EGG outreach for a sustainable I NDUSTRY egg industry. CENTER A - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Advancing research and EGG outreach for a sustainable I NDUSTRY egg industry. CENTER A Presentation at the Egg Farmers of Ontario 53 rd Annual Meeting Administered by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Iowa State University, USA Hongwei Xin, EIC Director March 27, 2018

Presentation Outline 1. Brief background about EIC 2. Funded/Led Research by EIC 3. Highlights of three EIC-led research projects a) Feeding behavior of individual hens in enriched colony housing (ECH) b) Dust reduction and summer cooling in an aviary henhouse by water sprinkling c) Impacts of full vs. partial litter access in aviary CF hen house 2

Brief background about Egg Industry Center (EIC) 3

Back in time – 2008  Decline in Poultry Research Funding • Federal (poultry research ranks 54 th in USDA funding) • Unstable check-off programs  Decline in university poultry programs • Only 6 PS Depts left in the US (AL, AR, GA, MS, NC, TX), all in the Southeast  Needs by the industry, hence the mission of L-G university (teaching, research, extension/outreach)  EIC was established to: • Meet the needs of the egg industry and its constituents through coordination, collaboration and leadership. • Provide steady funding through creating a $10M endowment 4

EIC Mission Add value to the egg industry by facilitating research and learning for egg producers, processors and consumers through national and international collaboration. EIC Vision Assist a thriving egg industry. 5

EIC Advisory Board Tim Lambert, EFC 6

EIC Team Maro Ibarburu Julie Roberts Lesa Vold Hongwei Xin Annual Intern Associate Scientist Office Assistant Comm. Specialist Director ISU Student 7

Funded/Led Research by EIC 8

EIC Research Outputs & Impacts No. of No. of Projects Institutions Dollars Invested in Research Funded Involved $865,232 33 8 No. of No. of Research External Funding Leveraged Researchers Pubs Touched/Trained $3.5M 57 42 9

EIC Led/Funded Research 10

Highlights of three EIC- led research projects a) Feeding behavior of individual hens in enriched colony housing (ECH) 11

Experiment System Setup Feeder Load Cell Support Load Cell Water Tank Load Cell Collector RFID Tag Antenna Feeder Plastic Cover RFID Reader (902-928 MHz ) 12

Study Findings 1) Not all hens in ECH feed at the same time. 70 Max % hens at feeder (%) a ab 60 b ab 50 40 30 59.0 57.3 53.3 53.0 20 10 0 6.5 8.5 9.5 12.0 Feeder space (cm/hen) 13

Study Findings 2) Considerable variations among individual hens in time spent at the feeder Mean 310 min (5.2 h) Max 540 min (9.0 h) Min 144 min (2.4 h) Time Spent at Feeder (min/d) Bird No. 14

Study Findings 3) No difference in production performance among 6.5, 8.5, 9.5, & 12.0 cm feeder spaces 109 109 109 120 108 Feed intake (g/bird/d) 90 60 30 0 6.5 8.5 9.5 12.0 Feeder space (cm/hen) Production (%) 94.7 96.3 93.3 96.0 100 Hen-Day Egg 75 50 25 0 6.5 8.5 9.5 12.0 Feeder space (cm/hen) 15

Highlights of three EIC- led research projects b) Dust reduction and summer cooling in an aviary henhouse by w ater sprinkling 16

System Setup – Lab test 17

System Setup – Field verification 18

Study Findings – Lab test 1) PM levels were reduced by 71-89% right after water spray and 57-83% 24 hr post-spray at three dosages. (Chai et al., 2017) 19

Study Findings – Field test (prelim) 2) PM levels were reduced by 37-51% when the litter was sprayed once a day, w/o increasing ammonia. (Chai et al., 2018 - unpublished) 20

Study Findings – Field test (prelim) 3) The water sprinkling system may help cooling the hens in summer (surface wetting). Before sprinkling After sprinkling 21

Highlights of three EIC- led research projects c) Impacts of full litter access (FLA) vs. partial litter access (PLA) in an aviary cage-free hen house 22

Experiment Setup in the Commercial Aviary Cage-Free Hen House End sections (not used in the study) Full litter access with FLA E experienced hens Full litter access with FLA P pullets only Partial litter access with PLA E experienced hens Partial litter access with PLA P pullets only • R = Row, S = Section • Total hens = 51,405 (Dekalb white); 41,136 used in the study • Narrower rows = 857 hens, wider rows = 1,714 hens, Lights on at 5:15 h, POD open doors at 10:50 h, Lights off (POD doors closed) at 21:00 h • 1.5% Experienced hens (Bovan White at 49 WoA – 4 weeks delay for PLA treatments) • Study period: 11/27/16 (pullets at 17 WoA) – 01/24/18 (hens at 76 WoA) (14 months) 23

Study Findings 1) No difference in all measured welfare parameters between full and partial litter access regimens 24

Study Findings 2) No difference in body weight uniformity between full and partial litter access regimens 1.8 90 83 82 [VALUE]4 [VALUE]3 1.6 80 1.4 70 Body weight (kg) Uniformity (%) 1.2 60 1.0 50 0.8 40 0.6 30 0.4 20 0.2 10 0.0 0 Full Litter Access Partial Litter Access Full Litter Access Partial Litter Access (FLA) (PLA) (FLA) (PLA) P = 0.49 P = 0.46 25

Study Findings 3) Partial litter access (PLA) reduced floor eggs by 89% vs. full litter access (FLA). 14,000 12,625 Cumulative floor eggs per 12,000 1,000 hens housed 10,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 1,374 2,000 0 Full Litter Access (FLA) Partial Litter Access (PLA) 26

Study Findings 4) Partial litter access (PLA) reduced manure deposition on litter floor by 45% (DM) to 59% (as-is), lower ammonia (21%), and less litter caking in winter. 3.0 Litter removed (kg/100 hens/d) 2.5 2.0 1.7 1.5 As is Dry 1.1 1.0 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.0 Full Litter Access (FLA) Partial Litter Access (PLA) 27

10 10-year A Annive versary Egg Industry Issues Forum April 16-18, 2018 Scottsdale, AZ Advancing research and outreach for the egg industry worldwide. Follow: http://www.eggindustrycenter.org 28

Hongw ei Xin, PhD Director, EIC hxin@ iastate.edu (1) 515.294.4240 29