acquisition, Elanco will be the second-largest animal health company in terms of global revenue, will solidify its number two ranking in the US, and improve its position in Europe and the rest of the world, according to a spokesperson for the company.

Lilly will acquire Novartis Animal Health’s nine manufacturing sites, six dedicated research and development facilities, a global commercial infrastructure with a portfolio of approximately 600 products, a robust pipeline with more than 40 projects in development, and an experienced team of more than 3,000 employees.

Under the terms of the agreement, Lilly will acquire all assets of Novartis Animal Health for a total purchase price of approximately $5.4 billion, including anticipated tax benefits. Lilly plans to fund this acquisition with approximately $3.4 billion of cash-on-hand and $2.0 billion in debt to be issued. No other financial terms of the transaction are being disclosed. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2015. The transaction is not subject to any financing conditions.

By improving efficiencies and reducing costs across both Elanco and Novartis Animal Health, Lilly expects to achieve estimated cost savings of approximately $200 million per year within three years of deal closing, equating to more than 10% of operating expenses from the combined animal health businesses. Excluding the amortization of intangibles, Lilly expects the combined entity to achieve EBIT as a percent of revenue in the mid-20% range by 2018. The company expects the transaction to be accretive to earnings on a cash basis beginning in 2016, excluding integration costs. The timing of accretion on a GAAP basis is dependent upon final purchase accounting.

John C Lechleiter, PhD, Lilly’s chairman, President and CEO said that the acquisition of Novartis Animal Health validates Lilly’s commitment to Elanco as a key component of Lilly’s business going forward.

“Animal health continues to represent an attractive growth opportunity for Lilly. We intend to keep Elanco and to take advantage of the substantial synergies between our animal health and human health businesses,” said Mr Lechleiter.

“Significant investments in our animal health business in recent years have enabled Elanco to double its revenue since 2008, leading the industry in growth. Global trends suggest continued sustained demand for animal health products in the years ahead. Through this acquisition, which moves Elanco to top-tier in the industry, we intend to create value for our shareholders by adding to our promising pipeline of innovative animal health assets, increasing sales through a larger commercial footprint, and improving efficiencies and lowering costs.”

The acquisition will greatly expand and complement Elanco’s product portfolio, R&D and manufacturing capabilities, and commercial presence in key geographies. In particular, it provides Elanco with a greater commercial presence in the companion animal and swine markets, expands Elanco’s presence in the equine and vaccines areas, and creates an entry into the aquaculture market.

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Alltech President Dr Lyons contrasts China of 20 years ago to todayThe last twenty years have brought unprecedented development to Chinese agriculture, but it also brought challenges that shook the whole food chain in recent years and undermined consumer confidence.

Companies that dare to make changes while sticking to their core survived. The ones that are using the latest technologies will have a great future in the world’s largest swine, aqua and feed producing country.

Alltech Founder and President Dr Pearse Lyons shared his vision with Chinese industry professionals on the Alltech China 20 Year Celebratory Summit.

The event was organised both to celebrate the global animal nutrition company’s twenty years of successful presence and to look into where the Chinese feed and food industries are going.

“China must be able to feed itself,” said Dr Lyons to more than 700 attendees at the Summit.

The Middle Kingdom has 7% of the world’s arable land and 20% of the world’s population. Yet, the country, is depending heavily on grain or milk imports.

Although over 50% of the worlds’s pig production takes place in China, the country is a net importer of pork meat.

The agriculture sector in China has gone through tremendous changes, but recent year’s food safety scandals have clearly shown the areas where significant developments need to be made.

Dr Lyons believes that the last twenty years were the time of consolidation moving from backyard farming to large, modern integrations.

The next two decades will be more of companies increasing their production efficiency in a sustainable way without damaging the environment and maintaining their profitability.

Chinese companies

have the capability to quickly adapt technologies and learn from other markets.

The latest technologies are available for producers to significantly reduce the risk of diseases and sustainably grow their business. It will soon be critical that Chinese companies use alternative raw material sources.

Dr Lyons predicts that such systems as Solid State Fermentation (SSF) will soon allow the production of customized enzyme cocktails

for improving digestion, animal performance and health.

Algae has already began to play an increasing role in animal production as a source of sustainable vegetable protein or oils (DHA).

“Alltech today is a $1billion dollar company. We were one of the very first ones who came to China twenty years ago. China has become one of the top three key markets for Alltech over the years and will be a strong contributor to our global goal of $4billion in sales in the near future.

“We have never been as excited as we are today about the opportunities in China and we look forward to closely supporting the industry in the next twenty years as well,” Dr Lyons said.

NEWS

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NEWSVencomatic Group presents the Egg wayFrom the very first moment an egg is laid until it reaches its final destination, a commercially produced egg travels a long and tough journey.

On this journey it faces numerous impacts and possible contamination sources.

“Vencomatic Group focuses on perfecting every detail of this journey, calling it the Egg way,” said John Bierens, Sales Director Europe.

“Our poultry and technical specialists evaluate and optimise every little step to protect the eggs from damage or contamination.

“Vencomatic Group strongly believes that optimising the Egg way is the only way to maximise profit for poultry producers with today’s tight margins,” he said.

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knowledge of every single move the egg experiences along its way.

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The company presented several innovations to successfully ensure the Egg way in a perfect condition, such as:

A perfect Egg way starts with a healthy hen laying a maximum number of eggs. A global problem and risk for the hen’s health is red mite, which causes major economic losses resulting from suboptimal productivity.

The revolutionary Q-perch (patent pending) is the only true environmental and bird friendly way to eliminate the problem of red mite. Resting on this innovative perch, birds are safe from red mite.

As red mites do not get the chance to feed on the hens, the population never develops and the use of pesticides is history.

At the heart of many Vencomatic systems is the laying nest. The Vencomatic nest is based on Vencomatic Group innovations, such as the Vencomat, the tipping floor and the egg belt.

Innovations that make the difference along the Egg Way ensuring outstanding egg quality include the well-known Vencomatic nest being integrated in the Bolegg Gallery, a new aviary system that combines user friendliness with a clever and economic design.

For Vencomatic Group, the Egg way ends in the broiler house with on-farm hatching (patented).

Previously on-farm hatching was only available with the Patio system, with the X-Treck this is now possible in traditional floor houses.

The X-Treck enables direct post-hatch feed and water access and eliminates the stressful events of chick handling and transportation, providing an optimal start for chicks on the farm.

“Being successful in modern poultry production demands not only a high level of management but also perfect equipment,” John Bierens said.

“On its journey from nests, belts, egg packers, graders and transport to the hatchery or the retail, the egg encounters many different materials and machines.

“At Vencomatic Group we realise that each single system must be designed to maintain the perfect condition of the egg, but precise interconnection of systems is equally important.”

“Vencomatic Group is known for its innovative and sustainable systems for the poultry industry.

“Combining three well-known brands – Vencomatic, Agro Supply and Prinzen – Vencomatic Group offers a full range of innovative systems for all types’ of poultry farms.

“Our poultry professionals happily share their knowledge and welcome you to our stand at PIX.

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HEALTH FEATUREReducing antibiotic use in commercial poultry production

Commercial food animal production has long since relied on the sub therapeutic use of antibiotics to promote health, thus aiding in efficient, profitable production.

However, actions like the EU ban on sub therapeutic antibiotics and the 2013 FDA announcement of a proposed withdrawal of antibiotic growth promoters have the potential to significantly change the landscape we’ve grown accustomed to over the past 30 or so years.

In 2004, Hucon Poultry Inc. started to use coccidiosis vaccines to try and reestablish sensitivity to some of the anticoccidials that had lost efficacy. Continuous vaccination, along with effective, more natural alternatives led to total withdrawal of all in feed and water medications in 2010.

Success of this program was accomplished through changes in nutrition and management. In the following article, I would like to outline: 1) Why we changed our business2) Risks associated3) Experiences 4) Benefits derived from RWA production Why we changed our business

With the attitude of the Canadian consumer, increasing resistance issues (both real and perceived), and no known drugs in development, we realised that we needed to change our production

model. Deviating from the constant antibiotic regime and including such products as vaccines and non antibiotic alternatives allowed us to rest, relieve and reseed our facilities.

If successful, this would allow us to reduce our dependence on antibiotics as well as extending the life span of such products used in our feeding program.

Long term survival of supply management in Canada is questioned almost daily. Following past and current talks regarding GATT can leave one with the feeling of riding a roller coaster.

If tariff rate quotas were to be adjusted negatively, would we be able to ascertain long term viability for our company in a more aggressive market by becoming a low cost, low return commodity chicken producer?

World prices for bulk, undifferentiated commodities will be under downward pressure for years to come. It is expected that consumers will expect more from farmers. They are one to two generations removed from any practical farming knowledge.

Terms such as ‘humanely raised’ or ‘no antibiotics’ will resonate with affluent consumers who will pay a premium for these types of products. On farm risks Was antibiotic reduction or antibiotic free a reasonable goal? We were aware of small flock successes, but on the

other hand, we new of sizeable negative impacts on performance and health when tried on a larger, commercial scale.

Primarily, this was related to the general well being of the animal, with respect to increased disease prevalence. With the insult of challenges normally kept in check by antibiotics, performance and financials could suffer. It was entirely possible that we would end up using more antibiotics to treat than to prevent.

Another point we considered was early success. It was probable that due to low disease challenge in our facilities, we would be successful initially. However, it was conceivable that we could allow disease pressure to build over consecutive flocks.

If the point of clinical disease was reached while producing antibiotic free in our facilities, would we be able to restore the environment back to the original micro flora, which we knew was favorable for bird health.

By DEREK DETZLER, Hucon Inc*

Derek Detzler, Hucon Inc

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HEALTH FEATUREIndustry riskIf we were to trend world wide chicken production and apply it to the Canadian model, one of the major issues that we will face is the legislation of antibiotics to be used in food animal production.

Europe’s 2006 ban on growth promoting antibiotics could expand to the ionophore class of anticoccidials. The United Kingdom’s poultry sector has stated they are keen to eliminate the use of nicarbazin, even though it is not a food safety issue, nor a risk to human health.

The recent withdrawal of 3-nitro, along with proposed legislation in the USA will no doubt have rippling effects in Canada. There is a strong trend to reduce antibiotic use in commercial animal production. Canada will not be immune to this. Experiences In the spring of 2004, we rotated from the current regime of anticoccidials to a cocci vaccine for three consecutive flocks. Some management and nutritional changes were to be implemented so as to have the optimum chance for success.

The first flock achieved fair performance. There was a slight gain of 4 points in average feed conversion (which was partially attributed to heat stress - marketing June 1- July 20).

During the 2 following growouts, no negative impacts on performance or health were noted (when compared to the previous year’s in feed anticoccidial). Our conclusions were that a hatchery administered day of age cocci vaccine was a viable alternative to ionophores or chemicals to control coccidiosis on our farms.

Upon returning to a chemical in feed anticoccidial, we observed a performance decrease. Previous commercial experience in the USA had shown the ability to reseed the poultry house with sensitive strains of coccidiosis after three flocks. Consequently, in our regulated “clean” environment, we were not able to reestablish sensitivity in the same time frame.

Essentially, we were eradicating all we were trying to seed after the flock had been shipped. We removed litter, we cleaned, as well as washed and disinfected.

The following year, we implemented the same 3 cycle program. We observed a small decrease in days to market and feed conversion with each successive flock of vaccination. If we were to continue to vaccinate, would performance persist in moving in a

positive direction? We questioned the ability to

vaccinate through the winter flocks due to the reduced amount of ventilation during this period. A decision was made to continue vaccinating, for cocci, but would be monitored on a flock by flock basis.

No problems with respect to disease or performance were observed. The performance continued to marginally

increase, cresting around 1 year of consecutive vaccination.

We then focused our efforts on the chick’s first seven days of life. Research has shown that early post hatch management and nutrition is essential to having a robust bird through to market.

We looked at bird migration in the barn, the needs of supplemental feed and water, lighting and temperatures.

w

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As well, the nutritional components of our starter phase were grossly underestimated.

We formulated a prestarter to emulate the swine industry’s experience in the benefits of enriched early wean feeding. Early gut development was crucial.

The importance of having a solid feed stimulus (birds consuming feed as early as possible), was correlated to villus growth, villus length, enterocyte differentiation, and pancreatic enzyme secretion (Baranyiova et al, Maiorka et al).

To find out where we were exactly, we needed to establish a baseline of performance. Automatic weigh scales were instaled on every floor. The data was graphed and compared to the daily growth potential published by the bird’s genetic company. Within a few flocks we were able to make adjustments based on certain “stalls” that were seen

in growth. These stalls could be correlated to the absence of proper management.

With changes in place, our day 7 weight increased significantly, with some flocks attaining more than a 5X gain from placement weight. The early gain achieved was linearly translated into end weight. Our weights were now encroaching on genetic potential, which led us to believe we had a healthy bird. At this point, we were confident in our bird’s ability to be more vigorous in defending against insults related to viral and bacterial challenges.

In 2008, we started to measure and count coccidial oocysts in our facilities. Results allowed us to establish a defined target for cocci cycling (by species), and through specific management techniques, we were able to produce a more uniform, predictable response to cocci vaccination.

With cocci in check, we started to look for opportunities to reduce the use of the necrotic prevention drug from our feed ration. Non antibiotic alternatives were tested and placed into the ration at specific times where it was felt the gram positive targeting necrotic prevention drug was not as important.

With the most efficacious alternative, we were able to remove the necrotic prevention drug in the starter and finisher rations without sacrificing performance. The only antibiotic used in our rations was in the grower feeds.

Experience and constant benchmarking has allowed us to refine our management and nutrition, taking us further into development of an antibiotic free regime.

We found natural ways to treat necrotic enteritis breaks, which allows us to market 100% of our birds as such. Performance to date is acceptable, with an expectation of 1- 2% in increased mortality and 2 – 6 points higher feed conversion. Benefits

To satisfy this emerging market, consistent supply is one of the most important factors for retailers to successfully market RWA. Our current production system is allowing us to supply 100% of our chicken into differentiated, premium markets that were unavailable to us previously.

The absence of proper management is well documented in our early trials. As different or enhanced management techniques were applied, success rates for RWA flocks increased. This resulted in two positives. Improved rearing techniques (stockmanship), and the ability to provide a consistent weekly supply of RWA chicken to the retailer.

As we continue to establish confidence within the supply chain, our RWA poultry sales continue to grow.

Removing our production from commodity shelves has put us in a niche market that is less likely to receive pressure on price reduction. Consumers who chose to purchase RWA chicken do so because of moral choice they’ve already made, and prices for these products generally have a higher rate of return than commodity varieties.

*Derek Detzler from Hucon Poultry Inc, will be presenting a paper ‘Reducing antibiotic use in commercial poultry production’ at PIX 2014.

HEALTH FEATUREv

Poultry farm in winter in Canada.

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NEWSNeed a new pick-up on the poultry farm?Mahindra has just announced new drive away pricing for its Pik-Up range, now starting at just $19,990 drive away for a new Single Cab 4x4 Pik-Up with base aluminium tray, and just $25,990 drive away for the Dual Cab 4x4 Pik-Up.The Pik-Up represents astonishing value for money, with an intercooled turbo diesel, Borg Warner transfer case, 4wd with low range and auto locking hubs, Eaton mechanical diff-lock, cruise control and air conditioning all as standard equipment.

“The Pik-Up has gone from strength to strength in Austra-lia as owners have really begun to see its potential,” accord-ing to Mahindra’s National Sales Manager, Russell Thiele. “The Pik-Up has made great inroads as a farm unit with many rural customers, but it’s also been encouraging to see the response from the mining sector and 4wd enthusiasts.”

“We have seen a recent explosion in new Pik-Up sales thanks to customers who want a fair dinkum ute that can handle everything they throw at it, without the fancy price tag of some of these newer 4x4 utes,” says Mr Thiele.

“Strong, tough, reliable and affordable, the Mahindra Pik-Up is designed to perform, with a rock solid construc-tion, technologically advanced M-Hawk engine and a list of standard features you’d never expect to find for the price,” said Mr Thiele.

“At the heart of every good ute is, well, a strong heart, and Pik-Up boasts no less than the high torque 2.2 litre, common rail M-Hawk intercooled turbo diesel engine - a joint development between Mahindra and Austrian diesel power-train engineering specialists, AVL.

“With intelligent design and all-aluminium cylinder heads, the M-Hawk is light on weight, but not output, boasting 120bhp of power and 280Nm of torque, while the 2nd gen-eration Bosch common rail system and 4 valves per cylinder ensure superior fuel economy of 9.1L/100kms.

“Ensuring all of this grunt gets delivered to the ground is a Borg Warner transfer case, low range-equipped four-wheel drive with auto locking hubs, and an Eaton mechanical differential lock, which automatically reacts to wheel speed differences to ensure that forward momentum is maintained where others bog down.

“While the Pik-Up was created with a focus on durability and performance, that performance is not limited to tough-ness, terrain-beating capability and great fuel economy. Occupant room and comfort was also high on Mahindra’s agenda, and the Pik-Up provides acres of room for legs, heads and elbows, just as it does clothing, luggage and tools, in a comfortable interior with a range of features designed for a plush ride.”

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Anoxia MethodThe most humane way of euthanasia of animals

The decision to euthanize animals is a choice that is made on the basis of the monetary consequences of

keeping the animal without them producing any return or because it is sick and suffering.

Or it could be a disease outbreak that threatens human life and animal existence or commercial stock.

In the case of a disease outbreak it is an urgent requirement to react quickly but with a well prepared plan of action that takes care of the depopulation of

the stock housing as well as protecting the surrounding environment from the disease spreading.All of the above factors demand the application of a

euthanasia method that is: 1. Humane – animal welfare does not stop at the point

of destruction of animals. 2. Cost effective. 3. Fast.

The present methods accepted are variations of occlusion, mechanical neck dislocation or gassing.

The Anoxia method is a method where the oxygen in the air is removed and replaced with

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ment where the animal is submerged and without any awareness becomes unconscious and subsequently

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W ater is the most important

nutrient. Healthy animals consume twice as much water as feed. According to waterfootprint.org 3,900 litres of water is consumed to produce 1 kg of chicken and 200 litres for one egg. No doubt they are big numbers but unfortunately less attention is given to ensure clean water is used throughout the process. This is not only essential for animal health but also human health.

On the other hand, it has been recognised that drinking water is the most prominent risk factor for the spread of microorganisms in animals. There are several measures in place to provide quality water to the stock. Water acidification is one of the tools used successfully to supply quality water in

terms of less bacterial contamination. Water acidification protocols for

the prevention or management of certain bacterial diseases have been developed, but in many instances required a drinking water pH at the level of 4.0 or below to be effective. A target pH of 3.5-4.0 is crucial to maintain for bacterial control programs to work.

Organic acids have been used in animal production for the past 50 years. An organic acid is an acid that has carbon in it such as acetic acid, benzoic acid, butyric acid, citric acid, formic acid, fumaric acid, lactic acid, propionic acid, sorbic acid etc.

Dissociation of organic acids releases free hydrogen protons that lowers pH, thereby creating

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HEALTH FEATURE

unfavourable conditions for bacterial pathogens. On the other hand, the undissociated form of organic acids directly penetrates the lipid membrane of Gram-negative bacterial (E. coli, Salmonella) cells. After entering cell cytoplasm at neutral pH, organic acids inhibit the bacteria’s growth by inhibiting oxidative phosphorylation and causing increased energy expenditure (H+-ATPase pump).

There are many products on the market, claiming to be strong acidifiers for drinking water. These products often contain inorganic acids such as Sulphuric, Hydrochloric or Phosphoric. Producers should be aware that products containing these acids (or there salts) can be not only dangerous

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to the animal if consumed, but also present a significant OH&S issue in regards to handling.

It is important to understand organic acids have their own pKa value. The pKa value equals the pH value at which 50% of the organic acid is dissociated and 50% is undissociated. The undissociated form is desirable to get anti-microbial effect of organic acids. The pH level in the different parts of gut is physiological phenomena of animals and it varies with wide ranges.

So to ensure the optimum efficacy of organic acids the right combination with different pKa values is essential. Selko-pH contains a unique synergistic blend of organic acids with an excellent combination of different pKa values. It has also been demonstrated by research that blends of acids are more efficacious than single acids.

Another important feature of Selko-pH is that it is buffered which makes the product non corrosive. Selko-pH is a ready to use product with safe handling properties.

The buffering of organic acids used in Selko-pH provides the user with confidence that pH will be lowered to a level inhibiting gram negative bacteria in the water without causing harm to the animal or reducing water or feed intake.

Firstly, a buffered product is safer, and the dosage is flexible since the pH-level of acidified water will not fall below 3.5. A pH value just below 4.0 is optimal as it is known to inhibit pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae.

Non-buffered acidifiers may, however, reach significantly lower pH values. This restricts variable dosages and thereby efficacy at the intestinal level. Due to its buffered stage, an important proportion of the acids will become available in the intestine.

The selective components in the organic acids used in Selko-pH improve the microbial quality of water by inhibiting the growth of Gram negative Enterobacteriaceae such as Salmonella and E. coli. Analysis carried out in the Selko laboratory confirms that this approach works effectively. Analysis of nearly 3,500 water samples indicated that about 40% of untreated water samples have Enterobacteriaceae levels higher than 100 CFU / ml, whereas acidified water samples reveal a zero result. Acidifying drinking water also reduces contamination with yeasts and moulds, which in turn decreases the risk of blocked nipples and formation of biofilms in the drinking water system. This is important as biofilms can support spreading of bacteria and even viruses through contaminated in the drinking system.

Conclusion: Research shows that using organic acids in drinking water rather than feed has a number of advantages. Selko-pH is a liquid, ready-to-use product. Organic acids in Selko-pH may help to destroy or reduce any vegetative pathogens in the drinking water. Selko-pH has the flexibility to use strategically or throughout rearing period with variable dosages as per requirements to suppress bacterial contamination in water.

References:Emily V. De Busser et al. (2011). Effect of administration of organic acids in drinking water on faecal shedding of E. coli, performance parameters and health in nursery pigs - The Veterinary Journal 188, 184–188Sevinc Koyuncu et al. (2013). Organic acids for control of Salmonella in different feed materials BMC Veterinary Research, 9:81Wales, A.D., Allen, V.M. and Davies, R.H. (2010). Chemical treatment of animal feed and water for the control of Salmonella. Foodborne Pathogens and Disease 7(1), 3-15.P. Chaveerach et al (2004). Effect of Organic Acids in Drinking Water for Young Broilers on Campylobacter Infection, Volatile Fatty Acid Production, Gut Microflora and Histological Cell Changes. Poultry Science 83:330–334

HEALTH FEATURE

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NEWSSkiold & Vacuum and Milling Solutions expands and opens new premisesSkiold’s Australian and New Zealand distributor, Skiold & Vacuum and Milling Solutions, has recently opened its new premises at Jimboomba Queensland in mid March 2014.

“Our business in both Australia and New Zealand has increased dramatically in recent years and we needed more space to accommodate products and more staff,” Martin Liese, Skiold & VMS Managing Director explained.

“That Australia and New Zealand is expanding its livestock industries through exports to Asia and around the world is no secret, and we have been the beneficiary of this growth as we provide feed milling equipment to businesses big and small.

“Our business started in Australia supplying feed milling equipment to the dairy and beef sector and has expanded into pork and poultry industries is also a growing and

important part of our business.“In Australia we have seen a growth in interest for the Skiold

range of equipment and for the disc mill from the poultry industry, particulalrly in the organic and free range sectors,” Martin said.

“Being able to efficiently mill feed gives farmers greater independence in both ability to formulate specific diets and chose the most cost effective raw materials. Our experience in providing feed milling and automation solutions in a variety of markets is of a great benefit to Australian and NZ growers,” Martin concluded.

71

NEW PRODUCTS

What does the Anoxia method mean?In the poultry and meat industry there are occasions where an animal has no commercial value anymore, or an animal becomes sick and is suffering.

In those cases the animal needs to be euthanized.

As a farmer, owner or processor we all have an ethical obligation to do so in the most possible humane way without making the animal suffer any more than it already has.

The method of euthanasia however should also be efficient and cost effective so that there would be no reason to divert from the primary requirement of humanity.

All present methods are either not complying with one or the other requirement or both.

The euthanasia of large number of animals in case of a disease outbreak requires additional precautions.

The contact with diseased animals by humans needs to be minimised so the method requires a minimum labour involvement.

To prevent the risk of spreading the disease there is also the requirement to execute the euthanasia as quickly as possible.

The new method of euthanasia of animals that answers all of the required aspects is the Anoxia method. Anoxia is a state where there is no oxygen being supplied to the brain.

How does this method comply with all requirements?

The method is based on N2 gas filled foam that is used to create a foam blanket and thus creating an anoxic environment where only nitrogen is present.

All animals are used to nitrogen as 78% of the air we all breathe is nitrogen.

Because of this there is no immediate recognition of the absence of oxygen until the brain registers the lack of oxygen and then immediately switches off and the state of unconsciousness is entered.

The lack of oxygen now remains for a further period of time, a maximum of 35 to 40 seconds and the animal is dead.

Death has now appeared without any awareness of the coming situation and therefore there has been no stress, no panting for air, no panic.

N2 gas is a large component of the air and therefore freely available. We only need to extract it from the air, which is relatively easy and cheap.

Nitrogen is an inert gas and does not create any irritation contrary to CO2 gas which can only be purchased in bottles from a limited number of suppliers.

CO2 gas that is used for the euthanasia of animals requires a high concentration and is not visible when applied.

In the anoxia method the gas is located in the foam bubbles and therefore is visible in its location.

The application of the foam is extremely simple in its set up and execution. There are no dangerous elements present in the use of nitrogen and no toxic components.

The soap solution used for the foam is a non-irritant, non-toxic soap.

The method has the full support of the RSPCA and has been extensively tested in Europe and is legislated in the EU 1099/2013.

Various applications are possible for the farming of poultry, with euthanasia capacities varying from 600 birds per hour to 8000 per hour for birds in cages

as well as floor raised and free range.The method is also suitable for the

stunning of poultry in the processing plant without killing the animals. So it has several advantages over the CO2 method that is currently used.

72

AGRITECH AUSTRALIA will be releasing the following

new products at the PIX2014 show:

• Jamesway’s new Platinum 2.0 Series range of Single

Stage incubators and hatchers

• World leading heat recovery technology for hatcheries by

Soteck

• Choretime new 57” 1.5HP “Endura” HY-FLO Tunnel fans

with PVC “butterfly” doors and cones

ENDURA® High-Performance Corrosion- Resistant 57-Inch Tunnel Fan

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PIX PREVIEW TRADE DISPLAYAgricultural Automation offers versatile layer systems and more efficient fansMelbourne based Agricultural Automation with agents in both SA (Intensive Farm Supplies) and NSW (Protective Fabrications) will be promoting the SKA Avio system at a time when growers are considering the move to either barn laid or free range. The SKA Avio system can be an effective system for either option.

In the 2012 PIX/AMC preview edition Poultry Digest ran a story on Tony Libreri’s layer farm equipped with free range sheds using the SKA Avio system.

Go to this link to revisit the story: http://poultrydigest.realviewtechnologies.com/?iid+62291

With both the major supermarket chains declaring the cage free policy and the RSPCA now campaigning against cage layer eggs used for other food production purposes, a significant move to either barn laid or free range is inevitable.

In this respect the industry will

be following a similar path taken in European egg production and the Italian based SKA organisations has had plenty of experience in building nesting and layer systems that suit the latest consumer needs in Australia.

Another major concern for growers in all sectors of commercial poultry is spiralling energy costs.

Once again Europe leads the way in the design and manufacture of more energy efficient equipment, particularly fans.

Agricultural Automation offers the revolutionary ‘smart’ centre drive low energy German made fan range as well as the proven and efficient Italian designed Termotecnica Pericoli fans.

“The Pericoli fans are now being made and serviced in a new production and warehouse facility based in Malaysia which means a more efficient delivery and service capability for Australian and NZ growers,” the company states.

Polytex provides in-house custom designed productsPolytex is based in the Riverina region and has been providing fast reliable solutions and service to the poultry industry throughout the eastern seaboard of Australia for many years.

The Polytex name has gained momentum for its ability to provide in-house custom designed products to minimise rising energy costs and increase feed efficiencies.

The Polytex Team has successfully catered to the manufacture and supply of many various design methods of brooder curtains, air control baffle curtains, fan covers, door seals, cool cell covers, winch covers and more.

Welded hems and seams have also assisted installers to cut down their install times and provide for easier onsite conditions.

The secret to the success and durability of Polytex products is in the technology used i.e. detailed CAD drawings for precise computer cutting and welding methods during the

manufacturing process. Polytex have worked alongside

many of its long time partners in the industry to continually innovate and manufacture various techniques in thermal blinds including the outsourcing of automated systems.

The thermal blinds are a demonstrated success in the extreme weather regions of Australia.

Representatives can be arranged through [email protected] for onsite discussions regarding maintenance programs and measuring of all fabric items.

Phone Polytex on 1300 059 003 for enquiries on quality products with fast guaranteed supply times which will ensure the ultimate protection of your investment.

Clients have proven Polytex’s ability to respond quickly to enquiries with solutions based on years of knowledge and expertise which adds value to you the client.

73

‘Bigger Birds - Faster’: Poultry House shed design‘Bigger Birds- Faster’ is a key slogan in promoting the design and building features of Spanlift’s Poultry House division shed design.

“We believe that our advanced poultry shed design and construction can significantly contribute to more efficient rearing conditions for the modern broiler grower,” said the Poultryhouse Design Engineer.

“Firstly our time saving design and construction process means growers can have their sheds occupied by revenue generating birds quickly after the DA process has been completed and the site made ready,” he said.

“Our design takes into consideration the often harsh and variable climate in Australia and particularly in the more remote regions where broiler farm construction takes place.

“We have built sheds in areas where there can be a temperature variation of 50 degrees C which means that maintaining consistent optimal temperatures is critical,” he said.

“This is achieved by utilising thermography reports by third party (and unbiased) companies who develop reports to assist in the use of correct construction materials to maintain thermal efficiencies. We have used Australian thermal engineers to help us develop the perfect system for any local climate where we build our sheds.

“One of the key design features of the Poultry House sheds is the curved tunnel roof design that ensures optimal ventilation and even temperature across the total shed environment.

“Correct airflow dynamics and flow control achieved through a combination of shed design including mini vents and advanced computer

based management helps to maintain litter quality and lower ammonia levels.

“Our shed’s concrete walls are also thermally rated to minimise heat loss in winter at the base level where the poultry grow. Our wall panels are in fact thicker than industry standard in most circumstances,” Jon explained.

“Temperatures are precisely computer controlled while purpose specified insulation has the right R –rating to help control the interior climate over a temperature range of 50 degrees.

“The combination of shed design, thermally efficient building materials and the proven combination of main fans mini vents and computerized controllers reduces running costs while maintaining precise temperature control without power spikes.

“The fact that one skilled person can operate up to 10 of our sheds holding up to 500,000 birds means that on many farms there is the potential to significantly reduce labour costs.

“From the outset we have designed and built our sheds to last as well as deliver an optimal climate for growing birds.

“This begins once again with the one piece curved internal roofing skins to eliminate unnecessary joins, a prime starting point for corrosion, insect sheltering and possible leakage which compromises the shed’s climate control capability,” Jon explained.

“We build our sheds from the best quality Australian materials including hot dip galvanized structural steel, covered


buy a 40 year structural warranty and Bluescope steel cladding products that are guaranteed to last 25 years.

“This high quality and long term durability is important as it not only ensures the sheds will perform well over the long term and deliver the reliable income stream growers need but also prove to be a long term investment should ownership change hands within the long term service life of the buildings.

“The key to quick and easy building is the modular design which is a complete kit – in fact we now have sold sheds to farmers who have successfully built our sheds themselves.

“The combination of rapid construction and optimal thermal efficiency combined with the use of advanced control technology gives us a solid basis that justifies our claim of “Bigger Birds-Faster.

“Also given the fact that we only use the best quality materials and have incorporated corrosion resistant design into our sheds we believe that we could expand our slogan to ‘Bigger Birds—Faster and for longer!” he concluded.

74

PIX PREVIEW

Vencomatic X-Trek gets chicks to feed on day oneVencomatic will release its innovative X-Trek system at VIV Utrecht, May20 to 22 just before PIX/AMC 2014.

In conventional broiler rearing protocols chicks hatch and are transported as ‘day olds’ to the broiler farms to grow out.

Chicks can survive for up to three days on the energy in their yolk sacs but Vencomatic posed the simple question “Why not hatch the chicks in the broiler house itself so they have immediate access to feed and water?”

This obviously gives the birds a head start with potentially better nutritional outcomes and making that possible is what the Vencomatic X-Trek innovation is all about.

Key to the effective functioning of the X-Trek system is a requirement to heat the broiler shed to 38 degrees C for a couple of days – the time taken for the incubated eggs delivered on purpose designed setter trays to be distributed through the sheds on a rail system.

Once hatched the birds get the benefits in terms of energy and immune response from both their yolk sac and available feed and water.

The ability to hatch eggs in shed has obvious welfare benefits for the birds as well.

Just after the release of this innovative system Simon McKenzie, Vencomatic’s man for the Oceania region will be on the Vencomatic stand at PIX/AMC to explain the new system in more detail.

The Vencomatic X-Trek system.

Aviagen Management EssentialsNortje De WetTechnical Service Manager, Aviagen Australia, New Zealand, and Asia

De Wet has 23 years experience in the poultry industry. He managed the breeding department of a large integrated company in South Africa, before joining Aviagen ANZ in 2012

Biosecurity is all about risk management. We need to put measures in place to reduce

the probability or impact of keeping hazardous diseases out of our flocks, and preventing diseases from spreading to other flocks. Biosecurity is not any one single action. Your operation is at risk every day, so look for ways to improve your on farm biosecurity at all times.

BiosecurityObjectiveAchieve hygienic conditions within the poultry house and minimize the adverse effects of disease. Attain optimum performance and bird welfare and provide assurance on food safety issues.

Key Points• Avoid any multi-age facilities.• Have the farm properly fenced off and well demarcated from

surroundings.• Ensure the farm is kept neat and clean and prevent wild birds,

rodents, and insects from entering or staying on the farm. • Train all staff members and check their understanding of the

biosecurity process.• Shower in and out of every farm, use dedicated clean clothing

inside the facility.• Use a foot dip on entry and clean boots to wear inside the

poultry house.• Sanitize hands prior to house entry. • Do not allow outside vehicles onto the farm.• All vehicles must go through sanitation procedures if they

come close to the farm.• Fumigate everything entering or leaving the farm.• Implement a strict rodent control program.• No open, standing water must be allowed on or close to the

farm.• Use pathogen free drinking water sourced from a closed,

treated water source. • Have a proper dead bird disposal procedure in place. • Maintain houses to facilitate ease of cleaning and proper clean

out between flocks.

A varied range of inputs, supplies, and other factors that can affect biosecurity on a farm.

75

PRO WASH POULTRYPoultry SPecialiSt Dealer for Priefert auStralia02 4971 2347 | 0427 886866 www.prowashpoultry.com.au

the most affordable litter management device on the market!

the litter saver

Perfect for • Eliminating any caked & wet litter• Multi-Batch Litter use • Wet Shavings and Bedding Materials • RSPCA Approved Farming Scheme

We stock the full range of Priefert Poultry Equipment including the Priefert Litter Blade for windrowing.

Pulverizes

aerates

Dries

levels

5 Pulverizes hard caked litter and allows moisture to evaporate

5 Will ride under litter without digging into the pad

5 Leaves a smooth, soft, well aerated surface

5 Low Maintenance, compact and easy to use

5 Available in two sizes with PTO driver or Bobcat options

Good litter manaGement is to key to performance and profitability.

Call us to arrange an on Farm Demonstration or request a broChure anD priCing

NEW PRODUCTSCleanOxide 75, a powerful but environmentally friendly treatment from Natural Water SolutionsNatural Water Solutions is an Australian owned company supplying chlorine dioxide for domestic, industrial and commercial use.

“Natural Water Solutions has developed an innovative and highly efficient method of generating a chlorine dioxide solution of very high purity without the need for any complex or costly equipment,” said Quenton Leach, Managing Director.

CleanOxide 75, a solution of pure chlorine dioxide in water is the flagship product of Natural Water Solutions

“We call this solution CleanOxide 75 as it is a 0.75% (7,500 mg/L) solution of pure chlorine dioxide in water when freshly made,” said Mr Leach.

“It contains no free chlorine and no chlorates. The only impurities are small amounts of sodium sulphate and sodium chloride formed as by-products when Part A and Part B are mixed.

The sodium chlorite content is less than 75 mg/L.

“CleanOxide 75 has all the benefits of chlorine with none of its downside. Furthermore, because chlorine dioxide is a more powerful disinfectant than chlorine, CleanOxide 75 can often be used at much lower dose rates resulting in lower environmental impact and reduced costs.

“An important property of chlorine dioxide is its ability to destroy biofilm. Biofilm is a film or slime produced by microorganisms on surfaces in contact with water.

“It consists of polymeric substances produced by aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, fungi and algae (if light is present). Biofilm acts as a reservoir of microorganisms that is not removed or controlled by normal levels of chlorination.

“Even heavy doses of chlorine (super chlorination) do not remove biofilm.

“Chlorine dioxide remains effective over a wide Ph range from about 4 to 10. This is in sharp contrast to chlorine which is only effective over a narrow Ph.,” said Mr Leach.

“Chlorine dioxide is very effective at oxidising common water pollutants such as

sulphides, iron and manganese. Taste and odours resulting from algae and decaying vegetable matter are all controlled by chlorine dioxide.

“In comparison when chlorine is used to treat water, it produces a number of undesirable by-products including carcinogenic trihalomethanes. Whereas chlorine dioxide does not produce any of these dangerous by-products.

“Clean Oxide 75 can be added to drinking water treated with chlorine as the primary disinfectant to remove many of these undesirable compounds thus improving the aesthetic quality of the water.

“The World Health Organisation recommends and has rated chlorine dioxide as the most powerful water sanitiser in the world.

“Chlorine dioxide is a well known disinfectant for drinking water with many advantages over chlorination. Worldwide over 900 public water systems are using chlorine dioxide for

water disinfection. “It has been approved by NHMRC

for use in disinfecting drinking water since 2005.

The ADWG recommends a maximum of 1mg/L for chlorine dioxide on health grounds and a maximum of 0.4mg/L on aesthetic grounds (taste).

“Applications include poultry sheds, abattoirs, cooling towers, pig sheds, hospitals and other agricultural industries,” Mr Leach said.

Natural Water Solutions is also the distributor for Biowish.

“The Biowish Technology is a powerful blend of probiotics that breaks down complex organic molecules to help eliminate waste, reduce odours, improve soil fertility, and enhance water qaulity, among other uses,” Mr Leach said.

“Biowish is 100% natural and non toxic and Biowish products are safe for everyday use in a wide range of consumer and industrial applications,” Mr Leach said.

76

NEW PRODUCTSMaximising birds potential under stressful conditionsMany factors contribute to stress in animals. Among them are management or husbandry practices, nutrition and environment. In tropical countries, high environmental temperature is a major stressor especially to poultry.

In general, the ideal temperature for broilers to obtain an optimum body weight is around 10-22 ºC, while in layers a temperature range from 10-30 ºC is required for optimum egg production. Above this ideal temperature, chicken performances will respond negatively.

“However, there are ways to control or alleviate effects of heat stress to chickens and one of this is by imposing proper nutrition and feeding in the farm,” said Ms Karen Wee, Regional Manager, Sales & Technical, Animal Health.

“Depressing the feed intake is one of the main causes of poor performance at high temperature. Adjusting the feeding practices such as ‘wet- mash feeding’, using pellet or crumble, choice feeding of calcium source and frequent

feeding can be able to help in increasing feed consumption.

“Moreover, manipulating the nutrient status of feeds can also helps to reduce the effect of heat stress to poultry chickens. You can achieve this through supplementation of considerable amount of fats in the diet, which can enhance birds’ consumption.

“A diet with low protein but with a balance of limiting essential amino acids is more beneficial during hot period than a diet containing high protein. Supplementing with additional electrolytes prevents alkalosis and a drop in feed intake that is caused by heat stress.

“In addition, vitamins supple-mentation may help to improve bird performance at high temperature. Vitamin A is poorly absorbed at high temperature whereas Vitamin E boosts animal resistance and protecting cell membrane while B vitamins boost feed intake and improve nutrient metabolism. All this adjustment of nutrients needed by the chicken is of great significant

during hot period.“Zagro, being committed to

providing solutions to the needs of farm animals, has an innovative range of products that can help the animals counter the effects of stress,” said Ms Wee.

“With the help of these products, birds can maximise their performance even under stressful conditions. These products include Zagrosol AD3E, Zagrosol Aminogen, Zagrosol Minpro, Amilyte and Nilstress.

“Zagrosol product lines are nutrient supplements via drinking water in liquid form.

“These oral liquids are innovatively manufactured in such a way that the bio-available nutrients like vitamin oils are completely miscible in animals’ drinking water even without further mixing needed.

“The Zagrosol AD3E contains significant amount of fat soluble vitamins which can improve reproductive performance, improve fertility, hatchability and bone formation

Nesting systems, slats and parts

eshop.bellsouth.com.au03 9796 7044

[email protected]

Equipment, sales, install + service + parts• Complete Poultry equipment.• Feeders; silos; cross augers.• Drinkers.• Ventilation.• Controllers.• Heating.• Curtains exterior; interior; black out.• Evaporate cooling pads, paper, poly.• Layer cages & nesting systems, barn& free-range.• Building supplies bulk, steel;insulation: panel; roofliner.

Protective Fabrications1045 Silverdale Road, Werombi NSW 2570

Ph: (02) 4653 1293 (02) 4643 1013Fax: (02 4653 1130

Email: [email protected]

77

FARMERS andFEED MILLERS

FOR ALL YOUR REQUIRMENTS OF:

Soya beans used in our meals are NOT genetically modified!

We buy whole soya beans, not gradings, to supply you with a quality meal

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Prinzen launches new egg grader

of broiler breeders. “Zagrosol Aminogen is a

blended liquid form of concentrated multivitamins and amino acids which is a good supplement in improving uniform growth of flocks, weight gain and feed conversion ratio especially in broilers.

“Zagrosol Minpro on the other hand is an oral liquid supplement containing dietary trace and macro minerals and amino acids. It can help improve reproductive performance such as egg shell quality, hatchability, and maintain bone health.

“For farms that prefer using powder forms, Amilyte and Nilstress can be the option. These powder supplements are highly soluble in water and won’t just settle down on the drinkers. Amilyte contains the essential nutrients vitamins, electrolytes and amino acids. It is a good fluid therapy to replenish nutrients lost due to stress and avoid further weight loss.

“Nilstress is a specially formulated anti-heat stress water soluble supplement with exceptional solubility. It contains powerful combinations of a well balanced key vitamins and

electrolytes needed especially at extreme temperature. At times of stress, Amilyte and Nilstress improve the birds’ state of hydration and get them back on feed.

“Chickens will always tend to

NEW PRODUCTSsuffer from stress on each day of their lives, thus countering its effect will economically improve their productivity.

“With Zagro essential water supplements, birds’ potential can be maximised,” concluded Ms Wee.

Prinzen BV, part of the Vencomatic Group, a Dutch specialist company offering complete solutions in egg handling equipment, has announced the introduction of its new electronic egg grader for on-farm use.

The Ovograder is designed for efficient and convenient on-farm grading of hatching eggs and is the the successor of the Elgra 3 grader. The machine offers an effective operating capacity of 30,000 eggs per hour.

With the introduction of the Ovograder, Prinzen answers the needs of larger breeder farms and egg producers who now can choose the grading machine that fits their operation.

The Ovograder is to be used inline

and combined with one of the PSPC packing machines for setting hatching eggs on setter trays or on 30-cell trays.

Just like all Prinzen machines, the Ovograder has a robust design and is constructed from durable materials. Special attention is paid to the hygienic design of the egg grader. Vital parts are easily accessible for cleaning and maintenance.

With the introduction of the Ovograder, Prinzen has responded to the needs of larger breeder farms and egg producers, who now can choose the grading machine that perfectly fits to their operation. The Elgra 3 grader will remain available for medium sized farms, offering a value for money machine for selecting and setting hatching eggs.

78

We buy, sell and service –

Egg Graders, Farmpackersand Egg Washing Machines:

Over 45 years in the poultry industryNew egg washers available

Capacities from 600 - 22,000 eph

Picture: MST Bambino Piccolo – 600 eph

Contact: Wes and Jackie DudleyMobile: 0412 606 507

Phone: (02) 4392 1502 Fax: (02) 4392 2459Email: [email protected]

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Poultry Digest April/May 2014

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Transcript of Poultry Digest April/May 2014