Very Important Some Valuable
Technical Information on Poultry
CELdek® System Carries
Right Through to Total Savings
The farm has two chicken houses built
to accommodate a maximum of 31,500 birds each. Background
David Kirsten's poultry farm in South Africa is located
some 120 km northwest of the city of Johannesburg. This is
a region of the world that is often subjected to very hot
and dry weather conditions, summer temperatures averaging,
for example, around 34 °C with a relative humidity of
only 25 per cent.
Mr. Kirsten, whose farm is called Boshoek, started poultry
farming about three years ago as a contract grower for a leading
producer of poultry meat in South Africa.
Hot and Dry Problem
 The
harshly hot and dry climate of this South African region is
not conducive to problem-free poultry production-quite the
contrary. David Kirsten has two chicken houses that are able
to accommodate a maximum of 31,500 birds each, which equates
to about 21 birds per square meter.
As the birds reach maturity, this density level reaches overcrowding,
leading to heat stress in hot weather. The best results are
obtained when each building has a density of 28,500 birds,
equaling 19 birds per square meter, i.e., they will have a
low mortality rate.
Mr. Kirsten, who holds a degree in electrical engineering,
is quite aware that without the help of modern, sophisticated
climate-control technology, the health of the birds as well
as the final production per cycle, and ultimately the production
volume of the entire farm, would suffer considerably.
Tough Economic Climate
The poultry industry in South Africa consists of extremely
competitive producers. The major contenders are constantly
forced to aim for high productivity while effectively juggling
small profit margins. Capital costs for constructing a poultry
farm arc extremely high compared with the production figures
reached utilizing a conventional naturally ventilated building.
These difficulties are eliminated by the proven ability and
efficiency of CELdek ®systems.
 Cool
Cash Solution
For these, and numerous other reasons, Munters - together
with PPA, its local distributor approached Mr. David Kirsten
with the idea of assisting in a pilot project involving a
controlled-environment installation. Munters and PPA would,
in this way, be able to prove the benefits of a controlled-environment
system. Mr. Kirsten found the proposal of interest and agreed
to participate in the project.
With this effective pilot project in full operation, Mr.
Kirsten has subsequently had the means at hand to improve
climate conditions notably, with a high level of control and
thus be able to
- improve health and lower mortality
- improve the feed-conversion rate
- boost weight gain per cycle
- increase bird population per sq.m. (At slaughter time
- after mortality rates arc taken into account each chicken
house records a density of about 18.5 birds/sq.m., or 27,750
each.)
- increase amount of meat per cycle
- shorten the time to slaughter (The ideal weight specified
by the market, for the birds = 1.8 kg before slaughter.
This is achieved in 38 days.)
- reduce overall cycle time
- increase production cycles per annum per building
- boost the overall performance efficiency factor, and,
last but not least
- provide a more wholesome, drier environment, resulting
in cleaner birds.
Results have been directly measured as recorded substantial
savings. It is fair to say that the profit ratio achieved
by employing a CELdek ® system
has allowed Mr. Kirsten to reap the same earnings as competitors
operating twice the number of naturally ventilated poultry
buildings.
Mr. Kirsten most decidedly believes that if there were no
evaporative cooling in the two buildings then they would have
to reduce the amount of birds to 16 birds/sq.m. and, even
by doing that, they would still experience a high mortality
rate due to heat stress.
Since installing the CELdek ® system, Mr. Kirsten's success has been rewarded by his "winning"
the Contract Grower of the Year award, awarded by the company
for which he produces.
How Munters Does It
The essence of CELdek ® systems is to provide comprehensive control from start to
finish. This begins with Munters expertise in choosing the
right equipment and goes on to include all the technical support
necessary for a totally turnkey solution. The specially designed
control panel, for example, is a principal part of the system.
In general, it includes CELdek®evaporative
cooling pads, selected Euroemme™
fans, a control system and all necessary water-distribution
equipment. Munters has many years of far-ranging global experience
in providing the right climate in the right place - at the
right price.
Inside Details
The system installed at David Kirsten's farm includes eight
50-inch, 1.5-hp fans that supply ventilation through CELdek ® evaporative cooling pads on either
side of the building. These are 1.5 meters in height and 16.2
meters in length. The entire climate of the building is regulated
by single control system.
 Case
Study
By installing the CELdek ® system, David Kirsten's poultry farm has been able to:
- improve health and lower mortality
- improve the feed-conversion rate
- boost weight gain per cycle
- increase bird population per sq.m.
- increase amount of meat per cycle
- shorten the time to slaughter
- reduce overall cycle time
- increase production cycles per annum per building
- boost the overall performance efficiency factor provide
a more wholesome, drier environment, resulting in cleaner
birds
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