1.10.2006

By STEPHANIE JORDAN

GEORGETOWN, Del. — Studying energy consumption of poultry houses, weigh scales and vegetative buffers are just a few things Lasher Lab, the University of Delaware’s poultry research facility located in Georgetown on Route 9, is working on to help poultry growers increase their profit margins and become more neighbor and environment friendly.

Reducing energy consumption

Gary VanWicklen, poultry engineer and Extension specialist with the University of Delaware, said the facility researches a variety of ways to use less energy per poultry house.
“We want to lower the cost of production for growers,” he said. “All energy costs are up. That’s a real hot button right now.”
VanWicklen said he is involved in auditing energy use and gas consumption on two farms to see how much energy is used and in which segments of the house. The two biggest components of energy use are gas for heating and electric for ventilation fans.
They are conducting the research at a Milford, Del. farm that has up-to-date, 60-foot wide houses and at a Frankford, Del. farm that has five houses — three old and two that are three- to five-years-old — and 30- to 40-foot wide. Energy consumption is measured per 1,000 birds.
Incorporating new technologies also is being studied to see which ones will really make a difference for growers. LED (light-emitting-diode) bulbs are one technology being looked at. They produce light without the regular energy consumption of incadescent bulbs. A 40-watt incadescent bulb could be replaced by a LED bulb that uses one watt or less.
“These bulbs cost more, but they last eight to 10 times longer than incadescent bulbs,” VanWicklen said. “They’ll pay for themselves within a year and could save $1,500 on Delmarva (houses) a year.”
His team is studying dimmable LED bulbs as well — dim lights keep birds calm, so they stay healthier and grow better. He said the lab is approaching the LED bulb cautiously because a grower can spend $1,000 to $1,400 on bulbs alone, and they don’t want to encourage more expensive bulbs that might not do the job. The lab will be trying LED bulbs at a Perdue house in Salisbury, Md. in the near future.
Putting photovoltaic cells on the roofs to generate energy also is being examined.
“We’ve got to get these on a chicken house and show that they’re practical,” VanWicklen said. “Let’s face it — We’ve got to do something to get away from foreign oil. It’s a step in the right direction.”
The lab has studied and recommends radiant tube heaters; they heat directly to the floor and can save as much as 10 to 15 percent in gas consumption.

Vegetative buffers

The research team at the lab is looking at what vegetation will give growers the biggest bang for their buck. Bud Malone, Extension poultry specialist at the University of Delaware said they look proximity from fans, varieties and distances from the house to determine which species will be best.
He said they know of various species so far that will not work; pines cannot withstand emissions from the houses, and leland cypresses are susceptible to insects.
The team studies workable species at the lab demonstration house. Malone said deciduous trees were placed on the south side of the house to provide warmth in winter and shade.
They placed two species of evergreens on the west side of the house; the north side has trees like the palm redwood and poplar to provide shelther and a protective screen. The east side of the house features a variety of plants; one row of cypresses, a row of green grass and a row of white pine.
Malone said each house will have its own individual plan, and the plan will be based on shelter, shading and emissions, among other considerations.

Depopulating flocks

The outbreak of avian influenza on Delmarva in 2004 has sparked more research to make sure the industry can respond as quickly as possible to disease outbreaks and keep the disease from spreading.
“It’s certainly made an awareness about how important it is to be thinking about (new ideas) in the event they have to respond quickly,” Malone said.
The team is looking at ways to decrease the number of people involved in depopulating flocks; it typically takes 10 to 20 people for those efforts.
Malone said using fire-fighting foam is one concept generating a buzz — it uses only one to two people.
They also are looking at inactivating the virus in the compost pile. Typical composting temperatures should kill the virus within 20 minutes.
The lab also has training programs for those who depopulate flocks.
“It has made an awareness currently using information to develop (poultry companies) response to avian influenza,” Malone said.

Bedding materials for houses

Malone said growers are seeing a shortage of bedding materials for houses. The shortage comes from technological changes that reduce sawdust output and competition from other uses. Typically, pine sawdust is used.
Many other species have mold problems, but the team is looking at white oak and popular sawdusts to see how they react. These are the two most abundant species the lab has access to. Malone said they are looking at these species directly from the sawmill and after three months of storage.
Mold inhibitors are being used to see what impact they have.

House evaluation

VanWicklen said the team has a fan testing device they can use to go out to farms, at no cost to growers, to test how many cubic feet of air per minute a ventilation fan is moving in a house.
The device gives an idea of how much energy is used and what the environment inside the house is like. It tests house tightness and ground rod resistance (to make sure excess electricity is sent to the proper site). Investing a little time and little more money at the beginning, he said, can save the grower money in the long run.