Poultry facility
In the poultry test building, 2 types of housing have been created in 3 rooms, which are deep-bedded, cubicled for the purpose of the tests, and are suitable for a total of 20,000 broiler chickens per shift. Two rooms have a similar layout, where large groups (n=920) can be housed in 2x8 cubicles for a total of 16 cubicles, and there is mechanical feeding. In the third room, a small group arrangement of 24x200 or 48x100 is possible, and the feed is distributed manually. One of our main considerations when distributing the housing spaces was to obtain a sufficient amount of data with a sufficient number of repetitions during the tests, so that the results can be statistically evaluated. The design of the building, the architectural solutions, and the modern technology installed enable high-quality production. The feed storage tanks with weighing cells, feed lines, feeders, drinking systems and built-in consumption meters, as well as the connected volume proportional feeders, were all adapted to the test conditions, while still maintaining the nature of the facility as a commodity production farm. The bagged and bulk feeds arriving at the farm are produced by the Agrofeed Kft. plant in Szalkszentmárton.
Technological background
The buildings are climate-controlled, with heating provided by air heaters and cooling by cooling panels, all managed by computer-controlled automation. Ventilation for the facility is ensured by Euroemme cross-ventilation systems, which continuously measure air pressure variations around the barn and automatically operate air inlets without human intervention. Lighting is provided by the latest energy-efficient, adjustable fixtures, and the lighting cycles are managed by control computers located in the housing areas. The Hotraco ORION poultry farm management system helps to optimize production. It provides monitoring and control options for the ventilation, heating, cooling, feeding, water and lighting processes via a computer and mobile application. In the cubicles of the large-group holding areas, a DWS-4 type automatic suspended bird scale helps to monitor the daily body weight of the birds, but mobile scales are also available on the farm to collect body weight data.
Small-scale test stable
24 cubicles, which can be halved to 48 cubicles if needed 200 (or 100 with halving) broiler chickens can be housed per cubicle Total bird count: 4,800 – 5,000 birds Maximum of 4 feed treatments can be set with 6 (or 12 with halving) repetitions Random allocation Basic measurement data: Body weight, weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion, mortality, water consumption Measurements are performed at startup, phase transitions, and shipment
Large-scale test stables
2x8, a total of 16 cubicles in the two housing rooms 900-1000 birds can be housed per cubicle Maximum bird count: 15,000 birds 2 feed treatments can be started with 8 repetitions Block allocation Basic measurement data: Daily body weight, feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion, water consumption, mortality, EPEF Measurements are performed at startup, control measurements during the cycle, and at shipment