Barn Spotlight: Ponderosa Farm
By Canadian Poultry Staff
Features Poultry EquipmentBarn features four rows and five tiers of Tecno enriched housing.
Sector – Layers, pullets
Location – Caledonia, Ont.
The business
Ponderosa Farm was established in 1977. There are three layer barns on site – one conventional and two enriched (one of these is the new build). Pullets are also raised at the farm in two separate barns.
The strategy
There were multiple reasons behind this new barn build. One was compliance with the updated layer housing regulations, explains Ron Shoup, vice president of farm operations. Clark Egg Farms also wanted to achieve high energy efficiency, better bird health and a better working environment with this build. The barn features four rows and five tiers of Tecno enriched housing, with Farmer Automatic feeders and elevators.
The barn
The barn has two ventilation systems to minimize electricity use – tunnel for the hot weather in summer and side wall for the other times of year. Once the temperature reaches a certain level, the tunnel fans kick in, which are very efficient and create a wind speed of 500 feet per minute. The barn’s perches are arranged cross-ways and Shoup reports that the hens seem to like this better than regular perches and seem calmer because of it. “The LED lighting was also installed across the housing rather than lengthwise, so that fewer shadows are created,” Shoup says. “Hens are more likely to lay eggs in shadowed areas.” The flooring is plastic-coated, galvanized steel. Lastly, the barn’s insulation is so effective that it doesn’t require a heating system.
Barn Spotlight highlights new and renovated barns and hatcheries. Do you know of a good candidate to be featured? Let us know at poultry@annexweb.com.
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