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Poultry Research Laboratory |
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This facility is located approximately one block away from the Animal Sciences Building. Although it generally houses chickens, small numbers of ducks and pheasants are occasionally housed, also. Space is approximately equally divided between projects involving genetic and nutrition research. In addition to housing research animals, the facility provides space for numerous support services. There is a classroom, a processing room, and a feed mixing room, all of which are used occasionally by members of other departments. The animal rooms provide various means of rearing poultry in confinement. All birds in this facility (except the cage wing) are fed by hand (necessitated by the nutrition research), although much of the watering is automated. Two wings of the building are devoted to floor pen rearing, and are used primarily for laying hens. Pen sizes are either 5.5' x 12' or 9' x 12' in which 20 or 40 hens can be held (a total capacity of about 900 birds in each wing). The pens use a deep litter system, with wood shavings commonly used as litter. Trap nests are provided so that egg production records can be maintained for each hen. One wing is devoted entirely to caged chickens. There is capacity for approximately 1400 hens in "roll-away" laying cages and approximately 300 roosters in flat-bottomed cages. The roosters are housed two to four per cage. The fourth wing of the building is generally used for rearing broilers in floor studies. About two-thirds of this wing contains floor pens, with the remainder taken up by storage. There are 6 large pens (12' x 12') and 12 small pens (6' x 12'). One room is devoted to chicks (up to approximately 4 weeks of age), which are reared in Alternative Design battery brooders. Each brooder is equipped with nipple watering systems and feeding is done by hand. Each of the nine brooders can hold 100 meat-type chicks. Some larger grow-out brooders are also available to keep chicks longer than 4 weeks. The room is air-conditioned and heated. There is also a small isolation room which is occasionally used for rearing chicks, and which can hold two battery brooding units. This room has been used for studies involving mycotoxins, for example. Most chicks used in nutrition or genetic studies are hatched at this facility. The hatchery includes eleven Jamesway 252's, and one Buckeye Gascogne incubator. At least one incubator and one hatcher are in operation throughout the year. The various genetic breeding stocks are located both in Madison and at the Arlington chicken farm. An egg handling room provides space in a walk-in cooler for egg storage, as well as egg grading equipment. Excess eggs are transported to Arlington and then are picked up by an egg wholesaler. A feed mixing room is available for mixing experimental diets. Diets of up to 500 pounds can be mixed there. Larger feed orders are sent to the feed mill at the Arlington Farm Center along with the appropriate premix. This mixing facility is intended primarily for the use of the Department of Animal Sciences, although it is willingly shared with other departments. The processing room is equipped with a small shackle line, scalding tank,
plucker, and equipment and tables for eviscerating poultry. A second walk-in
cooler is located here for storage of poultry meat and products. This
room is most frequently used as a teaching laboratory for the Department
of Animal Sciences, but is occasionally used by other departments as well. Ron Kean |
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File last updated: December 14,2006 |