FARM VISIT ▶▶▶
Somboon, a single-age production system is used. The layer chicks come from the same source and are moved to produc- tion houses at 16 weeks of age. The pullets familiarise them- selves with the new house for around two weeks before lay- ing starts. Currently, there are 7 layer houses (12×120m) with 70,000 birds in total. At present, this creates a sufficient sup- ply of eggs of all sizes to supply customers the whole year round. There is also a pullet-growing house using a floor-rearing sys- tem with evaporative cooling, deep litter, roosts and other enrichments. The chicks receive infrared beak treatments when one old to limit injuries from feather pecking and the risk of cannibalism. The beak tip will drop off at 5-7 days of age. The treatment does not cause injury to the chicks com- pared with the conventional cauterizing method. They are reared in closed houses to prevent insecticide contamination and intestinal worms.
Salmonella free The breeding stock is tested to ensure that they are free of salmonella. Management aims to minimise salmonella risks due to genetics, age and stress induced by overcrowding. A pest control programme keeps out wild birds and rodents. The parent stock (PS) hatchery is fully automated to keep the operating crew to a minimum, as well as prevent human error and contamination. Pulse sensors have replaced candling to sort out infertile eggs on day 18, when the eggs are moved from setters to hatchers. The birds are generally healthier. Feed consumption is increased in line with the extra free- dom of movement that the birds enjoy, and a culling age of 75 weeks is observed, as recommended by Thailand’s Egg Board.
Cost of quality Cage-free production comes at a cost because eight times fewer birds can be housed in the same space than with con- vention battery cage production. This is a major obstacle be- cause most customers are far from happy to pay even twice the price of conventional eggs, says Somkid. Rearing density is 5-7 birds/m2 m2
. Floor space is 1,100 cm2
figure more generous than the recommended EU standard of 1 m2
/120 birds. Each stockman looks after 10,000 birds com-
pared to 200,000 under a typical caged production system. Staff regularly inspect the flock a few times a day to remove dead birds.
Eggs
CPF uses Hyline Brown due to its all-around egg quality, ex- emplary Haugh unit which is above 90%, and superior egg- shell quality. The eggs are sorted on site primarily to elimi- nate those with misshapen, dirty and defective eggshells. They are subsequently sent via refrigerated trucks to CPF’s joint grading facility in Nakorn Nayok, 90km away from the farm, for cleaning, UV disinfection and grading. The grading machine can automatically detect blood spots and cracks. The quality control (QC) team at the grading facility takes eggshell swabs every day to test for the presence of salmo- nella. They also monitor eggshell thickness, eggshell strength, Haugh unit, egg weight, yolk colour and more. CPF exports around 3% of its total output to stabililise do- mestic prices and some 12% of the total production is set aside for processed eggs. At present, the company produces around six million eggs a day. In the table egg market, CPF is penetrating further into modern trade outlets and other nich- es, such as food service operators in the hospitality sector. It also offers small packages that better meet the needs of to- day’s smaller families. CPF is always ready to raise capacity in line with market de- mand. It recently launched cage-free eggs in four-egg pack- ages at 7-11 stores in the Bangkok area, and now supplies top-notch restaurants, such as Jay Fai restaurants, DonDon- Donki and Mo-Mo Paradise. The eggs are also available at Makro wholesaler. New customers are being developed for processed eggs, such as tofu makers and bakeries. CPF sup- plies 10,000 tonnes of liquid eggs per annum to buyers in the domestic market.
which is less than the recommended 9 birds/ /bird. Feeding space for pan feed-
ers is 4.3 cm/bird and there are 1.25 nipple drinkers for every 10 birds. The birds are fed ad lib. Rice husks are used as litter material. Perches are installed 20cm from the wall, with 30cm between perches. The perching space is 15 cm/bird. There is a common nesting area. A 100 metre-long group nest runs from the front to the rear of the house. Various nest types are being tested to find out which work best. Feeders and drinkers are placed above the slats to encourage the birds to jump up and use the nests. The goal is to make the nest area the most attractive spot for the hens to lay eggs in order to keep floor eggs to less than 1% of the total. About 1.4m2
of nest space is available for every 120 hens, again a 20 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 5/6, 2021
Sustainable farming CPF recently started to renovate its layer operations where the main thrust of the new investment is to create good rela- tions with neighbouring communities. All CPF farms now have dust and ammonia traps behind the exhaust fans to minimise odours and environmental disruption. It is also pur- suing a zero waste policy with major investments in biogas reactors that use layer manure as a fuel. It has also improved manure handling to minimise ammonia content so that it does not disrupt methanogenesis microbes. New techniques have enabled CPF to generate three times the methane yield of conventional layer-manure based fermentation. Thailand began capturing biogas two decades ago using mainly pig manure. Although layer biogas has always been seen as slow- er and less efficient, Somkid noted that new production methods are closing the efficiency gap.
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