Poultry energy use studied
When It comes to con
serving energy, the U.S.
poultry and egg industry
claims a pretty good track
record. But, say USDA
economists, there’s room for
improvement.
In 1974,-American poultry
producers, processors,
wholesalers, and retailers
used over 146 trillion Btu in
natural gas, petroleum,
electricity, propane, and
other energy, for a total cost
of $550 million.
On the farm side, the
producers' energy bill came
to $126 million-or roughly-2
per cent of their gross farm
income from poultry and
eggs. Their bills for propane,
electricity, and gasoline
alone came to 1.9 cents for
every live broiler, 15 cents
for each turkey, and 11 cents
per laying hen.
Brooding accounted for
over 70 per cent of the
energy used in poultry
production, lighting and
Lancaster Farming. Saturday. April 23,1977
ventilation claimed 11 per
cent, and waste handling,
hauling, and operating
feeding equipment ac
counted for almost 18 per
cent.
On the bright side, energy
use per head has fallen off
since the mid-1960’5, as more
efficient use of heating fuels,
.particularly for broilers, has
offset larger electricity
needs, especially for layers
and turkeys.
However, economists say
that individual producers
can still cut their energy use
and bills-by 20 to 50 per cent.
The economists claim
that, in short run, saving
energy is simply a matter of
paying attention to details
and making minor ad
justments to existing
practices. Also keeping good
energy use records will help
spot trouble areas and check
for savings when ad
justments are made.
Among actual production
operations, brooding
requires vast amounts of
energy to heat poultry
houses. But producers can
hold the line on heating costs
by following a few simple
guidelines such as locating
brooders in the center of
houses, using solid brooder
guards like sheet metal or
corrugated paper, clustering
brooders in groups of three
or four, and by following
manufacturers’ suggested
maintenance on all brooding
equipment.
Partial house brooding,
where a plastic curtain
closes off a section of the
poultry house for young
chicks, can mean an energy
savings of up to 25 per cent.
Installing winterized side
curtains on poultry houses
can trim fuel use 10 to 15 per
cent. It also helps to shut off
brooder piolt lights as the
birds grow older and require
less supplemental heat.
Poultry house lighting
offers another chance to
conserve. A system of in
termittent lighting such as 8
hours of light, followed by 10
hours of dark, 2 hours of
light, and 4 hours of dark
(compared with the
traditional 14 hours of light
and 10 hours of dark) can
save electricity use by 25 per
cent.
Producers can also burn 25
to 50 per cent less electricity
by reducing light intensity.
Keeping light bulbs clean
and adding reflectors will
provide maximum light at
minimum wattage.
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