Auburn's new center equipped for poultry industry's future

The university’s Department of Poultry Science recently opened two poultry research houses and a technology evaluation facility. The inauguration of the state-of-the-art center marks the beginning of the relocation of the old poultry research farm to the North Campus.

Dr. Don Conner, Auburn University’s poultry science department head, stands inside one of the new poultry research houses. | Jackie Roembke
Dr. Don Conner, Auburn University’s poultry science department head, stands inside one of the new poultry research houses. | Jackie Roembke

Auburn University’s Department of Poultry Science recently opened the doors to the latest additions to its North Campus poultry research farm. The first phase of the Charles C. Miller Jr. Poultry Research & Education Center includes two poultry research houses for live bird trials and the National Poultry Technology Center for the testing and evaluation of broiler production equipment.

“The center is not for Alabama or Auburn, it is for the benefit of the entire poultry industry,” says Dr. Don Conner, poultry science department head and professor. “It is here to serve the needs of poultry producers long into the future.”

Read more about the construction of the facility: New Auburn University poultry center under construction 

According to Conner, the College of Agriculture’s investment in these state-of-the-art facilities will allow the poultry science department to better focus its curriculum on production efficiency, sustainability, food safety and quality, and animal health and well-being.

Currently, 80 undergraduate and 20 graduate students are enrolled in the program.

Addressing the needs of a changing industry

In Conner’s opinion, it’s his responsibility to keep his ear to the ground to identify developing trends and use that foresight to prepare Auburn students for tomorrow’s industry.

“With their experiences and knowledge base, we want our students to be the employees of choice when they enter the workforce,” he explains. “I want employers to view them as just a notch above other applicants.”

Conner identifies several areas where the new facilities will assist in producing well-rounded graduates:

  1. Vetting poultry equipment: The National Poultry Technology Center’s objective is to help poultry farmers determine which equipment will provide the biggest gains in bird performance and, in turn, profitability. Auburn is the only U.S. university with a dedicated equipment evaluation facility.
     
  2. Utility savings: Energy and water costs weigh heavily on the producer’s bottom line. As growers seek to make major capital investments — such as new control, ventilation or lighting systems — they want to know the payback up front. Students will get first-hand experience managing utilities efficiently in the research houses and at the technology center.
     
  3. Meeting broiler specifications: Thirty years ago, chicken was marketed prominently as whole birds with some tray pack for food service. Today, it’s the opposite: mostly food service, then tray pack for the grocery stores and whole birds going into the rotisserie markets.
    “It’s a lot more complicated than producing broiler chicken,” Conner explains. “In Alabama, for example, we produce four kinds of broilers: rotisserie chicken, big broilers for processed products, and two mid-sized birds for niche tray pack and fast food/food service markets. They have very tight specifications.”

    An understanding of poultry nutrition and production gives students the tools to get flocks to conform to a very narrow target weight.
     
  4. High-quality feed production: The university opened its Poultry & Animal Nutrition Center feed mill in 2012. Since then, the demand for research feed production has exceeded all expectations. According to Mitchell Pate, director of the poultry research unit, the new projects are scheduling three months out.

    “What goes on in the feed mill affects what goes on in the grower house, and what happens in the processing plant and, ultimately, how that product sells in the market — we want our students to see that,” Pate says.
     
  5. Staying ahead of biosecurity threats: The university is building a 5,000-square-foot Poultry Infectious Disease Biocontainment Research Facility where isolation units will allow researchers to safely work with aggressive pathogens to development treatments and preventive techniques.

    “The facility will be built to today’s standards, which will give us a lot more capability,” Conner says, noting that the school has hired a new faculty member with a specialty in avian health.
     
  6. Development of antibiotic alternatives: Plant extract and other feed additives trails are consistently being conducted to gauge the level of protection they offer in broiler production — an area of research Conner sees expanding in the future.
     
  7. The business of poultry production: Auburn’s new curriculum model will require poultry science students to take four business courses.

“Not only will they know the biology of the bird, but they will get experience on the business side that will prepare them to really contribute when they go out,” he notes.

Auburn poultry research houses

Each research barn has been equipped with the latest lighting, ventilation and environmental monitoring controls available to poultry producers. | Jackie Roembke

Modern poultry houses in action

In line with the department’s goal to provide an integrated understanding of the industry, all poultry production students will be required to take a bio-systems engineering course.

“The center significantly improves our curriculum by helping students understand modern poultry house technology and the concepts of environmental management,” Conner explains, noting that the new houses provide hands-on experience in controlling the inside environment of a poultry house utilizing equipment (fans, heaters, lighting), litter management and water harvesting to influence production efficiencies.

Buddy Miller and his wife, Pinney Allen, donated $2.5 million to the project in the name of Miller’s father, Auburn alumnus and “poultry pioneer” Charles Miller Jr.

One of the houses (MC-1) has 144 pens and a capacity of 3,600 birds; the other (MC-2) holds 2,880 birds in 96 pens. Each house is outfitted with automated ventilation systems and monitored using Cumberland controls to manage both indoor and outdoor conditions.

In 2016, Auburn’s poultry science department ran 64 live bird trials; Conner estimates that number will increase by more than 25 percent once the new facilities are completely operational.

Auburn poultry research pens

The pens in both poultry houses are configured in two columns with plenty of space for researchers to access the birds and keep the shed clean. | Jackie Roembke

Moving forward

The poultry farm’s second phase will begin with the construction of an 8,000-square-foot administrative building in the summer of 2017. The new facility will feature offices, meeting rooms, conference space a and business center. It will also display the Alabama Poultry Hall of Fame, developed in partnership with the Alabama Poultry and Egg Association.

Beyond this, the department hopes to raise an additional $10 million to take on the next high priority projects: a processing facility and a hatchery.

“We will have a good handle on our fundraising by the end of the year and hopefully move toward constructing those two facilities,” Conner says.

Once complete, the North Campus will feature 18 to 20 different structures.

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