Poultry Your Way - Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems ...

MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES
INDUSTRIAL: CONFINEMENT
Staff training. Training is essential for anyone involved in poultry management. Bird injuries and stress occur
when they are improperly handled or when environmental conditions are ignored. Broilers, for example, bruise
when improperly handled (catching and containing birds). Proper training, combined with catching in the dark,
can help prevent bruising. The California Poultry Workgroup, in its publication Turkey Care Practices, notes that
the development of a positive attitude is the most important part of training (1998). Moreover, your assigned
service person should help you learn the skills needed to regulate barn temperatures, air flow, and humidity.
When moisture levels are too high, for instance, ammonia develops in the litter pack. High concentrations in the
air can cause breast blisters on turkeys or even death from respiratory failure.
All poultry operations must deal with dead birds, which must be removed and recorded each day. Dead birds may
be buried, incinerated, rendered, or composted. There are pros and cons to each. Check with your local zoning
and planning commission to learn about regulations.
Labor. Integrators market contract broiler production as a part-time job. Many growers disagree. A 1999 survey
of more than 1,400 contract broiler producers in ten states suggests that industrial production is more than a
part-time job. However, the number of hours worked depends on the number of broilers produced each year and
on the stage of production. On average, growers with two to four houses (total average of 394,000 birds per year)
reported spending 7.4 hours per day during the brooding period (two weeks after chick delivery) (Schrader and
Wilson, 2001). Daily labor requirements dropped to 5.5 hours per day in the weeks that followed. Additionally,
routine and major cleanouts absorbed a total of 33.3 and 43.3 hours, respectively, and were performed with the
help of some hired labor. Similarly, hatching egg production is a full-time job requiring six to eight hours of work
each day, seven days per week (Cunningham, 2002b).
So, where do the hours go? Regular tasks associated with industrial-style management involve: flock management;
catching and moving birds; building and equipment maintenance; recordkeeping; cleaning out and sanitizing
housing and equipment; and communicating with a service person.
Catching and moving birds. Catching and moving birds require some skill, and is one of the most difficult tasks
producers must perform (California Poultry Workgroup, 1998). Broilers must be caught and moved to crates
by hand. Full-grown turkeys are moved by walking them from the grow-out barn onto trailers. These are large,
temperamental birds that are injured easily if improperly handled.
Maintenance. Housing and equipment maintenance is an
on-going job, even when equipment is fairly new. Preventive
maintenance on ventilation and feeding equipment is essential
and must be done routinely. Growers are encouraged to do
maintenance and repair work themselves, since hiring this
type of work can be expensive and can substantially increase
operation costs (Cunningham, 2002b).
Clean-out. Once your birds are headed to the grow-out house
or processor, clean-out must begin. Growers are responsible
for cleaning out, washing, and disinfecting barns as well as
disposing of manure and litter after each batch of birds has
been removed. Manure and litter packs are often removed
with a skid steer loader or other equipment and hauled offsite
for biosecurity reasons. Broilers deposit four pounds of
litter per bird over an eight-week period (Mercia, 2001).
Nearly fully grown turkeys on the Bussis farm. At this
stage, Joel can move slowly among the birds to monitor
their condition.
Poultry Your Way 49
MANAGEMENT
ALTERNATIVES