poultry digest december/january 2012

PrintPost Approved PP243096/00007 ISSN 1444-8041

Volume 27, Number 3 December 2011/January 2012

Quality assurance and qualitypreservation of feed ingredientsand finished feed

Is a feed conversionration of 1:1 a realisticand appropriate goal forbroiler chickens in thenext ten years?

Growth with gainis the key to success for Pepe’s Ducks

The Mortons made the move from chooks to ducks

PoultryDigest

PDDec/Jan2012:PDFEBMAR09 25/01/12 12:50 PM

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offiCe aDDress:7 Kerns rd, Kincumber Nsw 2251Ph: (02) 4368 2220 fax: (02) 4368 2260suBsCriPtioNs: australia one year – $55.00*.send payment and full details to (subscritpions only): Primary Media, GPo Box 1846, sydney Nsw 2001New ZealaND one year – $a80. otHer CouNtries asia Pacific including thesubcontinent – one year: airmail – $a80; rest of the world – one year: airmail – $a92. send payment in australian dollars. *australia subscription rate includes Gst.

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News

4 University of Glasgow scientists urge balance in the war

of microbial resistance

Scientists at the University of Glasgow are urging policymakers to reconsider priorities in efforts to understand and control antimicrobial resistance.

8 Founder of Big Dutchman dies at 100

Jack DeWitt, who founded Big Dutchman in 1938 with his brother, Dick DeWitt,passed away at his home in Zeeland, MI on January 6, 2012.

10 CoVer story Growth with gain is the key to success for Pepe’s Ducks

Pepe’s Ducks, the dominant supplier of duck meat in the South Pacific region, was founded by Pepe Bonnacordo back in 1973 with just 22 ducks reared in his back yard atParramatta in NSW. On those modest foundations, the company, still owned by theBonnacordo family, has grown to be a significant player in the Australian poultry industry, processing more than 70,000 birds per week.

20 NutritioN feature

Is a feed conversion ratio of 1:1 a realistic and appropriate goal forbroiler chickens in the next 10 years?

Based on historical data and near-future projections, it seems unlikely that the poultryindustry will reach a 1:1 feed conversion ratio within the next 10 years. This does notmean that this target will not be reached at all. In fact, when one considers true dry matter conversion, this possibility seems more realistic.

14 sPeCial feature the Mortons made the move from chooks to ducks

Paul and Silvia Morton are now contract growers for Pepe’s Ducks and operate a fourshed 24,000 bird capacity farm at Oakville in NSW. When they acquired the farm itwas used to grow broilers.

26 NutritioN feature Quality assurance and quality preservation of feed ingredients andfinished feed

An objective of FeedSafe is to ‘enable livestock producers to achieve expected levels ofperformance by delivering stock feed of consistent quality to animals’. Rick Carterfrom Kemin discusses this issue.

Peter Brown, Grower Farming Manager,Pepe’s Ducks.

December 2011/January 2012Volume 27, Number 3

Contents

PoultryDigest

Vaxsafe® PM is a new product funded by the Australian Poultry CRCfor the Australian poultry farmer to help control Fowl Cholera.

This live vaccine o�ers signi�cant improvements in controlof Pasteurella multocida (PM) over previous vaccines.

Its broad protection means it is the �rst stop forPM control irrespective of what PM you have.

Brought to you by Bioproperties to help prevent blood from staining the wattle**Apologies to Henry Lawson

Phone (03) 9876 0567Fax (03) 9876 0556bioproperties.com.au

Vaxsafe PM

The new vaccine for Fowl Cholera

POULTRY DIGEST, December/January 2012 3

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4 POULTRY DIGEST, December/January 2012

News

Scientists at the University of Glasgow areurging policymakers to reconsider prioritiesin efforts to understand and controlantimicrobial resistance.

Antimicrobial resistance is when micro-organisms, including bacteria, viruses andparasites, are no longer killed by the drugsthat have previously been effective.

In the case of bacteria, there is increas-ing concern over the spread of resistanceand the possibility of returning to the situation 100 years ago when many diseasesaffecting humans and animals were untreat-able.

Antimicrobial resistance in humans isfrequently attributed to veterinary use ofantimicrobials, but the relative contribu-tion to the problem from animals andhumans is poorly understood at the popu-lation level.

Despite this, proposals are under consideration by the European Parliamentto phase out the precautionary (or prophy-lactic) use of some antibiotics in animals inthe hope that the rate of increase in theoccurrence of antimicrobial resistancewould be slowed.

The plan has been opposed by theBritish Veterinary Association, which saidthat the ban would compromise animalhealth and welfare.

Dr Alison Mather, working with aninterdisciplinary research team within theCollege of Medical, Veterinary and LifeSciences, exploited long-term surveillancedata of Salmonella Typhimurium DT104from co-located humans and animals inScotland, demonstrated how animal andhuman DT104 populations differ significantly in several ways such as prevalence, linkage, time of emergence, anddiversity.

The findings, published in theProceedings of the Royal Society B, suggestthat the local animal populations areunlikely to be the major source of resis-tance in humans, and questions policiesthat restrict the use of antimicrobials inlocal domestic animals.

Professor Daniel Haydon, Director ofthe University of Glasgow’s Institute ofBiodiversity Animal Health andComparative Medicine, said: “In our study,there were significantly more human-onlytypes of resistance than we might haveexpected if the animal and human micro-bial communities were well-mixed, suggest-

ing that the risk of resistances passing fromanimals to humans is lower than previousresearch has indicated.

“We also found that, in the majority ofresistances which are common to both animals and humans, the resistancesappeared first in humans.

“While it’s inevitable that contact,direct or indirect, between animals andhumans will lead to some transmission ofdisease and resistance in both directions, itappears unlikely that the animal populationis the major source of resistance diversityfor humans.”

Professor Stuart Reid, the senior authorof the work and now Principal at the RoyalVeterinary College, London, added: “Itremains true that the use of antimicrobialspromotes resistance in microorganisms andof course we advocate prudent use in allspecies but our work does call into

university of Glasgow scientists urge balance in the war of microbial resistance

Major themes announced for australianPoultry science symposium 2012

Participants inthe APSA2010 work-shop toimprove poultry production indevelopingcountries, SEAsia andPacifc Region.

question the, at times, singular focus onveterinary usage.

“Whilst our study has focused on a single bacterial species, our findings dodemonstrate that we must ensure that ourlocal policies do not impact disproportion-ately on domestic livestock without consid-ering imported foodstuffs and animalsabroad, as well as the medical use of antibiotics.

There is still much to be done if we areto understand the problem at the level ofthe global ecosystem.”

The research was carried out by theUniversity of Glasgow, in partnership withthe Scottish Salmonella Shigella andClostridium difficile Reference Laboratoryat Stobhill Hospital; Health ProtectionScotland; the Public Health Agency ofCanada and the University of Guelph inCanada.

The report, entitled ‘An ecologicalapproach to assessing the epidemiology ofantimicrobial resistance in animal andhuman populations’, is available fromhttp://tinyurl.com/dxr7prd

Hosted by the Poultry ResearchFoundation and WPSA (AustralianBranch), the 23rd Australian PoultryScience Symposium will be held in theVeterinary Science Conference Centre,Camperdown Campus, University ofSydney from the 19-22nd February 2012.

Major themes include a mythbustersapproach to feed additives, macroeconomicand retailer drivers behind poultry produc-tion, new insights into laying hen nutritionand shedding light on the performance gapin free-range production.

The Global Presidents of WPVA andWPSA will also give forward-looking presentations as to the role of their respec-tive organisations to 2020.

Almost 100 papers have been submittedand a record number of delegates areexpected to attend. The conference dinnerwill be held aboard the Starship Sydney fora cruise round Sydney harbour.

Invited speakers and a full program canbe found on the PRF website at http://sydney.edu.au/vetscience/apss/ wherethe registration portal is now open.



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Jack DeWitt, who founded Big Dutchmanin 1938 with his brother, Dick DeWitt,passed away at his home in Zeeland, MI onJanuary 6, 2012.

While Jack was only 24 days awayfrom turning 101, Big Dutchman, now aworldwide leader in automated poultry andswine production systems is almost readyto celebrate its 75th birthday.

Jack DeWitt and his brother DickDeWitt founded the company in 1938when they set out to market their inven-tion, which would soon revolutionize thepoultry industry.

The ‘Big Dutchman’ automated poultry feeder was the first automatic feed-ing system, featuring the flat chain concept,which remains the most popular poultryfeeding technology in the world today.

As Dick loved to tell, “we had a prettygood idea that sure beat shoveling out birdfeed by hand. We just had to take it out tothe rest of the world”.

Jack and his brothers were the sons ofDutch immigrants who settled on a farmnear Holland, Michigan. After graduatingfrom College and returning from the service, Jack joined his brother Dick to run

News

a poultry and hatchery business in Zeeland.Here they designed and developed andbegan the production of the automatedpoultry feeder.

By the early 1950s, Big Dutchmanestablished itself in the US and the brotherswere determined to establish plants andsales forces in their Netherlands homelandand other European countries.

By 1958, they added a sales representa-tive in Germany, a young farmer namedJoseph Meerpohl, who would later becomesole owner of Big Dutchman.

After numerous overseas trips and earn-ing several awards and federal recognitionfor his contributions to foreign trade, Jacksold his interest in the company in 1968.He went on to be a community leader withmany organisations and responsibilities.

Today, Big Dutchman globally is headedby Josef ’s son, Bernd Meerpohl and head-quartered in Germany with more than1600 employees and subsidiaries on everycontinent. Bernd had been able to meetJack when he and Clovis Rayzel (Presidentof Big Dutchman Inc.) came to celebrateJack DeWitt’s 100th birthday.

On January 6 of 2011, hundreds of

Jack DeWitt, founder of Big Dutchman

founder of Big Dutchman dies at 100

Nfu scotland slams poor stats on layer cage ban compliance

family and friends turned out at an openhouse birthday celebration in Jack’s home-town, Zeeland, just a few miles away fromBig Dutchman USA, which he beganalmost 75 years ago.

The ‘Big Dutchman family’, asMeerpohl calls his global company, willalways remember Jack as the salesman withan eternal optimism and a simple (but successful) customer-oriented sales philoso-phy, who took every opportunity to fire uphis team with his ‘keep selling’ mantra.

NFU Scotland went to Brussels recentlyurging Commission officials to learnlessons from the debacle surroundingimplementation of the laying cage ban.

No fewer that 14 member states and14 percent of EU egg production failed tomeet the deadline when the ban on conventional cages came into force onJanuary 1, 2012.

The Union went to Brussels in Januaryseeking reassurances from Commissionofficials that history won’t repeat itselfwhen Europe’s legislation banning the useof sow stalls in the pig sector comes intoforce at the end of this year.

The UK has had a unilateral ban onsow stalls in place since January 1999.

NFU Scotland’s Pigs and PoultryChairman, Phil Sleigh, who went toBrussels said:

“Despite having almost a decade toprepare, no fewer that 14 of our fellowMember States have failed to fully enforce

the Welfare of Laying Hens Directive andwill face legal proceedings in the comingweeks according to the EuropeanCommission.

“Warnings and threats of fines fromthe Commission about the consequences ofnon-compliance have been largely ineffec-tual in encouraging many countries to convert conventional battery cages intoenriched welfare friendly cages on time.

The deadline has now passed andBelgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece,Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Malta,Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain haveall failed to meet it.

“According to the Commission’s latestfigures, more than 46 million hens are stillin illegal conventional cages across Europe,representing a staggering 14 percent ofEurope’s egg industry.

“Those eggs run the risk of enteringthe UK and undermining our producerswho have taken on board the considerable

cost involved in compliance. “Our producers deserve legal

protection from having their marketsundermined by illegally produced eggs butit is a huge disappointment that this has, so far, been undeliverable at a UK or anEU level.

“With the sow stall ban just around thecorner, the Commission must learn lessonsfrom this laying cage debacle and put morerobust measures in place to penalise thosepig producers who do not comply and protect those producer who do meet therules.

The use of such stalls has been out-lawed here for the past 13 years and wewould welcome speedy and comprehensivecompliance across the rest of the EU pigsector.

Along with the NPA, I have met withanimal welfare officials recently in Brusselsin order to raise this issue as a matter ofurgency.”


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Growth with gain is the key tosuccess for Pepe’s ducks

By PETER BEDWELL

domestic market and exports to the Pacificregion and some Asian markets.

In Australia Pepe’s operates 23 growerfarms of which two are company owned, asare four breeder units and two hatcheries.

Like many of Australia’s leading poultryindustry integrators, Pepe’s Ducks grewfrom the inspirational determination of itsfounder and his family into a significantenterprise with the help of a professionalmanagement team and well-trainedemployees.

Today John Houston is the GeneralManager of the Australian operations andhis son Matthew Houston is the ManagingDirector of the New Zealand Operation.Peter Brown is the Grower FarmingManager and looks after the growing operations.

Poultry Digest visited Pepe’s WindsorNSW processing plant and offices inJanuary to learn more about ducks and themarket for the product from John Houstonand Peter Brown.

The first surprise was that the majorityof Pepe’s Duck’s production is sold torestaurants and the food service industry ingeneral.

“Some companies in the food produc-tion seem to equate success with the w

number of representatives they need to service their market,” said Mr Houston.

“We know of companies in the foodindustry with similar turnover to Pepe’sthat have more than 20 sales staff on theroad.

In answer to the question, how doesPepe’s service its selling operations? MrHouston’s short answer was, “I do”.

In contrast to the minimalistic sellingapproach, the majority of the 150 plus fulltime employees are concerned with running sophisticated growing and processing operations.

“Ducks require fairly high mainte-nance,” explained Mr Brown.

“They are fussy eaters and our birds’diet consists mostly of prime quality wheatso feed costs are inevitably higher than forthe chicken meat sector where a variety ofmaterials, such as sorghum can be used.

“Water quality and flow rates are alsovital as ducks not only drink water but alsouse it for preening,” he said.

“Biosecurity is vital and we concentrateon keeping our bird’s environment as clean,and thus as disease free, as is possible. Weinspect our birds at farm, management andveterinary levels on a very regular basis.

Pepe’s Ducks in fact received The

Cherry Valley day old ducklings fromone of Pepe’s hatcheries.

Pepe’s Ducks, the dominant supplierof duck meat in the South Pacific region,was founded by Pepe Bonnacordo back in1973 with just 22 ducks reared in his backyard at Parramatta in NSW.

On those modest foundations, thecompany, still owned by the Bonnacordofamily, has grown to be a significant playerin the Australian poultry industry, process-ing more than 70,000 birds per week.

The New Zealand arm of Pepe’s ducksis a stand-alone company producing morethan 20,000 birds per week for the NZ


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12 POULTRY DIGEST December/January, 2012

Australian Biosecurity Farmer of the YearAward and was the runner up in theAustralian Livestock Producer of the Yearcategory at the Australian Farmer of TheYear 2011 awards. The Kondinin Group inpartnership with ABC Rural present theseawards to Australian farmers.

At the presentation it was stated thatPepe Bonacocordo had idnetified the needfor a biosecurity strategy for the industryback in 1994. As a result the duck meatindustry had developed its own quality systems and biosecurity standards.

“As a result of these strict regimes weare able to reduce disease,” Mr Houstonsaid. “Though ducks are basically veryhardy creatures they do not respond well tostress factors like over stocking or dirty andwet litter.

“They let us know very quickly if theirconditions are not ideal as performancesuffers if their conditions are less than optimal and we spend a lot of both timeand money on litter maintenance as well ashigh quality feed.

“Overstocking for instance, createsfeathering problems and depressed growthrates, so we just don’t do it,” Mr Brownemphasised.

These high cost factors lead MrHouston back to his favourite topic – growth!

“Of course we want to increase the volume of duck meat Australians eat. Atthe moment its running at around 1 kg perperson per year and we envisage that volume will increase at about 10% pa intothe foreseeable future,” he explained.

Not for the first time in Poultry Digest’sconversations about duck meat productionthe phrase ‘ducks are not like chickens’came up.

“We can’t rear ducks in the same waythat chickens are grown and neither can wemarket them in the same way either.

“Duck meat in Australia, and aroundthe world for that matter, is regarded byconsumers and food service industries as apremium product,” he said.

“Pepe’s Ducks has thrived and grownbecause it has been successful in maintain-ing that premium product over other poul-try meats like chicken meat.

‘We need that premium because thecost of rearing our birds and producing thevery special qualities our customersdemand, are high – much, much higher ona per kg basis than chicken meat, forinstance.

“So yes, we want to build volume, butnot at the cost of quality, so that’s why weconcentrate on the food industry wheregood restaurants and their chefs can buildon the value of our ducks to enhance theirprofitability as well.

v

Left: JohnHouston,GeneralManager ofPepe’s Duckswith theAustralianBiosecurityFarmer of TheYear award.Below: Theducklings arebasically hardy creatures but are fussyeaters whichdon’t respondwell to stressfactors likeover stockingor dirty or wetlitter.

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“We are active in supplying consumersdirect but only in limited sectors like farmers markets where food enthusiasts arelikely to shop and be more than happy topay for the quality we need to keep ouroperations running well.

“Apart from quality, bird size is alsoimportant. There is a ‘golden zone’ of 1.9to 2.3 kg dressed,” Mr Houston said.

For the better part of Pepe’s Ducksgrowth period, UK-sourced Cherry Valleygenetics were dominant but in 2005 theFrench sourced Grimaud bird was introduced.

“The Grimaud has qualities that appealto many sections of our market.

“Skin quality for instance, better suitstraditional Asian cooking methods andthough our demand for duck meat spreadsacross the entire Australia population, thereis no doubt that a lot of our growth inrecent years has come from demand from

our Asian migrant communities as well asthe impact of cooking shows that hasincreased awareness of duck as an alterna-tive meat.

“It is also a bigger bird that we cangrow out to around 3 kg dressed,” MrHouston stated.

“One of the key concerns in ourgrowth strategy is to find and keep dedicated people in what is a fairly specialist livestock industry,” he said.

“We are looking for people at all levelsand to fill positions throughout the production process. This includes dedicatedcontract growers who are prepared to learnnew skills or improve on their existingexperience to suit the particular needs ofgrowing ducks.

“We are considering ways to reach students with a leaning towards agricultureby working with agricultural colleges to

CONTINUED ON PAGE 45 w


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The Mortons made the movefrom chooks to ducks

By PETER BEDWELL

Paul and Silvia Morton, with the helpof their son Caio, are contract growers forPepe’s Ducks and operate a four shed24,000 bird capacity farm at Oakville inNSW, situated not far from Pepe’s head-quarters and processing plant at Windsor.

When they acquired the farm 12 yearsago it was used to grow broilers for Baiadaand Paul and Silvia grew for that companyfor some years before converting the shedsfor duck rearing three years ago.

The conventional curtain-sided sheds

had been converted to free range broilerrearing before the Mortons moved to Pepe’s.

These sheds make ideal housing forducks which, provided they get a goodstart, are adaptable to a reasonably widetemperature range.

The sheds are ventilated simply usingmanually operated curtains and stirrer fans.There is not the requirement for high levelsof automation and associated coolingpads/fans/minivents which are typical ofconverted (or new) tunnel ventilated broileraccommodation.

Peter Brown, Pepe’s Ducks FarmingManager who with John Houston, Pepe’sGeneral Manager, had been explaining thespecifics of duck rearing to Poultry Digest,came to the Morton’s farm to point outsome of the key features of successful rearing.

A batch of Cherry Valley day old duck-lings had been delivered to the farm fromone of Pepe’s hatcheries and the birds hadsettled in at the start of a 42 day growingperiod.

“At the end of the growing period thebirds will have reached around 2.9 kgwhich results typically in a 2.3 kg dressedbird for sale,” Mr Brown said.

Pepe’s grows both Cherry Valley and

Grimoud genetic varieties and the Morton’sfarm rears both.

“They are placed on a starter diet forthe first two or two and a half weeks, thengo to market weight on grower rations: weanticipate a 67/68 gms per day weightgain,’ he said.

The ducklings are initially housed inbrooding surrounds to keep them in anarea heated by Gameco-supplied broodergas fired units.

“We like to have the brooding areaheated to about 32 degrees C when theducklings are placed,” Mr Brownexplained.

Plentiful water supply is available fromfonts placed in the brooder area and thereare feeder trays so the birds have easy accessto their starter diets, also access to automatedfeeding pans.

Paul commented that the wholeprocess of getting the birds settled andfeeding was much less labour intensive thanthe paper feed system used when startingbroiler chicks.

Peter Brown, when explaining aspectsof duck rearing at Pepe’s headquarters, hademphasised the importance of litter

The conventional curtain-sided shedsmake excellent housing for ducks.



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management and now he pointed out just‘how its done’ in sheds that were being prepared for a new batch.

“Wet patches are removed and existinglitter worked with a rotary hoe before afresh batch of clean shavings are placed inthe shed. Typically around 60 cubic metresfor a 5000 bird batch,” Mr Brownexplained.

As we examined the shed where a batchhad just been completed it is noticeablethat there is no odour and the existing litter appears to be in good condition; asure sign of a well managed shed.

The Mortons are glad of their changeto ducks and as John Houston pointed outto Poultry Digest “ducks do keep peopleinterested”, and Paul agrees.

Prior to striking out as a contract growerfirst of broiler chickens and now ducks,Paul had worked in a variety of roles in thepoultry industry including R&D in histime with both Inghams and Baiada.

In another interesting career move healso spent some time in exotic overseaslocations including Florida building largefiberglass pleasure boats.

Silvia Morton grew up in San Paulo,the Brazilian city that is the largest in thesouthern hemisphere. She is just as enthusi-astic about being a duck farmer as her husband Paul and has a lively interest inthe world’s poultry industries.

The Mortons are just as optimisticabout the future of ducks in Australia astheir integrator, Pepe’s .

Though the levels of shed technologyin duck rearing may be far more simplethan on typical broiler farms this doesn’tmean that you can take your eye off thebirds.

“Constant supervision is necessary toavoid problems and we are well aware ofthis,” Paul concluded.

v CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14

Top right: Peter Brown, Pepe’s DucksGrower Farming Manager with Paul andSilvia Morton. Centre: Litter management isvital in the sheds. Left: Sheds are ventilatedusing manually operated curtains. Above:Gameco-supplied brooder gas fired unit.


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NUTRITION FEATURE

Is a feed conversion ratio of 1:1 arealistic and appropriate goal forbroiler chickens in the next 10 years?By M. de BEER, D.ELFICK and DA EMMERSON

Based on historical data and near-future projections, it seems unlikely thatthe poultry industry will reach a 1:1 feedconversion ratio within the next 10 years.

This does not mean that this target willnot be reached at all. In fact, when oneconsiders true dry matter conversion, thispossibility seems more realistic.

With emerging technologies and newselection, nutrition and management prac-tices, there is a still lot of room forimproved efficiency.

The global trend toward sustainabilityalso fits well with the direction of the poultry industry. Research has shown thatof all animal species, poultry productionhas the smallest carbon/ nitrogen footprintand continues to reduce this footprint perunit of meat produced.

Our existing progress in efficiency hasnot come at the expense of animal welfare.Data show that mortality and condemna-tion rates are lower than ever and skeletal,heart and lung health has not been com-promised by modern selection practices.

Perhaps most importantly, theseadvances in our industry have ensured thatpoultry meat remains highly affordable formuch of the world’s population.

The industry has shown itself to behighly responsible in its consideration ofthe environment and of social and economicissues, and further advancements in effi-ciency will continue this success story.

Introduction Progress in feed conversion ratio (FCR-

feed consumed per unit body weight) ofbroiler chickens has been quite staggeringover the past three decades. Despite theradical improvements and years of intenseselection, there is still significant within-and between-strain variation in traits suchas growth and feed conversion. Emmerson(1997) presented data from 45 broilercrosses showing that there was more than10% between-strain variation in body

weight, growth rate and feed conversionand up to 30% variation in abdominal fat.Significant within-strain variation also stillexists.

Therefore, we can expect geneticprogress to continue at a similar rate formany of these economically critical traits.Whether a 1:1 FCR is achievable in thenext 10 years is less clear.

It would require us to almost doublethe current rate of year-on-year progress.Although many advances have been madein selection, nutrition, health and manage-ment, a doubling of our progress seemsunrealistic, but ingenuity and commitmentwithin various sectors of the industry hasprevailed before.

The question of whether a 1:1 FCR isan appropriate goal can be answered inmore concrete terms.

Previously, advances in certain traitswere accompanied by challenges in otherareas of production. For example, intenseselection for growth was often associatedwith reduced reproductive performance,increased carcass fat, skeletal abnormalitiesand ascites.

These issues have presented producerswith challenges in the past but modified

selection schemes have successfully amelio-rated some of these complications.Understanding the causes of some of thenegative traits and developing tools to measure susceptibility has enabled signifi-cant genetic improvements to be made inmany of them.

Skeletal problems such as tibialdyschondroplasia, and others such asascites, are examples of such disturbancesthat have been significantly improvedthrough section using novel techniques.Thus, with continued focus on all of thesephysiological support traits, there seems nobasis to claim that a 1:1 FCR is not anappropriate goal due to animal welfare andethical concerns.

Historically, the industry has been veryresponsible in this regard.

Furthermore, life cycle analysis andother environmental impact studies haveillustrated the benefits of low FCRs for theenvironment and for sustainability.

The poultry industry’s commitment toefficiency has resulted in a lower environ-mental impact and ultimately a lower costof high-quality protein to the consumer.Sustainability has become a significantfocus area for the agricultural sector as awhole and it encompasses economic, socialand environmental issues.

Is a 1:1 FCR achievable in the next 10 years?

According to Aviagen’s (2007) broilerperformance objectives, a 2 kg male broilershould achieve an FCR of approximately1.54. This objective is based on the performance of top quartile customersaround the world.

It is certainly achievable with goodhealth, nutritional and management relatedinputs. There is a tremendous amount ofvariation in measured FCRs in the field.

Within Aviagen’s database of field per-formance, adjusted FCRs can vary by up to50 points from one operation to another.

Marc de Beer DSM Nutritional Products

w


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w



This variation proves that in any one flock,the influence of nutrition, managementand disease can far exceed the influence ofgenetics alone.

Genetic companies are predicting con-tinued improvement at a rate of 2–3 pointsof FCR per year with no immediate plateauin sight. Based on these projections, a current FCR of 1.54 and no change in thepotential plateau over the next 10 years, wecould expect FCRs of 1.24–1.34.

This would certainly represent the topend of industry performance. Havenstein(2003) estimated that genetic selection wasresponsible for 85–90% of the improve-ment in broiler growth and feed efficiency.According to his assessment, the other 10–15% was due to nutrition.

If we assume that in the best case scenario, the genetics companies give us atotal of 30 points improvement over thenext 10 years, we could hope for an addi-tional improvement of 4.5 points due toadvances in nutrition.

That gives us a total improvement ofaround 34.5 points in FCR. With currentFCRs for 2 kg male broilers of 1.54, wecould expect FCRs of 1.2 in the next 10years.

It is hard to imagine us reaching a goalof a 1:1 FCR in the next decade, butachieving an FCR of 1.2 would represent aphenomenal achievement for our industryand the benefits would be felt all the wayfrom the global environment to the indi-vidual consumer.

Stepwise improvements in FCR due tobreed changes or major advances in nutri-tion, feed delivery or health and manage-ment may get us closer to 1:1 than theseprojections suggest.

If the question is extended beyond thenext 10 years, it is more likely that this goalcan be achieved. Although a 1:1 feed conversion may seem unrealistic to some, ifit is considered on a dry matter basis, a dif-ferent picture emerges.

On a dry matter basis, a 1:1 FCR isactually closer to 2.52:1. This value wascalculated assuming that feed contains11.5% water and a whole chicken contains65% water. Thus, a 2 kg bird with a 1.8FCR would have an FCR of 4.55 on a drymatter basis. This should be encourage-ment and motivation enough to aim forsuch a target.

Is a 1:1 FCR an appropriate goal? Sustainability has become the watch

word of the early twenty-first century.Often the definition ‘to meet the needs of

the present without compromising the abilityof future generations to meet their ownneeds’ (World Commission onEnvironment and Development, 1987) isused. However, it provides no benchmarks.

The International Reporting Initiative,an organization that provides a frameworkfor reporting ‘sustainability’, considers three‘pillars’ for sustainability; economic, envi-ronment and social. These three pillars areused in several models, but one of the mostfrequently referred to is that of interlockingand overlapping circles of influence.

Aviagen collects large amounts of fielddata and as such can establish the trends intraits such as growth rate and feed conver-sion.

The company looked at the averagenumber of days to reach 2.3 kg. Based onthese data it showed there had been animprovement in days to 2.3 kg of 10 daysover the last 15 years.

This trend shows no sign of slowing.Aviagen also looked at the amount of calories required to reach 2.3 kg. Thesedata show that birds require 370 fewerkilocalories to reach 2.3 kg than they did in1995. This gives some indication of theimprovements that have occurred in feedconversion.

Despite these radical improvements ingrowth rate and FCR, there has been noincrease in mortality or other welfare andhealth-related traits during this period. Ifanything, these parameters have improved.

This is clear evidence that the geneticscompanies have taken a very balanced andresponsible approach to improving FCR.Although improvements have been signifi-cant, they have not come at the expense ofbird welfare and health.

For more than 30 years, genetics companies have used highly controlledindividual pen tests to enhance FCR.

This technique has almost halved theamount of feed required to generate a unitof poultry meat since the 1970s.

Individual pens, although cost-effectiveand of high welfare standards, do notaddress the behavioural aspects of feed effi-ciency. In 2005, Aviagen started selectingpedigree chickens using performance test-ing stations in their breeding program.

These stations allow birds to be group-housed and demonstrate the behaviouralaspects of feed intake and efficiency.

This technology will allow Aviagen tomake faster improvements in FCR, withimprovement rates around 2.5% perannum. This improvement rate is close tothe predicted increases in world chicken

meat output. This being the case, the industry will

be close to truly sustainable with inputsreducing at around the same rate asgrowth.

Furthermore, since the late 1990s,Aviagen has not utilised prophylacticantibiotics or coccidiostats in its breedingprograms. High quality breeding and broiler stock should be sufficiently hardy toperform in the absence of these feed additives and the conditions under whichthe birds are selected should reflect this.

The environmentWith large scale population growth and

finite resources, any farming activity needsto be considered in the context of itsimpact on the global environment.

Of all land-animal protein sources,poultry meat production appears the mostenvironmentally efficient, followed by porkand sheep meat (primarily lamb), with beefthe least efficient.

According to a report from theDepartment for Environment, Food andRural Affairs (2006), this results from “sev-eral factors, including: the very low over-heads of poultry breeding stock (c. 250progeny per hen each year vs. one calf percow); very efficient feed conversion; highdaily weight gain of poultry (made possibleby genetic selection and improved dietaryunderstanding”.

Although the estimate of progeny peryear may be significantly exaggerated, it isstill clear that progress in FCR has resultedin a smaller potential for greenhouse gasemissions and a smaller carbon/nitrogenfootprint per unit meat produced.

The report estimated the global warm-ing potential (GWP) of all these speciesand found that poultry has the lowestpotential of all for global warming. Thiswas measured in CO2 equivalents produced.

Genetic selection of broilers over thepast 20 years has resulted in a reduction ofgreenhouse gas emissions of 25%, and thisreduction is predicted to continue for thenext 20 years.

Commercial geneticists feel that this isa very conservative estimate given theenhanced technologies available today andin the near future.

Selection targets for efficiency, especiallyin FCR and meat yield, have primarily driven this reduction at the same time asreducing the wholesale price of high quality,healthy animal protein to the customer.

Environmental traits will be increasingly

v

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NUTRITION FEATURE

Quality assurance and quality preservation of feed ingredients and finished feedBy RICK CARTER, PhD Kemin AgriFoods

An objective of FeedSafe is to ‘enablelivestock producers to achieve expected levels of performance by delivering stockfeed of consistent quality to animals’.

The Code for Good ManufacturingPractice states that a ‘raw material sourcingand purchasing program must be imple-mented that minimises potential productquality and safety risks, be they biological,chemical or physical’.

The onus lies with both suppliers ofraw materials and feed manufacturers toensure the feed delivered to livestock is fitfor purpose and of consistent quality.

The sophistication of modern feed formulation software along with advancesin near infrared technology have helpednutritionists ensure the necessary nutritionobjectives are met.

The physical quality can also beassured with the use of sieve sets, pelletdurability and pellet hardness testing toolsand of course visual assessments.

However, controlling some of the invisible chemical and biological qualityparameters is more difficult and challenging,and could be assisted by devising a system that prescribes specific assurance-preservation programs for both raw materials and finished feed depending on

the relative risk. This article will consider oxidation as a

chemical quality consideration andmould/mycotoxins along withbacteria/Salmonella as biological qualityconsiderations (figure 1).

Risk factors and relative risk rating

Assigning individual raw materials andspecific finished feeds to high, medium orlow risk would be determined in-house,whilst the factors contributing to the risksare quite well understood but often overlooked.

There are known factors that con-tribute to the risk of mould and bacteriagrowth in raw materials and feed (ie.microbiological quality), and to oxidativedamage of fats, oils and fat soluble ingredi-

ents as well as feeds containing these ingre-dients (ie. oxidative quality). An exampleof a risk chart that could be constructed isshown in table 1.

Assuring and preserving quality

There are various practices that can beused to ensure and preserve raw materialand feed quality. These include:• quality of storage, eg. leak-proof, aeration• location of storage, eg. cooler side ofbuildings• hygiene of storage, eg. regular cleaningand checking• use of mould inhibitors, Salmonellainhibitors and anti-oxidants at levels inaccordance with the relative risk ratings

Examples of preserving ingredientoxidative stability by using appropriately

INVISIBLE THREATS TO FEED QUALITY

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CHEMICAL MICROBIOLOGICAL

OXIDATION MOULD BACTERIA

NUTRIENT LOSS

FEED INTAKE � �

NUTRIENT LOSS

FEED INTAKE �

MYCOTOXIN RISKS

SALMONELLA RISKS

Figure 1: Processes that can lead to raw material and feed qualitycompromises

Risk factor

Raw materials Finished feed

Microbiological Oxidative Microbiological Oxidative

1. Quicker turnover -

a) cool, dry conditions

b) warm, humid conditions

c) ‘typical’ moisture

d) higher moisture

e) warm, humid conditions &

higher moisture

f) mainly saturated fat

g) higher unsaturated fat level

h) ‘typical’ fat levels

i) high fat levels

2. Slower turnover -

a) cool, dry conditions

b) warm, humid conditions

c) ‘typical’ moisture

d) higher moisture

e) mainly saturated fat

f) higher unsaturated fat level

g) ‘typical’ fat levels

h) high fat levels

L

M

L

M

H

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

M

H

M

H

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

L

M

L

M1

M

L

M

L

M

M

H

M

H1

M

H

M

H

L

M

L

H

H

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

M

H

H

H

n/a

n/a

n/a

n/a

L

M-L2

L

M-L1,2

M

L

M-L2

L

M-L2

M-L2

H-M2

M-L2

M-L1,2

M-L2

H-M2

M-L2

H-M2

1, hydrolysis/free fatty acid production risk;

2, use lower risk rating when fat/oil/fat soluble ingredient has been separately protected;

n/a, not applicable

�

Table 1: Risk rating chart for raw materials and finished feed.(H=high risk, M=medium risk, L=low risk)

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NUTRITION FEATURE

formulated antioxidants are shown in fig-ures 2 (tallow), 3 (poultry oil) and 4 (meatmeal).

Comparing tallow and poultry oil, theoxygen absorption values after 24 hourswere 201mg and 315mg respectively indi-cating the lower oxidative stability of poul-try oil.

These values compare with about60mg for meat meal which typically contains about 10% fat (figure 4).

The inclusion of 500g/tonne of a liquid antioxidant prevented the liquid fatsources from losing their stability whilst250g/tonne stabilized the meat meal.

Figure 5 and Table 2 show clearly howa mould inhibitor can be used to help preserve the microbial stability of feedingredients, ie. millrun (figure 6: 14.2%moisture at 25°C and 32-46% Relative w

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0.00

50.00

100.00

150.00

200.00

250.00

300.00

350.00

400.00

450.00

500.00

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Ab

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(m

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50

100

150

200

250

300

350

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Control

Barox™ 500ppm

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Ox

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ab

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Figure 2. Oxygen absorption over time for an untreatedtallow sample and a sample from the same source with a liquid antioxidant under an oxygen challenged accelerated test.

Figure 3. Oxygen absorption over time for an untreatedpoultry oil sample & a sample from the same sourcetreated with a liquid antioxidant under an oxygen challenged accelerated test

Figure 4. Oxygenabsorption over timefor an untreatedmeat meal sampleand a sample fromthe same sourcetreated with a liquidantioxidant under anoxygen challengedaccelerated test.

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0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

160.0

180.0

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Time (hrs)

Meat meal treated with 250ppm Barox™ Liquid

Control meat meal

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Control (A) Control (B) MCL 2000ppm (A)

MCL 2000ppm (B) MCL 1000ppm (A) MCL 1000ppm (B)

Figure 5. Carbon dioxide production (%) in the head-space air above untreatedmillrun and the same millruntreated with a liquid mouldinhibitor at two dose rates(MCL, MycoCURB Liquid)

v


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Humidity) and cereal grain (table 2, barley).

Mould and other micro-organisms produce carbon dioxide as they grow butthis was dramatically inhibited when amould inhibitor was applied to millrun.The use of a liquid mould inhibitor alsoprevented mould growth in stored barley.

An example of mould inhibitionresponses from using an appropriately for-mulated product in a finished feed isshown in figure 6 (13.4% moisture mashfeed at 25°C and 32-46% RelativeHumidity).

The effect of mould inhibitor dose ratecan be seen on the microbial stability of themash feed as indicated by decreasing CO2production as the dose rate increases.

Summary

• Feedsafe and Good ManufacturingPractices aim to ensure that purchased rawmaterials and finished feed delivered tolivestock are fit for purpose which includesminimizing potential product quality andsafety risks, be they biological, chemical orphysical• invisible threats to raw material and feedquality include chemical degradation byoxidation as well as biological degradationfrom bacteria and mould growth• the quality compromises imposed on feedby these threats include nutrient losses andreduced feed intake along with furtherpotential risks from mycotoxin andSalmonella contamination• a systematic approach to managing these

Figure 6. Carbon dioxide production (%) in head-space air above untreatedmash feed & the same feed treated with a liquid mould inhibitor at variousdose rates (MycoCURB Liquid) (dark blue = un-treated; purple = 1.5kg/t; yellow = 3.0kg/t; light blue = 4.5kg/t)

Table 2. Effect of treating barley with a liquid mould inhibitor over 4 monthsof storage; values are mould counts in colony forming units (cfu) per gram.

Samples March April May June

Untreated barley 200 10,000 3,000,000 5,000,000

Treated barley: 1kg/t MycoCURB®

Liquid 100 200 400 300

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PHASE 1–28 DAYS 28 DAYS–MARKET

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*Elanco®, Surmax® and the diagonal colour bar are trademarks of Eli Lilly and Company. EAH2135E

Surmax® premix from Elanco Animal Health supports

Intestinal Integrity by controlling bacterial enteritis and enhancing bird performance and yield.

Contact Elanco on 1800 226 324 or visit www.elanco.com.au

RS

PHASE

PRODUCT

TIIIS

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enteritis and enhancing bird perfIntestinal Integ

Surmax® and the dia*Elanco®,

or visit Contact Elanco on 1800 226 324Contact Elanco on

ormance and yield.enteritis and enhancing bird perfenteritis and enhancing bird perfy controlling bacterial Intestinal Integrity bIntestinal Integ

Animal Health supports Animal Health supports Elanco Surmax premix from ®Surmax

y and Compangonal colour bar are trademarks of Eli Lillgonal colour bar are trademarks of Eli Lill Surmax® and the dia

.elanco.com.auwwwwww or visit

ormance and yield.ormance and yield.y controlling bacterial y controlling bacterial

Animal Health supports

EAH2135E EAH2135E.yy and Compan

EGNELLAHCAIDICCOC

potential threats is to develop a relative riskchart for raw materials and finished feedbased on factors known to influence therisk• management and manufacturing practicescan then be linked to the chart accordingto the risk ratings• a range of practices can be adoptedincluding interventions with suitable

NUTRITION FEATURE

antioxidants, mould and Salmonellainhibitors applied at dose rates in line withthe risk profiles developed for specific rawmaterials and finished feeds.

Dr Carter is a Technical Services Manager forKemin Industries (Asia) Pty Ltd and can becontacted in Sydney on phone number (02) 9482 2357).

v



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NEWS

Higher education fees a threat to agriculture

A call to raise the fees for agriculturalcourses at university by up to 25% hasalarmed the Victorian Famers FederationYoung Agribusiness Professionals (YAPS).

Aaron Sanderson, YAPs committeeChair, said that he was amazed at theHigher Education Base Funding Reviewrecommendation, given the recent Inquiriesinto agricultural education highlighting theneed for skilled workers.

“Increasing the fees for agriculturalcourses when the industry is already experiencing a lack of skilled workers isridiculous.

“With 2012 being the Australian Yearof the Farmer, this is the ideal time for the Federal Government to demonstratethat it values agriculture as an industry and for its role in food security for thiscountry”.

Raising the fees for agricultural courses will have a detrimental impact

into future enrolments, Mr Sanderson said.

“Many of our members have said that education is already pricing itself out of the market for those who wish tostudy agriculture.

Increasing the fees further will placefurther limits on those who want to get an agricultural degree.

“If we want to have a strong andhealthy industry that’s sustainable longterm, we need to ensure that agriculturalstudents aren’t priced out of the industrybecause they can’t afford to study.

“The Government must reject theserecommendations and focus on makingagriculture a national priority” MrSanderson said.

Pig, Poultry &Dairy Focus Asia Early bookings for Pig, Poultry & DairyFocus Asia 2012 are well ahead of thefigures for the 2010 edition of Asia’sleading independent, technical livestockconference.

Pig, Poultry & Dairy Focus Asia2012 will be held at the Queen SirikitCenter in Bangkok, Thailand onFebruary 8-10 2012 and will focus on‘Productivity through Health &Nutrition’.

Some 90 or so international expertsfrom some 20 different countries will befocusing on the latest developments thatlivestock producers should be harnessingto improve the efficiency and profitabili-ty of their businesses.

The four keynote speakers will focuson sustainable animal production,improving productivity and performancethrough genetics, new vaccines andenzymes in animal nutrition in an open-ing joint session.

The main body of the conferencewill divide into pig, poultry and dairy programmes that will primarily focus ondevelopments in health and nutrition management and highlight ways forimproving productivity and profitability.

Go to www.nccexhibition.com.



MANAGEMENT FEATURE

The relationship between shedcleanliness and hen productivityBy L E EDWARDS, PhD University of Melbourne

The relationships between the average concentration of total airborne dustin 33 caged laying sheds, the duration andfrequency of cleaning methods used bystockpeople, and the productivity of thehens was studied.

Regression analyses indicated that theaverage dust concentration was lower whenstockpeople spent more time cleaning inthe sheds.

In comparison, hen day productionwas lower when stockpeople used a highproportion of noisy cleaning methods, andthe peak in egg production was higherwhen the concentration of airborne dustwas higher. Mortality rates were higher insheds where stockpeople used a greatervariety of cleaning methods.

Larger sheds, as indicated by the number of tiers of cages, had lower averagedust concentrations and mortality rates,and higher hen day production. The resultsof these regression analyses indicate thatwhile an increase in the use of noisy clean-ing methods may pose a stressor for layinghens, exposure to higher concentrations ofairborne dust do not appear to impair productivity.

IntroductionRecent observations on cage-egg farms

examining between-farm relationships havefound that laying hens that were exposed tohigh levels of man-made noise in the layingshed not only displayed high fear ofhumans, but also produced more eggs andhad lower concentrations of corticosterone(a stress hormone) in their egg albumen(Edwards, 2009).

One explanation for the unexpectedrelationship between noise and egg produc-tion may relate to the cleaning routinesused by stockpeople in the laying sheds.The majority of noise that occurs in layingsheds is related to motorised cleaning procedures, and it is plausible to suggestthat sheds that experience the most man-made noise are also the sheds that receivethe most cleaning.

Potentially, the flocks studied by

Edwards (2009) that were exposed to a lotof noise may have been producing wellbecause they were living in sheds that werecleaned more often, resulting in a cleanerliving environment.

It was hypothesised that the frequencyof cleaning in laying sheds and the amountof noise made during cleaning are relatedto the productivity of the laying hens inthose sheds. To investigate this hypothesis,the present study assessed the cleanliness(airborne dust concentration) of commer-cial laying sheds and compared this to thecleaning routines employed by the stock-people and the productivity of the hens.

Materials and methodsThirty-three laying sheds on eight egg

farms in Victoria were visited betweenNovember 11 and December 23, 2009.Data were collected on the following variables: the average concentration of air-borne dust in each laying shed; the physicalfeatures of each laying shed that may affectair flow and dust concentrations; an inter-view withstockpeople regarding the clean-ing routines in each shed, and the produc-tivity records for each shed (where possi-ble). The methods used for collecting thesedata are described below.

Sampling airborne dust concentrations:The average total airborne dust concentra-tion (mg/m3) in each laying shed wasassessed using a handheld air sampler(DustTrack TM Aerosol Monitor, Model8532). The researcher sampled each shedby walking down each aisle once with theair sampler held at chest height, and thesedata were used to calculate an average valuefor the shed.

After the first reading was taken at thestart of the day, the researcher then sampled the shed on an hourly basis foreight hours (usually from 8am to 4pm).Thus the average airborne dust concentra-tion at each hour could be used to calculatean overall daily average for each shed(Mean Dust, mg/m3).

Shed details: For each laying shed thefollowing variables were recorded: the

number of fans present (No of Fans); thetemperature that the shed was maintainedat (Shed Temp); the age of the birds (FlockAge); the number of birds in the shed(Flock Size); the average number of birds ineach cage (Birds per Cage); the area of theshed in m2 (Shed Area); the number ofrows of cages (No of Rows), and the number of tiers of cages (No of Tiers).

Interview with stockpeople: Ethicsapproval to conduct research involvinghumans was obtained from the HumanResearch Ethics Committee at theUniversity of Melbourne (Ethics ID #0932600.1).

All stockpeople who conducted clean-ing inside the sheds were asked to partici-pate in an interview regarding the frequencyand method of their cleaning routines.

The results of these interviews wereanalysed and the following variables werecalculated: the total number of differenttypes of cleaning methods used in the shed(No of Methods); the total number ofhours spent cleaning in the shed per weekper 1000 birds (Hrs / 1000 Birds); the totalnumber of hours per week per 1000 birdsspent cleaning using loud cleaning methodssuch as a leaf blower or air hose (Noise Hrs/ 1000 Birds); the proportion of totalcleaning time that consisted of loud clean-ing procedures (Prop Noise); the numberof days since the shed was last cleanedusing any method (Days Since Last Clean),and if the shed was blown out with a leafblower or air hose as part of the cleaningroutine, the number of days betweenblowouts (Days Between Blowouts).

Productivity records: From the produc-tivity records that were available and adequate, the following variables wereobtained: the cumulative mortality rate onthe day of sampling (Mortality) (n = 24);the hen day production on the day of sam-pling (HDP) (n = 29), and the peak henday production (Peak HDP) (n = 21).

The value from the appropriate breedstandard (ISA, 2006; Hyline, 2009) wassubtracted from the actual productivityvalue to give a + or – value, indicating how



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MANAGEMENT FEATUREwell the flock was performing in compari-son to the breed standard. It was thesecomparisons to the breed standards thatwere used in the analyses.

The data were checked for normalityand transformed where necessary. Themean dust concentration and productivitydata were then subjected to a forward linear regression analysis.

ResultsStockpeople spent less time cleaning in

the shed (P = 0.003), when the sheds weremaintained at a warmer temperature (P =0.000) and when there were less tiers ofcages in the shed (P = 0.001). These threevariables explained 71% of the variation inaverage dust concentration.

Flock productivity was associated withcleaning routines, shed parameters and air-borne dust concentrations.

Hen day production (HDP) wasgreater when stockpeople made less noisewhile cleaning (P = 0.013) and when therewere more tiers in the shed (P = 0.031),with 33% of the variation in HDPexplained by these two variables.

The Peak HDP was greater when theaverage airborne dust concentration wasgreater (P = 0.000), and this relationshipexplained 61% of the variation in peak eggproduction.

Mortality rates were greater whenstockpeople used a greater variety of clean-ing methods (P = 0.000) and when there

were less tiers of cages in the shed (P =0.023), and these two variables explained47% of the variation in mortality rates.

DiscussionThe mean dust concentrations

observed in this sample of fully-enclosed,environmentally controlled laying sheds in

Table 1: Forward regression analyses for the relationships between shed parameters, cleaning routines, airborne dust concentration and productivity measures.

Variable

Mean dustSqRt

HDP

Peak HDP

Mortality

PredictorsHrs/1000 birds

Shed TempNo of tiers

Prop noiseNo of tiers

Mean dust SqRt

No of methodsNo of tiers

B-0.45

0.12-0.06

-21.911.80

13.41

0.46-0.49

sed0.14

0.010.02

8.230.79

2.35

0.100.20

t-3.30

8.86-3.88

-2.662.28

5.72

4.45-2.48

P.003

.000

.001

.013

.031

.000

.000

.023

Adj R2.71

0.33

.61

0.47

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MANAGEMENT FEATUREVictoria were all below 1.27 mg/m3, whichis comparable to those reported in the liter-ature (< 2 mg/m3) for caged laying sheds(Ellen et al., 2000).

The results of this study found thatboth average airborne dust concentrationand flock productivity on caged egg farmswere related to the cleaning routines usedby stockpeople.

In addition, one factor associated withthe size of the shed, the number of tiers ofcages, was also associated with dust concen-tration and productivity.

The relationships between dust concen-trations, time spent cleaning and shed tem-perature are as expected.

If the amount of time spent cleaningby stockpeople is effective in reducing air-borne dust concentrations then a negativerelationship between these two variables isexpected.

In addition, it is not surprising to finda positive relationship between shed temperature and dust concentration, aswarmer sheds are more likely to have lowerventilation rates, which would presumablyreduce the removal of airborne dust.

The negative relationship between dustconcentration and the number of tiers cannot be readily explained, as it would beexpected that more tiers would be associat-ed with a larger flock and thus a largersource of airborne dust.

The number of tiers in the shed wasalso positively associated with egg production and negatively associated withmortality rates, and it is plausible to suggest that the larger sheds may be repre-sentative of more modern sheds, in whichimprovements to cage design, ventilationand automatic systems (e.g. feed distribu-tion) have been implemented.

In this sense, a larger shed may be

representative of an improved living environment for laying hens when com-pared to a smaller shed with fewer tiers.However, as no measurements were madeof the quality or age of the sheds, this isconjecture.

The lower hen day production associatedwith the use of a high proportion of noisycleaning methods suggests that these clean-ing methods may be a stressor for the hens.Laying hens will avoid exposure to loudnoise when given the opportunity(MacKenzie et al., 1993), and exposure toloud noise (90 dB) has been associatedwith increased fear and stress in laying hens(Campo et al., 2005).

Thus, a stress response resulting fromexposure to loud noise during cleaning mayresult in compromised productivity, andcould be responsible for the observed rela-tionship between egg production and theuse of noisy cleaning methods.

The positive relationship between peakegg production and average dust concentra-tion suggests that the observed dust concentration does not limit egg production.

The positive relationship between mortality rates and the number of cleaningmethods used by stockpeople suggests thatthis is not a measure of shed cleanliness.Again, there is no obvious explanation forthese results, however it is interesting tonote that sheds that used a motorised formof cleaning (such as blowing out dust withleaf blowers or air hoses) also used fewerdifferent types of cleaning methods (6.6Motorised vs 14.3 Non-motorised, t = -8.36, P = 0.000).

Thus, hens that were exposed to a lownumber of cleaning methods were alsoexposed to more noise and experienced alower mortality rate.

If motorised cleaning methods aremore effective than non-motorised methods, these methods may provide acleaner living environment for the hensthat could be reflected in lower mortalityrates.

In conclusion, these results indicatethat despite not knowing the particle sizeor toxicity of the airborne dust, the totalconcentration of dust in the air was relatedto the peak productivity of the hens andthe amount of time spent cleaning bystockpeople in the sheds.

It appears that while an increase in theuse of noisy cleaning methods may pose astressor for laying hens, exposure to higherconcentrations of airborne dust may notlimit egg production, as was expected.

AcknowledgementsThe author gratefully acknowledges the

assistance of Prof. Paul Hemsworth,Malinda Monk, and the financial supportof the Australian Poultry CRC.

Reerences: Campo J L, Gil MG, Davila SG (2005)Applied Animal Behaviour Science 91, 75-84. Edwards LE (2009) The human-animalrelationship in the caged egg industry. PhDthesis. University of Melbourne, Melbourne.

Ellen H H, Bottcher R W, von Wachenfelt E,Takai H (2000) Journal of AgriculturalSafety and Health 6, 275-282.

Hy-line (2009) Hy-line variety brown;Commercial management guide 2009-2011. ISA (2006) Product performance: ISA Brown.

Mackenzie JG, Foster TM, Temple W (1993)Behavioural Processes 30, 143-156.



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Poultry Housing tips – Best performing tunnel fans 2011

When building a new house or retrofittingan older one for tunnel ventilation, fanselection is one of the most, if not the mostimportant decision a producer has to make.

A house’s fans are essentially the engineof the ventilation system and as a resulthave a significant effect on a producer’sability to maintain the proper environmen-tal conditions throughout the year.

Furthermore, with rising electricityprices selecting the right energy efficientfan can save a producer thousands of dollars a year.

As a result, when selecting fans it iscrucial that a producer compares fans notjust on initial cost but on fan performanceand operating costs as well.

University of Illinois BESS Laboratory“Agricultural Ventilation Fans Performanceand Efficiencies” test booklet is the leadingsource for agricultural fan performancedata (an electronic version of the test book-let can be found at www.bess.uiuc.edu.)

Along with a fan’s air moving capacityat various static pressures BESS Laboratoryprovides producers information on a fan’senergy efficiency rating (cfm/watt) and airflow ratio (an indicator of how well the fanholds up under high static pressures).

A detailed explanation of exhaust fanperformance factors can be found in theMay 2006 issue of Poultry Housing Tips.

Table 1 lists the top performing tunnelfans (48” or larger, single phase, 60 hz)

based on the published test results pro-duced by the BESS Laboratory throughDecember of 2011.

The fans in Table 1have an energy effi-ciency rating of at least 20.8 cfm/watt @0.10” static pressure and have an air flowratio of at least 0.76, thus representingapproximately the top 7% of all tunnel fanstested by the BESS Laboratory.

Though fan performance is of course

very important, it is important to keep inmind that there are other factors to considerwhen purchasing a fan, such as quality ofconstruction, local dealer reputation, warranty and type of shutter (some typessignificantly reduce cleaning requirements).Though it can be difficult balancing all thefactors when it comes to purchasing fansfor a tunnel-ventilated house, in the longrun you will find that it is time well spent.

By MICHAEL CZARICKExtension Engineer

T est # Manufacturer Model Cone Shutter Cfm Cfm/watt Cfm Cfm/watt Air Flow Ratio

0. 05" 0. 05" 0. 10" 0. 10"

07204 Acme BDR54J Y A 25, 100 27. 7 23, 500 24. 5 0. 76

07206 BDR54J1 Y A 27, 400 25. 4 25, 900 22. 7 0. 81

02207 BDRV54J2-C2 Y A 27, 400 25. 5 25, 800 22. 5 0. 79

02210 BDRV54J-C2 Y A 26, 100 25. 8 24, 400 22. 4 0. 77

02217 BDRV54J2-C3 Y A 27, 100 25. 2 25, 400 22. 2 0. 79

02214 BDRV54J-C3 Y A 25, 900 25. 3 24, 200 22. 2 0. 76

04274 DDPSV54J-C Y A 25, 500 25. 4 23, 800 22. 1 0. 77

04278 DDPGV54J-C Y A 26, 500 25. 2 24, 700 21. 8 0. 76

00245 BDR54J-C Y A 26, 100 24. 2 24, 500 21. 4 0. 79

00207 DDPS48J-C Y A 20, 400 23. 9 19, 100 21. 3 0. 77

02209 BDRV54J1-C2 Y A 27, 100 24. 0 25, 500 21. 1 0. 77

98142 DDPS48J-C Y A 21, 400 23. 2 20, 300 20. 9 0. 83

06141 Aerotech WF541T 1CEJ Y A 27, 800 25. 0 26, 000 22. 3 0. 77

07390 WF541V1CD Y B 27, 800 24. 6 25, 900 21. 7 0. 77

06139 WF541T 1CEP Y P 27, 400 24. 2 25, 600 21. 7 0. 76

06115 WF541T 1CJ Y A 27, 300 23. 6 25, 400 20. 9 0. 77

10238 American Coolair MNBCC54L Y A 26,900 25.6 25600 23 0.77

05236 MNBRDD52LE Y B 24, 100 26. 1 22, 200 22. 8 0. 76

05233 MNBRDD52LE Y B 23, 900 25. 4 22, 100 22. 3 0. 76

10236 MNBCCE54M Y A 29,800 23. 7 28,100 21.5 0. 81

10255 MNEFCE54M Y A 27, 900 24. 5 26, 000 21. 5 0. 80

01216 MNBRC52L Y A 25,900 24. 6 24,300 21.7 0. 77

05235 MNBRDD52L Y B 25, 100 24. 2 23, 500 21. 4 0. 78

07230 NBRID52L-SQ Y D 24, 600 24. 3 23, 000 21. 3 0. 76

05234 MNBRDD52L Y B 24, 900 23. 8 23, 100 20. 9 0. 77

09081* Chore-T ime 52157-22 Y B 27, 700 25. 3 25, 800 22. 0 0. 78

11251 53464-21 Y B 31,800 24.0 29,800 21.1 0.79

11252 53464-22 Y B 28,100 26.3 26,200 23.3 0.77

04336 49451-22 Y B 21, 200 24. 8 19, 700 21. 6 0. 76

04326 49515-22 Y B 21, 100 24. 4 19, 600 21. 3 0. 77

05192 49511-22 Y B 26, 400 23. 9 24, 600 21. 2 0. 76

05186 49519-22 Y B 26, 400 23. 6 24, 500 20. 8 0. 76

08250 Hired Hand 6603-7132 Y B 26, 700 24. 3 25, 200 21. 8 0. 80

04343 6603-0606 Y A 27, 000 23. 3 25, 300 20. 8 0. 78

09081p* Pro T erra Systems A52157-22 Y B 27, 700 25. 3 25, 800 22. 0 0. 78

04336p A49451-22 Y B 21, 200 24. 8 19, 700 21. 6 0. 76

04326p A49515-22 Y B 21, 100 24. 4 19, 600 21. 3 0. 77

05192p A49511-22 Y B 26, 400 23. 9 24, 600 21. 2 0. 76

05186p A49519-22 Y B 26, 400 23. 6 24, 500 20. 8 0. 76

05203 Val-Co HGS48G340NGA Y A 21, 900 25. 4 20, 300 22. 1 0. 76

Table 1. Alphabetical listing of best perform ing tunnel fans as tested by BESS Labs 2011 (Top 7%)(A=Alum inum Shutter, G=Galvanized Shutter, P=Plastic Shutter, R=Roll Seal Shutter, B=Butterfly Shutter, D=Door)

new test for 2011

Trade and brand names are used only for information. The Cooperative Extension Service, The University of Georgia College of Agriculture andEnvironmental Sciences does not guarantee nor warrant the standard of any product mentioned; neither does it imply approval of any products to theexclusion of others that may also be suitable.



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ten good reasons to choose agritech fibreglass silos

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According to Joe Vella who runs ProtectiveFabrications based at Werombi in NSW,Agritech fiberglass silos offer numerousadvantages over the steel alternatives.

He is now the distributor for Agritechfiberglass silos and predicts a revival ininterest for the product that has been soldin Australia previously.

“The Agritech range offers a widechoice of capacities that are available from

4 m3 to 75 m3 in size,” he said.There is a large spectrum of uses as

Agritech silos are suitable for mealy andgranular compound feed; premixes likewheat, barley, soya and heavy-density products like limestone, minerals even, fertilisers in dry form.

“The modular design means that thesilos are compact and easy to transport bytruck or container.

“Depending on how well the capacitiessizes are mixed, we can load 40 completesilos in one single truck load,” Joeexplained.

“Unlike plastic products, fibreglass isstrong in all environmental conditions:from -40° C to + 60 ° C and is resistant toUV-radiation thanks to the outer treatmentwith a white, parapphined gel-coat.

“A transparent strip in the cone allowsfor an easy and immediate check of thefeed level in the silo,” he said.

“The design offers a deep dischargeangle (67°) and large outlets (Ø 780 mm.)resulting in the easy descent of all feedkinds, also there are no bridges and far lessscope for adherences.

“Fiberglass is non-conductive.Therefore, unlike in steel bins, condensa-tion is far less likely to sit on the insidewalls and as a consequence, feed will bekept fresh will much less risk of by fungalor bacterial contamination.

“Feed remains more nutritious fromthe first to the last day of storage which inturn leads to healthy animals and less feedwaste: all benefits that save money.

“Agritech silos are easy to assemble andno crane is needed as our silos are supposedto be mounted horizontally.

“The process requires just two workersfor three hours to erect a 9 ton Agritechsilo. Steel bins need a crane for the entireassembly time, which could be up to isthree times longer,” Joe said.

“The fiberglass silos are corrosion-free,unlike steel bins and it is reasonable toexpect 25 years of service without mainte-nance.

“In the unlikely event of damages,repairs are easy and quick to perform usingpolyester resin and glassfibre that can besupplied as required by Agritech.

“When the repair process is correctlycarried out, the silo will look as new,” Joeconcluded.

POULTRY DIGEST Magazine

has moved. New number:

(02) 4368 2220 or

fax: (02) 4368 2260.

Mobile: 0419 235 288.

New address: 7 Kerns Rd,

Kincumber NSW 2251



Brisbane-based Australasian AgriculturalServices has announced it has been appointedthe sole distributor for Agrilight inAustralia.

Agrilight based in the Netherlands(HQ) and also Canada and is a leadingcompany for lighting fixtures for the live-stock industry with clients all over theworld.

They are the inventor and manufacturerof special and energy-efficient lighting fix-tures for the dairy, poultry, beef cattle andpig industries.

“Agrilight sets itself apart with it exper-tise in the field of lighting technology and inthe specific application of light for varioustypes of livestock,” said Peter Mathews fromAAS.

“Light intensity, daylight hours and thecolour of the light all influence animal welfare and consequently animalbehaviour.

“The right balance of these three factors has positive influence on the live-stock. Correct, uniform lighting contributesto improved health and productivity amongother things.

“With poultry, the correct light colourcan prevent cannibalism and feather peckingand the light regime that is used can pro-mote growth.

“In addition to this good light levelsmake a considerable contribution to improv-ing working conditions for yourself an yourcolleagues.

“Agrilight makes the next step in theevolution of shed lighting with the Agriledfixture.

“By combining an energy saving lampand LED light in one fixture, Agrilight

News

combines the best of both lighting worlds. The Agriled Blue, specifically for poul-

try sheds, is equipped with six power LED’s.These produce a monochromatic blue lightused as trapping light.

By integration of this trapping light it isno longer necessary to install two separate

fixtures. This provides a considerable profitin time and installation costs.

AAS would be pleased to design anoptimal lighting plan for your shed. ContactPeter Mathews on (07) 3396 0166 ormobile 0408 260 406 or email:[email protected]

aas now sole distributor for agrilight

Peter Mathews from AAS Pty Ltd.



News

Grifco Precision Products, a wholly owned subsidiary of US based,The Chamberlain Group, is well known to the Australian poultryindustry.

Its feeder, drinker line and curtain winches have been a featurein Australian and New Zealand poultry sheds for more than 20years.

Adrian Nix, who has been responsible for marketing Grifco’spoultry range for many years points to the advantages of beingpart of the world wide Chamberlain organization.

“Chamberlain itself is one of the major divisions of TheDuchossois Group, a privately-owned, diversified, multinationalcompany that has all the strength, and financial stability thatcomes from being billion dollar-plus corporation,” Mr Nixexplained.

“The Chamberlain Group, Inc. is the world’s largest manufac-turer of residential and commercial door operators, access controlproducts and gate operators.”

“With the considerable resources of Chamberlain behind uswe have been able to make the investment in modern equipmentand to recruit and train staff so we can continue to manufacture

We buy, sell and service –

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Chamberlain Grifco – anaustralian icon with the backing of a global giant

the Grifco product range to the highest possible engineering stan-dards,” he said.

In the five years or so since Poultry Digest last visited the Grifcofacility in West Gosford NSW, Chamberlain has invested in newcomputerized and automated manufacturing plant enabling them toremain at the leading edge despite competition from imported electric winches manufactured in low cost regions.

In discussing the challenges of imports with Adrian Nix,Chamberlain’s ANZ Commercial Sales Manager Tony Sinclair andCommercial Marketing Manager Luke Porter, they stated that theirstrategy is to maintain product quality, great customer service, and tostay in close touch with customer requirements.

“The only way to insure best quality and a long lasting productis to control all steps in the manufacturing and distribution process,”Mr Nix said.

“The environment in any poultry shed is highly corrosive andtough on equipment like winches and their power units so weemploy the best raw materials, perfect the manufacturing process andrigorously test the end product before supplying to farms.

“Right now we are concentrating on satisfying demand in theAustralian and New Zealand markets but we have sold some prod-ucts into other of our near neighbours and even SE Asian markets,”Mr Nix concluded.

At a time when Australian manufacturing industries face morethan a few challenges it is good to see that a long established localcompany with the backing of a strong parent organization can com-pete because of the integrity of its quality and reputation.

Top: L to R: Adrian Nix, who is responsible for Grifco’s poultryrange, Luke Porter, Commercial Marketing Manager and TonySinclair, Commercial Sales Manager for Chamberlain. Above:Stainless steel Australian made Grifco broiler shed winch.



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ebmpapst offers high tech ventilation for pig and poultry farms

Fan maker ebmpapst is a German basedmanufacturer with a global reach and arange of more than 14500 products.

Based in Melbourne, Sydney andAuckland, the company’s Australian base inMelbourne consists of a sales office andwarehouse facility.

Offering cooling and ventilation solu-tions to many of Australia’s leading compa-nies including major retailers, in 2012ebmpabst will be marketing its Green Techfans to the intensive livestock sector,including the pig and poultry industry.

The Australian Managing Director ofebmpabst, Dr Simon Bradwell, is well qualified to become more involved withour pig farmers: not only does he have anengineering related PhD – he grew up on apig farm in the UK.

In December Pork Journal visited theebmpabst facility to discuss with DrBradwell, Sales and Application EngineerChristopher Hauck, and CommunicationsCoordinator Caroline Bommes, the poten-tial for the company’s GreenTech low energy consumption products in Australia’spig farming industry.

“What we offer Australian farmers issignificant energy cost savings in coolingand ventilating their sheds,” Dr Bradwellsaid.

“In Europe, high energy costs have driven the many industries we serve to seektechnologically advanced equipment notonly to reduce costs, but comply with energy use legislation.

“Australian companies are becomingmore aware of likely increasing power billsbut are yet to feel the full force ofinevitable changes that will take place inthe energy supply chain.

“Our high efficiency and ‘intelligent’EC fans, suitable for use in pig sheds, willnever compete on base cost alone but willquickly reward farmers who embrace ebmpapst’s products due to significantreduced energy costs, as well as improve-ments in the efficiency of their farms,” DrBradwell explained.

“Conventional fans that are in com-mon use in intensive livestock industries areusually voltage controlled, consume largeamounts of electricity, and are basicallyinefficient.

“GreenTech EC fans designed and manufactured by ebmpabst, pay for them-selves relatively quickly and this was

demonstrated recently on a Danish pigfarm where two similar sheds, one fittedwith conventional fans and the other withour GreenTech EC units, when compared,resulted in 70% less energy consumptionusing GreenTech EC fans,” Dr Bradwellstated.

Science in the fields of animal health,nutrition and overall shed design havehelped keep the pig industry more competitive in a global market place.

If energy costs are to be the next bigchallenge – as it looks like they are likely tobe, growers may well need to considerproducts that not only perform as requiredbut also reduce electricity consumption – itlooks like ebmpapst may have someanswers as power bills rise.

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considered in breeding goals for the future, but these interlink withsocial issues across many parts of the globe.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment listed the following assome of the socio-economic issues facing the globe: • 1.1 billion people survive on less than $1 per day. Seventy percentlive in rural areas where they are highly dependent on ecosystem services. • Inequality has increased over the past decade. During the 1990s,21 countries experienced declines in their rankings in the HumanDevelopment Index. • Over 850 million people were undernourished in 2000–2002, up37 million from the period 1997-1999. • Per capita food production has declined in sub-Saharan Africa. • Some 1.1 billion people still lack access to improved water supply, and more than 2.6 billion lack access to improved sanitation. • Water scarcity affects roughly 1–2 billion people worldwide. • Global improvements in levels of poverty are skewed by rapid economic growth in India and China; poverty elsewhere (especiallyin sub-Saharan Africa) is profound and persistent.

Free or inexpensive sources of non-vegetable protein are indecline. For example, the loss of capture fisheries is reducing aninexpensive source of protein in developing countries.

Per capita fish consumption in developing countries, excludingChina, declined between 1985 and 1997. As wild populations offish and animals shrink and human populations become increasinglyurbanized, the provision of low-cost animal protein will be increas-

ingly desired by consumers world-wide. Poultry, with its scalability, high throughput and excellent FCR,

is an opportunity for people in both established and emerging markets.

Animal welfareSome of the most sensationalised claims about the negative

impacts of genetic selection relate to reduced bird welfare and poorskeletal health.

Many campaign groups and welfare-orientated scientists havemade claims as to the negative physiological health status of broilerchickens caused by commercial selection practices and leg defects,especially tibial dyschondroplasia (TD).

Some groups have gone as far as to recommend or campaign forthe end of intensive broiler farming (CIWF, 2010). These claimsmay have been valid in the 1980s, when most breeding companieswere using mass selection or selection index technologies in theirprograms.

However, 20 years of continued focus on these areas using tradi-tional inspection methods, medical technologies such as X-rays andgenetic technologies to elucidate relationships between traits hasreduced the incidence of these issues to a very low level on effective-ly run commercial production facilities.

Although effective measurement of the reduction in these prob-lems is difficult, large datasets such as those available from theCanadian Meat Inspection Service indicate dramatic improvementsin the underlying genetic susceptibility of modern broilers to theseissues and in awareness of the management requirements of theseimproved individuals.

Today, most incidences of TD are associated with incorrect for-mulation of diets. One study that is often quoted by welfare activistgroups was carried out in Denmark (Sanotra, 1999) and showed a57% incidence of TD in commercial broilers in 1999. Six yearslater, in a repeat of this study (Pedersen et al., 2005), the incidencehad dropped to 0.7%.

In the first study it was later reported that the diet had beendeficient in calcium, which was most likely to have caused the TDissues (K. Laughlin, Pers. Comm.).

Another issue that has been debated is ascites, and again there isstrong evidence that a major reduction in the incidence of ascitesincidences has occurred (Figure 5), although this may still be a practical issue at altitude, in poorly ventilated houses with low airexchange or where birds are chilled in the early stages of growth.

Economic impact Sometimes the economic impact on the consumer is overlooked

when the benefits of improved efficiency are discussed. Globally, thebroiler industry consumes 417 million parent stock (PS) per year,the equivalent of an estimated 58 billion broilers.

The US industry alone now generates over US$44 billion peryear in retail sales (USDA, 2006). Over the years, selection forimproved efficiency has been extremely successful.

The cost of producing a pound of live chicken dropped fromUS$2.32 in 1934 to US$1.08 in 1960 to US$0.45 in 2004 intoday’s money (USDA, 2006). This has ensured that growth inpoultry meat consumption has outpaced that of other meat types.

The economic impact of improved efficiency is likely to becomeincreasingly important in maintaining food prices for the consumer.Food price indices of the Food and Agriculture Organisation(Figure 6) show a large spike in cereal prices and food prices in2008 and early 2011.

Meat prices followed the same trend, albeit with a smaller magnitude. With the global energy demand growing and resources

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NUTRITION FEATUREv CONTINUED FROM PAGE 22


NutritioN feature


dwindling, this trend towards more volatilityand higher prices is likely to continue.Grain and other raw material prices haveincreased radically in recent years. We haveno choice but to focus continually on efficiency of production in order to providea healthy, affordable source of animal protein to the world’s growing population.

Genetic DiversityStatements have been made that com-

mercial breeding populations lack geneticdiversity and that the formation of com-mercial breeding companies and their subsequent selection strategies have beenthe direct cause of this.

All of the large commercial companieskeep substantial populations within each‘line’ to maintain variation and controlinbreeding.

There has also been a move for manyof the breeders to acquire more varied stocktypes to give more depth to their programsand provide greater choice to consumers.In some, primarily developed countries,there is a move away from standard com-mercially farmed chickens, to somethingthat is perceived as higher ‘quality’.

This is achieved by restrictions on dietingredients, exposure to the range, organicnutrition and restriction of growth rate.The demand stems from a small but signif-icant percentage of consumers to whomproducers are responding.

All of these strategies tend to reduce‘sustainability’ through usage of greateramounts of feed and increased greenhousegas production. They also increase cost.

Care should be taken that lowerincome consumers are not legislated out ofeating chicken, as this remains one of thehealthiest and most cost-effective animalproteins available.

ConclusionsIn developed nations, the percentage of

household income spent on food can be aslow as 7.4% (USA); however, in less-devel-oped countries it can be more than 50%(India and Philippines).

The improvement of chicken produc-tion efficiency over the past 50 years, coupled with many other agriculturaladvances, has helped bring high-quality,low-fat animal protein within reach of allbut the very poorest of individuals world-wide. Continued advances in genetics aswell as associated improvements in theoptimisation of broiler a 1:1 FCR some-time in the not too distant future.

Concerted efforts by breeding compa-nies have reduced the levels of physiologicalissues associated with modern fast-growingbroilers. At the same time, improvementsin absolute performance have greatlyreduced the carbon/nitrogen footprint ofthe industry and will continue to do so.

Undoubtedly, there will be emergingissues of welfare, sustainability and con-sumer ethics that will come to the forefrontand our industry is well positioned toaddress them. References:

Aviagen Incorporated (2007) Ross 308Broiler Performance Objectives. http://www.avi-agen.com (accessed on December 15, 2010).

Compassion in World Farming- CIWF(2010)www.ciwf.org.uk/what_we_do/meat_chickens/ default.aspx (accessed on February 13,2011).

Williams AG, Audsley E, Sandars DL(2006) Determining the environmental burdensand resource use in the production of agricultur-al and horticultural commodities. Main Report.DEFRA Research Project IS0205. Bedford:Cranfield University and DEFRA. Available atwww.silsoe. cranfield.ac.uk, and

www.defra.gov.uk. Emmerson DA (1997) Commercial

approaches to genetic selection for growth andfeed conversion in domestic poultry. PoultryScience 76, 1121–1125. Food and AgricultureOrganization (2011) http://www.fao.org/docrep/010/ai465e/ ai465e06.htm (accessed onFebruary 7, 2011).

Havenstein GB, Ferket PR, and QureshiMA (2003) Growth, livability, and feed conver-sion of 1957 versus 2001 broilers when fed rep-resentative 1957 and 2001 broiler diets. PoultryScience 82, 1500– 1508.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.http://www. maweb.org/en/Condition.aspx(accessed on January 21, 2011).

Pedersen JS, David B, Waldenstedt L(2005) Gemensam Nordisk FjæderfætidsskriftMonitoring of leg quality in Denmark, Norwayand Sweden.

Sanotra GS (1999) Registrering af aktuelbenstyrke hos slagtekyllinger(Velfærdsmoniteringsprojekt).

Dyrenes Beskyttelese, Köpenhamn. (DanishAnimal Welfare Society), Copenhagen,Denmark.

United States Department of Agriculture-USDA (2006) Poultry Yearbook,http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfodo/documentID=1367 (accessed on February 3,2011).

World Commission on Environment andDevelopment (1987). Our Common Future.Oxford University Press, UK.

*Marc de Beer is from DSM NutritionalProducts, 45 Waterview Boulevard,Parsippany, New Jersey 07054, USA;marc.debeer@dsm. com; D. Elfick and DA Emmerson are fromAviagen Inc., 5015 Bradford Drive,Huntsville, Alabama 35805, USA.

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PRODUCT NEWSHi βeta, an effective source of betaine and more

“We are developing Hi βeta in Australia asan effective and economic source of betainefor use in poultry and pig feeds,” said BrettRuth, Managing Director of RuthConsolidated Industries (Aust) Pty Ltd.

“I would like to highlight some of theresearch we have done which supports thestatement that Hi βeta is “betaine andmore”.

Osmolyte properties“There are two commercial forms of

betaine (trimethyl glycine), anhydrousbetaine and betaine HCl,” said Mr Ruth.

“From a biochemical standpoint,betaine’s function as an osmolyte is basedon the fact that it is a Zwitterion, i.e. carry-

ing both a positive and a negative chargeon the same molecule at the same time.

“As far as the animal is concerned, abetaine HCl molecule and an anhydrousbetaine molecule are identical.

“Any difference will be determined notby the betaine, but by the pH in theintestinal tract.

“Since there will not be enough betaineHCl in the recommended formulation tomaterially change the pH in the intestinaltract, there will be no difference.

“In the gut, above pH 3 essentially allthe added betaine HCl will be present asanhydrous betaine and below pH 3 therewill be an increasing amount of betaine

HCl and a proportional drop in anhydrousbetaine.

“Then there really is no differencebetween the two forms whatsoever i.e. youcan add whichever form you like as whenin the GIT the forms will interchangedepending on pH.

“Depending on the pH of the solution(concentration of H+), the relative propor-tions of these two ‘species’ (BetaineHydrochloride and Betaine Anhydrous)will vary in accordance with the acid dissociation constant (pKa = 1.84).Note:• At pH = 1.0: 87% of the betaine will bepresent as the hydrochloride and 13% asbetaine anhydrous • At pH = 1.8: 50% will be betainehydrochloride and 50% will be betaineanhydrous • At pH = 2.0: 40% will be betainehydrochloride and 60% as betaine anhydrous

Brett Ruth is the Managing Director of Rural ChemcialIndustries (Aust) Pty Ltd, the Australian developer of Hi βeta (Betaine HCL) an alternative betaine source. In this article heexplains the differences and advantages of Betaine HC1 whencompared to Anhydrous Betaine.




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IghamAdYrbk 1/17/08 5:10 PM Page 1

When time is at a premium and producersneed to disinfect livestock housing at turn-around; maintain fresh foot dips; ensurecleanliness of livestock water supplies anddisinfect vehicles, DuPont Disinfectants canoffer a highly flexible disinfection option in asingle convenient pack, DuPont Virkon S,according to Mike Pritchard from Lienerts,Australian distributor of Virkon S.

“The outstanding attributes of this farmdisinfectant technology are designed to coverall the key areas that producers need toaddress during routine biosecurity programs,” he said.

“With independent performance dataagainst 500 strains of viruses, bacteria andfungi, including Foot and Mouth disease,Avian Influenza, Salmonella andCampylobacter, the ‘breakthrough’ Virkon Sformulation has been selected and approvedby Governments worldwide for EmergencyDisease Control programs.

“Offering flexible, fast-acting disinfec-tion for a wide range of biosecurity uses andthe most challenging surfaces, Virkon S at a

DuPont Virkon s – biosecurity convenience in a single pack

dilution rate of 1:100, has proven efficacyagainst E. Coli, Salmonella arizona,Staphylococcus aureus, Avian poxvirus, Avianreovirus, Infectious Bursal Disease Virus andNewcastle Disease virus,” he said.

For livestock vehicles, Virkon S has alsobeen put through its paces by the MotorIndustry Research Association - (MIRA) theUK’s official vehicle engineering and testingbody – and been shown to have “no signifi-cant long-term effects on the common mate-rials used in vehicle applications”.

“Adding to the convenience package,Virkon S provides producers with provenspeed of kill and disinfection efficacy in thefoot dip setting,” Mr Pritchard said.

“An important study carried out by DrSandra Amass from Purdue University,Indiana showed that Virkon S cleans contaminated boots in just 30 seconds result-ing in optimum disinfection.

Good quality water is essential for efficient livestock production but frequentlywater quality on farms can be poor and canact as a medium for the infection by

pathogens. Poor water quality impacts onanimal health, productivity and welfare.Biofilms in water systems increase pathogenlevels and protect pathogens from disinfec-tants.

“Virkon S provides a proven broad-spec-trum of activity and can be used in terminaland continuous programs. When used atdilutions of 1:1000 (0.1%) it is safe and suit-able for animals to drink water treated withVirkon S.

“With such multi-purpose versatility,producers can ‘put all their eggs in one bas-ket’ for a change and rely on the single packof Virkon S to ensure the efficacy of theirbiosecurity procedures.”

Dupont says that by collaborating withcustomers, governments and NGOs it canhelp find solutions to such global challengesas providing enough healthy food for peopleeverywhere, decreasing dependence on fossilfuels, and protecting life and the environ-ment. For additional information aboutDuPont and its commitment to inclusiveinnovation, please visit www.dupont.com.



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PRODUCT NEWS

• At pH = 3.0: 7% will be betainehydrochloride and 93% as betaine anhydrous

“In summary, both betaine forms willbe inter-converted in solution, dependingon the exact pH of the solution and bothforms have equal osmolyte properties.

Microbial levels and pH of commercial betaine products

“We conducted trials to measure pHand microbial levels in commercial betaineproducts in aqueous solutions.

“The products compared were HI βeta(betaine HCl), and anhydrous betaine.

“Hi βeta (betaine HCL) is acidic inaqueous solution, with a pH of 1-2, anddoes not support microbial growth. anhy-drous betaine, either dry or liquid, howeveris neutral-alkaline in aqueous solution, witha pH of 7-9, and supports considerablebacterial growth.

Effects of betaine on pH of feed

“A bench-top trial was conducted atUniversity of Sydney, Camden. Gradedconcentrations of betaine were added to astandard commercial broiler starterdiet. Ten grams of diet were added to 10grams water to represent a typical 50%DM slurry as found in the proximal GItract of a broiler,” said Mr Ruth.

“The addition of HI βeta (betaineHCL) from 0 to 150% of recommendedcommercial inclusion levels resulted in apH drop from 6.91 to 5.89. anhydrousbetaine, across the same dose range resultedin a much smaller pH drop from 6.91 to6.75.

“It appears that HI βeta acidifies thediet and so may have potential as a feedacidifier and as a promoter of phytase bio-efficacy.

“The possible interaction between HIβeta and phytase will be tested in futureresearch.

Use of betaine in premixes “Australian premix manufacturers have

reported problems when adding anhydrousbetaine into premixes,” Mr Ruth said.

“An unacceptable texture is produced.As a result, they will not add anhydrousbetaine to their premixes.

“We have tested HI βeta in premixescontaining lysine, vitamins, trace mineralsand limestone. Accelerated storage was provided using the following sets of conditions:• One week at 20oC in a closed container• One week at 20oC in an open container• One week at 40oC in a closed container• One week at 40oC in an open container

“The premix was examined each weekfor any visible changes in physical appear-ance and properties.

“After four weeks storage under theabove conditions, there were no visiblechanges to the powder, which remaineddry, free-flowing and stable. HI βeta there-fore appears suitable for addition to premixes,” said Mr Ruth.

Effects of betaine HCL on carcass yield

“An interesting and economicallyimportant feature of betaine HCl, whichhas not been picked up in previous betaineresearch, is a positive effect on carcass yield(dressing %).

“We have shown betaine HCl improvescarcass yield in both broilers and pigs. Thiseffect is due to the osmolyte effect ofbetaine HCl which reduces the energyrequirements of the GIT, and results in asmaller, lighter intestine.

Summary“Our research enables us to confirm a

number of interesting features of Hi βetaincluding being equal as an osmolyte, anacidifier, failure to support microbialgrowth in aqueous solution, reducing pHof a feed/water mixture, ability to use inpremixes and improving carcass yield inbroilers and pigs,” Mr Ruth concluded.

Effects of betaine products on pH and microbial levels

CFU-Colony Forming Units. Predominant organism found to be filamentous bacteria.97% microbes indentified as Bacillus licheniformis.

Product

TimepHMicrobiallevels,CFU/mL

Betaine HC1 Betaine anhydrous Betaine anhydrousliquid 47%

01.19<10

7 days1.21<10

14 days1.26<10

08.78<10

7 days8.293.6 x103

14 days6.842.5 x105

09.45<10

7 days9.123.6 x104

14 days7.446.4 x106


POULTRY DIGEST

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New number:

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attract people to our industry before theycomplete their studies and choose a careerpath.

“Funnily enough, facets of the industrythat present us with new challenges likeexisting and impending food safety standards, could for new entrants, makethe job of rearing commercial duck flocksmore interesting.

“High levels of reporting standardsnow expected from livestock industries –and the poultry sector in particular – willfurther stretch the intellectual capacities ofboth our existing and future employees.There will be a cultural change in theindustry.

“We already use HACCP protocols inour hatcheries for instance, so we haveexperiential expertise to build on as weextend more stringent compliance stan-dards through all aspects of our business,”Mr Houston explained.

“The particular aspects that make duckrearing attractive to those already workingin livestock industries has helped us torecruit some very skilled and dedicatedpeople, including Peter Brown who cameacross from the chicken meat industry.

“Working in our industry is not allabout challenges either, it’s about rewardand stability.

“One of the reasons that we are sofocused on growth is so that we can expandand offer stable jobs with proper careerpaths for those that want to work with usas we grow,” he said.

Moving from the positive aspects tofuture challenges Mr Houston had concerns about how new food standardswould be administered and operate.

“Obviously food safety is of primaryconcern to us at Pepe’s as it would be toanyone in our livestock industries but thepossible complexity and associated admin-istration protocols are certainly going toimpose both a time and cost burdens tocompanies like ours,” he said.

“To ensure that Pepe’s continues to be

at the forefront of it’s industry, the companyhas worked closely with Tocal College, located in the Hunter Valley of NSW, infocussing on upskilling its farmers.

“In 2011, one Pepe’s farmer received hisDiploma of Agriculture, specialising in poultry and six farmers also received theirCertificate 4 in Agriculture, specialising inpoultry.

“A further 16 farmers received theirSmarttrain AQF Chemical Application certificate.

“Pepe’s will continue to work withTocal College with a program of continu-ing education, focussin on the poultry

industry,” Mr Houston concluded.We might leave the last words on Pepe’s

Ducks to the owner and founder of thebusiness, Pepe Bonaccordo who introduceshis company’s website (www.pepesducks.com.au) with the statement that, “there’snever a dull moment with duck farming –it’s that excitement and passion for thebusiness that drives me, even after 38years.”

Lots of Pepe’s employees share theboss’s passion for their task and the growing company he founded looks forward to introducing more of the rightpeople to this fulfilling experience.

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NEWSGlobal feed tonnage reaches 873 million VFF warns of

electricity changesThe world’s feed production has reached anestimated 873 million tonnes, according toa global survey commissioned by Alltech.

Conducted through Alltech’s regionalmanagers, the survey assessed the tonnageof 132 countries and all species.

“This new global estimate is quite significant, especially when compared tothe 2010 WATT report, which indicated717.6 million tonnes,” said AidanConnolly, Vice President of corporateaccounts at Alltech.

“Feed production is an increasinglyglobal phenomenon and this survey is thebroadest in its reach and, therefore, alsocomplete in terms of its review of the stateof play in the world feed industry.”

Asia has secured a role as the numberone feed producing region with a tonnageof 305 million, and China is the leadingcountry with a total tonnage of 175.4 million.

Europe follows Asia with 200 million.North America, Latin America and theMiddle East/Africa round out the listing

with 185 million, 125 million and 47 million respectively.

In terms of species, poultry feed nowrepresents 44% of world feed, which mayreflect the cost, health and religious prefer-ences for this white meat. Ruminant feed iscalculated at more than 220 million tonnesbut this does not include a similar quantityof dry matter fed as silage or forage onfarm.

Pig, equine and pet feeds have notchanged significantly, but aquaculture isthe fastest growing feed sector, totallingnearly 30 million tonnes.

“As we look to feed seven billion people in 2012, it is clear that the efficientproduction of meat, milk and eggs hasnever been more important,” said DrPearse Lyons, president and founder ofAlltech.

“Alltech has invested in this evaluationof the world’s feed industry as part of itsongoing commitment to information andtechnology transfer between providers andcustomers.”

this is a very exciting development for readers

and advertisers. read the magazine on yourcomputer and have instantaccess to all previous digitalversions. for advertisers, if

your website or emailaddress is in your ad,

readers can go there bydirect link on the page!Call Pete Bedwell on

(02) 4368 2220 for details.

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magazine by email for no extra cost.Just send your email address and

we’ll provide the link!

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The State Government has announcedchanges to the management of electricity inthe fire danger period.

The VFF urges members to informthemselves of possible impacts to theirfarms.

Andrew Broad, VFF President, saidthat the changes to electricity managementcan impact electricity reliability.

“Power lines will be managed differentlyduring the high fire danger period this yearand has the potential to affect electricityreliability for the six weeks after 23January,” said Mr Broad.

“There will be about 6,000 customersin the West of the State that will get a let-ter notifying of the change.

“The changes to the management willmean that every fault will require a crew toinvestigate before power will be returnedduring that six week period.

“If farmers experience any problemswith electricity reliability they should becontacting their distributor.


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Heavy duty frame

Fully sealedClean lined

Also manufacturing commercial, industrial, machinery, hay, poultry, dairys & feed shedsPhone Spanlift Buildings for a free information pack.


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REVOLUTIONISINGPOULTRY BUILDINGS

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Phone Spanlift Buildings for a free information pAlso manufacturing commercial, industrial, machinery

Phone Spanlift Buildings for a free information p, hayAlso manufacturing commercial, industrial, machineryAlso manufacturing commercial, industrial, machinery, hay

Phone Spanlift Buildings for a free information p, dairys & feed sheds, poultry, poultry, dairys & feed sheds, hay, hay, poultry

ack.Phone Spanlift Buildings for a free information p, dairys & feed sheds

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Intensive farm development consultingStructural Connection For Equipment Suspension‘High Thermal Rating’ 75mm Thick WallHigh Quality Personnel Access DoorsHigh Quality Smooth Finish Rat WallUnique Curved Ceiling ‘Enhances Tunnel and Minimum Ventilation’Ammonia Resistant Lining

25 Year Warranty On Roof IronAnti-conductive Members Ensure Thermal Ingress ReductionAll Steel Work Hot-dip GalvanisedFully Sealed Pairing SurfacesFree Range OptionProduction ShedsLayer ShedsBroiler Sheds



INTENSIVE farmin

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SPANLIFT

buildings pty ltd REVOLUTIONISINGPOULTRY BUILDINGS

AUSTRALIAN

MADEAUSTRALIA

W I D E

CALL US TODAY FOR YOURFREE INFORMATION PACK!

A FEW IMPORTANT FEATURES OF SPANLIFT POULTRY BUILDINGS


poultry digest december/january 2012

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