A24-Lanctttar Farming. Saturday, August 20,1994
New Penn
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) You can “customize”
your home. You can customize
your car. One day, scientists may
even be able to customize the egg,
in reducing the overall size of the
yolk or by finding some way to
intercede in the growth of the egg
to limit the amount of cholesterol
inside the yolk.
Studies of how to make a better
bird, and a better egg, are under
way in force at the new Penn State
Poultry Education and Research
Center.
This week, hundreds of visitors
to Ag Progress Days were able to
see first-hand the inside and out of
a the new $6 million center, dedi
;ated in spring this year, to replace
an old facility built in the 19305.
Six buildings make up the facili
ty, measuring 50,000 square feet
and designed to conduct “cutting
adge” studies in support of the
state’s $5OO million poultry indus
try. The total area under roof
equals about 49,000 square feet,
according to Penn State records,
with a total bird capacity, if full, of
about 15,000 birds.
At the Tuesday morning tour,
about 30 visitors, many of them
Doultry, beef, and dairy farmers,
were able to view a great portion of
die finished facility and learn
about some of the ongoing univer
sity research.
.Tour guide Dr. Roland Leach,
Penn State professor of nutrition
and poultry science, said that the
anivcrsity opened the new facility
with completely new birds. No
jirds from the older facility were
juried over.
The facility is built with plastic
walls and concrete floors that can
be easily sanitized and kept clean.
Visitors on the tour were required
to wear special hats, coats, and
boots for biosecurity.
What is unique about the facility
is the ability to simulate environ
mental conditions to conduct stu
dies on growth and performance of
turkeys, broilers, and laying hens.
Fundamental Research
Building
New incubators in this facility,
which comprises a conference
room, environmental chambers,
hatchery, feed mixing area, battery
rooms, surgery suite, laboratory,
student housing and manager
offices, were custom-ordered from
an outfit in England to specifica
tions. The incubators are com-
Visitors on the tour were required to wear special hats,
coats, and boots for blosecurlty.
State Facility ‘Customized’ For . Poultry Research
pletely computer-controlled to
allow precise measurement and
monitoring of temperature and
humidity, according to Leach.
This 8,700 square foot building,
with a capacity of 1,000 birds,
includes a 12-foot by 16-foot
environmental chamber which can
also be closely controlled and
monitored. This precision moni
toring is a factor when checking on
certain genetic strains of birds and
their growth and health under cer
tain types of conditions.
The incubator has customized
trays which can turn the eggs until
hatching. Total capacity of birds at
time of incubation is about 1,800
per case, for a total of about 3,400
birds. According to Leach, the
trays can be divided to look at dif
ferent genetic strains of birds.
The facility contains a small
mixing room for small batches of
experimental feeds, said Leach.
“For our general populations,
where nutrition is not a variable,
we don’t try to mix all our feed,”
he said. "It’s cheaper for us to buy
from one of our larger feed manu
facturers. But where nutrition is a
variable, then we’lll mix our own
feed.”
One experiment being con
ducted includes research on trying
to reduce the nitrogen and pho
sphorous in chicken manure using
different feed additivies, such as
enzymes, to improve utilization of
the phosphorous in feed.
Large battery rooms, one mea
suring 19-foot by 29-foot, and
small rooms measuring 13-foot by
16-foot, are used to measure
growth rate of the birds, according
to Leach. Also included is a special
surgical suite with a separate air
handling system from the rest of
the building.
Meat Bird Building
The meat bird building, measur
ing 5,700 square feet, is shaped
like the letter “H. ’ ’ Each wing has
its own storage and change room.
One wing could be isolated for
starting turkeys. The building,
equipped with a laboratory, has the
capacity for four bulk bins if diffe
rent diets are used.
This “customized” building is
used to study different strains of
genetic stock for peak broiler
growth and to study certain pro
duct markets.
Ongoing in this facility is a
research effort with a major broiler
suppliers to look at “the optimum
cross of different strains” by cer
tain producers, according to
Leach. “As you know, there is a
I
; ■
The 8,700 square foot fundamental research building, with a capacity of 1,000 birds,
Includes a 12-foot by 16-foot environmental chamber which can also be closely con
trolled and monitored. Dr. Roland Leach, left, provided a tour of the facility at Ag Prog
ress Days on Tuesday.
This week, hundreds of visitors to Ag Progress Days were able to see first-hand the
new $6 million center, dedicated in spring this year, to replace an old facility built In
the 19305. Tour guide on Tuesday morning was Dr. Roland Leach, Penn State profes
sor of nutrition and poultry science, far left in glasses.
market for fresh-dressed poul
try ... and a big market for breast
filets.”
The breeding companies are try
ing to design a bird to sell to the
major processors, and processing
companies are looking at specific
bird genetics “to find out what is
optimum for their operation,’ ’ said
Leach.
The building contains four
quadrants with 24 research pens
each and a laboratory.
Pullet Building
Would it be possible to “cus
tomize’ ' an egg to make an egg
yolk smaller per unit size or to sub
stantially reduce the levels of
cholesterol per egg? Research con
ducted in this facility may prove
that not only possible, but probable
in the years ahead.
The pullet rearing building,
measuring 9,000 square feet with a
capacity of about 3,600 birds, con
tains six small floor/cage rooms
measuring about 13-foot by
20-foot each. The building con
tains a laboratory, four large floor/
cage rooms (measuring 20- by
20-feet each) equipped with light
control and temperature control
above ambient. Pullet cages
include two decks with a capacity
of about 2,000 pullets. Included is
a large feed mixing capability with
a one-ton capacity horizontal
mixer.
The leghorn laying hen, now
(Turn to Pago A 25)
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The facility contains a small mixing room for small batch
es of experimental feeds, said Leach. “For our general
populations, where nutrition Is not a variable, we don’t try to
mix all our feed,’’ he said, “it’s cheaper for us to buy from
one of our larger feed manufacturers. But where nutrition Is
a variable, then we’lil mix our own feed.”