Animal welfare drives poultry farm of the future, today

The poultry industry is heading towards a new panorama of animal welfare that is leading to the redesign of equipment and farms.

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Dr. Friedrich Otto-Lubker, from Big Dutchman, spoke about the poultry farm of the future at the Poultry Innovation Days of Boehringer Ingelheim in Prague. | Photo by Benjamín Ruiz
Dr. Friedrich Otto-Lubker, from Big Dutchman, spoke about the poultry farm of the future at the Poultry Innovation Days of Boehringer Ingelheim in Prague. | Photo by Benjamín Ruiz

The way in which we think the poultry farm of the future will be actually already exists  – a result of innovations, trends and pressure from groups of consumers and intermediaries.

During the Poultry Innovation Days of Boehringer Ingelheim, held March 19-22, in Prague, Czech Republic, many innovation concepts were discussed, mainly in management and health issues. For example, what is new in diagnosis and vaccines. But other aspects of poultry production were also covered.

Dr. Friedrich Otto-Lubker, from Big Dutchman, spoke about different aspects of the poultry farm of the future. To start with, something interesting happening now in Europe is that the size of the farms are smaller. For example, in Germany, many mobile units have been sold in the last three years, which, says Otto-Lubker, takes you back to the past.

Animal welfare is what is driving the poultry industry. The company has taken 15 years to reach to what it has now developed.

Within this concept, there are regulations on animal welfare that have led to the ban of beak trimming in Germany. To avoid feather pecking and cannibalism, enriched cages have been developed, but so has a system in which whole grains are placed (as supplement to feed), so the beaks are gradually smoothed down.

Another important aspect is dust production and emissions, a regular thing at any farm. It is estimated that 30 to 60 percent of the dust produced in a poultry farm is fine dust. Therefore, there is a need to reduce it, but animal welfare requires a dust area where birds can practice their natural behaviors. Along with this, there is also ammonia control, with special air-scrubbing systems.

Something that we should not forget is the relative cost of the product to be produced. In the case of egg production, and if we take the traditional system of cages as the benchmark, the egg will cost 15 percent more in a colony system, 33 percent more in an aviary system (indoors), and finally 58 percent more in free-range birds (in the outdoors).

In the case free-range birds, the specifications are 4 birds/m2 , which makes production difficult. But Otto-Lubker talked in particular about the aviary system. The designs they have are aviaries with two levels, which have separate areas for various activities: to rest, nest, feed and water, and to scratch. Another feature is that they have a perch above the chain feeder, which the birds use a lot, as well as automatic manure collection systems.

Finally, he also discussed the fact that there will be more emphasis in the future on data collection. There is a whole network of issues that can be interrelated: management, weight, production, light, climate or feed, which will help prevent problems in production, he said.

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