By Mannix Porterfield, THE REGISTER-HERALD (BECKLEY, W.V.)
Aug 16/06

FAIRLEA, W.Va.— Go back in time, say a century or so, even before the iron horse made its debut, and fetch a poultry farmer, pluck him off his Currier and Ives setting, then escort him into a modern chicken barn.

This is one that features a water pipe known as the nipple drinker line and an auger that automatically dispenses feed from a pipe directly into a tray. Add to that a temperature-control device so birds are always at a comfort level.

Best of all, the entire system can be driven by a personal computer right inside the farmer’s own house.
“It would be a big change for them,” acknowledged Dale Walker, president of the West Virginia Poultry Association.

Walker, owner of a poultry farm at Fort Nibert, Pendleton County, hand-crafted a scale model of a modernized poultry barn for exhibition at the State Fair.

“I grew up in the poultry business,” Walker said Wednesday as parents and children clustered around pens of chicks, roosters and breeder turkeys.

“I remember when we used to hand-feed chickens, used to water chickens and turkeys.”

For the past decade, the computer has been an integral part of the poultry business in West Virginia, and the idea seems to be catching on more and more each year.

“This will take care of all your environmental controls,” Walker said.
“It runs your fans, your heat, and your temperature can be programmed to keep within half a degree. It saves fuel — that is one big thing. Really, you’ve got a better environment for your birds.”

Christina Richmond, a poultry/ environmental specialist with the state Department of Agriculture, explained the nipple line allows one drop of water to appear at intervals.

“People are amazed that the chicks know to hit that the day they are born,” she said. “As long as the chickens can see the bead of water on there, they know there is water and will go over and get a drink.”

This system also implements feed pans hooked up by an auger to automatically keep feed dispensed in the barns, she said. A brood heater is attached to gas in a stove to maintain an adequate heating level, the specialist said. The system on display is made by Chore Time, which provides real-time readings, Richmond said.

“You set your fans to kick on and off, stoves to kick on and off,” she said. “It can measure the amount of water that they drink. It can even measure the amount of feed they’re eating.”

As birds mature, adjustments can be made so less heat is applied.

“Used to be, all this stuff had to be done by hand,” Richmond said.

Before computers, farmers had to go inside the barns daily and manually adjust everything. More advanced systems now allow a touch-screen hookup to PCs in a farmer’s home to remotely control every phase of raising chickens.

Alarms are built into the system to alert farmers when something is amiss.

“Even 10 years ago, farmers never dreamed they would have such an advanced computer system in their chicken house,” Richmond said. Water is distributed from plastic dispensers in the pipe as their personal thirst dictates.

“It can also provide additional things such as electrolytes, which is kind of like Gatorade for the chickens,” Richmond said. “When it’s really hot, it can provide that through the drinker lines to make them drink more to keep them hydrated. Chickens normally eat and drink every four hours.”

West Virginia ranks 18th in the nation in broiler production. Greenbrier County farmers also produce breeder turkeys. On display were two 9-month-old toms, already grandfathers and used as breeders by Nicholas Breeder Turkeys, once known as BUTA.

“These are the grandfathers of what you would buy in a grocery store,” Richmond said. “They’re what is called primary breeders.”
Walker sees the poultry business as one that is attracting new farms and shows no signs of decline.

“The big advantage is you can raise a lot of birds on a small farm,” he said. “With cattle, you have to have a large farm.”

From a health vantage, Walker gives the thumbs up to poultry over beef.

“Probably poultry,” he replied when asked which is healthier. “Especially if you’re like me and you’ve got high cholesterol.”

Mannix Porterfield writes for The Register-Herald in Beckley, W.Va.

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Posted by FFC on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under Innovation and technology,Poultry
Tags :: animal care, education, Farmers, food, Poultry
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