[Image: Image of Research Poultry House]A poultry demonstration facility at the LSU AgCenter’s Hill Farm Research Station at Homer is moving closer to completion as equipment is being delivered and installed to two new broiler houses.
The buildings are being built and equipped with funds from the LSU AgCenter and donations from a host of companies in the poultry industry and from poultry-producing areas of North Louisiana, according to AgCenter officials.
Begun in 2005, the broiler houses will be used to compare different types of equipment, said Johnnie Whitmire, an AgCenter extension agent who will manage the facility.
“We are actually getting the same birds, following the same guidelines and obeying the same rules as commercial producers,” she said. “Then we can say – This is our result. This is what we did.”
One of the first comparisons, Whitmire said, will be between two types of heaters for chicks. One house will be equipped with radiant tube heat while the other will be heated by standard brooders.
“This will provide information on how the two systems compare in terms of cost of operation and health of the chicks,” she said.
Among the production practices evaluated will be feed conversion rates, operation of ammonia sensors, litter treatments and odor control. Each building will house 26,000 to 28,000 broilers, Whitmire said.
The AgCenter operation will contract with the two major poultry companies operating in Louisiana – Pilgrim’s Pride and House of Raeford. The AgCenter will alternate between the two companies every 12 months.
Service technicians from the appropriate company will visit the AgCenter facility regularly and evaluate it just as they would for other growers to assure the operation is following the company’s management guidelines, Whitmire said.
When birds are marketed, the AgCenter will be paid on the average for all local growers for that week, said Dr. David Morrison, AgCenter associate vice chancell[Image: Image of Research Poultry House]or. Then, other growers will be paid on the same formula minus the AgCenter’s production.
“This is so the AgCenter doesn’t skew how other producers are paid,” Morrison said.
A poultry house committee chaired by Dr. Henry Moreau, state veterinarian with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, was established to guide the project, according to Dr. Theresa Lavergne, associate professor of poultry in the LSU AgCenter.
Other members of the committee represent the House of Raeford, Pilgrim’s Pride, Louisiana poultry growers, a representative from the Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation Poultry Advisory Committee and the LSU AgCenter faculty, she said.
“This committee made the decision of what type of houses would be constructed and what type of equipment would be used in them,” Lavergne said. “This is the committee that planned the project.
“Also, this committee will work to determine the type of demonstration work that is done with the houses,” she said. “They make the important decisions for the houses.”
Benoit Holloway Jr. of Peck Construction Co. of Marion donated the site preparation while local financial institutions include Peoples State Bank of Many, Louisiana AgCredit of Arcadia, First Guaranty Bank of Homer, Louisiana Federal Land Bank, Peck Construction Co. and Gibsland Bank and Trust Co. provided financial support to the project.
Companies that contributed equipment for the facility include Georgia Poultry, Cumberland Poultry Systems division of GSI, Hired Hand, American Manufacturing and Textiles (AMT), Southwestern Curtains, Latco Equipment, O’Neal Gas and Industrial Generators of Athens, La.