What it takes to join the Ross 450 club for broiler growers

Ask broiler grower and consultant Chris Wright, Farmers Weekly‘s Poultry Farmer of the Year, what gives him the most satisfaction working in the poultry sector.

He will freely admit it is when someone he is advising manages to raise their European Production Efficiency Factor (EPEF) score to more than 450.

This calculation takes into account feed conversion, mortality and daily weight gain.

A score of more than 450 qualifies the grower for membership of the exclusive Ross 450 club, putting them in the top 1% in the country.

See also: Daily misting of broiler sheds lifts bird performance

“I don’t think there is any greater feeling in the job than you get from helping other people get to where they want to be – either financially or with EPEF,” he says.

Achieving high EPEF scores is second nature to Chris, who runs IEC Poultry in Shropshire and whose last three crops came in at 454, 456 and 464.

That run of three was enough to give him “Gold Club” status – reserved for the best of the best.

So what is the secret of success? “To me there are no real secrets, it’s all just about attention to details,” he says.

“We get so much data from our Fancom system, and analysing and acting upon that data is probably what puts us above everyone else.

“We are looking at trends and patterns over a period of time, and making adjustments on the live data that we see to meet the needs of the bird at all times.”

Water consumption

One key focus is on water consumption.

“My feed and water intake graphs are generated simultaneously every 15 minutes, and I do two big checks every day – morning and evening – looking at key parameters throughout the crop,” explains Chris.

“Each of the four sheds on-site is divided into four quarters, so if the water has dropped off in a particular area, I can check the temperature profiles and ventilation settings to see what may be behind it.

“Perhaps we are over-venting in one area, which has made the birds sit down.

“We are constantly tweaking the ventilation, trying to get the water and feed to creep up. Just small percentage changes in a day can mean a massive difference at the end of the crop.”

Apart from the data, Chris says it is all the little things, like drinker and feeder heights or top-up bale placement, that make the difference – “anything that can make the bird more comfortable”.

“Don’t put the bales on the side of the shed, where there is very little food and there is more humidity and less oxygen,” he says.

“Move the bales out and put them near feed, because the birds want to congregate around them, and then they’ll also find more feed and water to drink.”

Air pressure is also key, and Chris will pressure test every shed between crops, from 1% ventilation speed to 100%, to ensure he can achieve optimum pressure once the new birds are in and growing.

Human senses

Above all, however, he insists that data capture and interpretation are no substitute for the human senses – the “eyes, ears and nose” that come into play when going into a poultry shed.

He recounts a recent visit to a farm for which he acts as a consultant.

The data readouts suggested everything was as it should be, with good feed intakes, slightly above-average water consumption, and a temperature variation of just 2C over a 24-hour period.

“Going into that shed, I noted that it did not feel quite as fresh as the data readouts suggested it should,” says Chris.

“There was nothing wrong with the ventilation, but the birds had migrated to one end.

“Once they do that, they drink more, produce more litter and the humidity around them rises – attracting more birds to come and join them.

“This all impacts efficiency, as you need an even spread across a shed to optimise growth rates.

“Our response was therefore to adjust ventilation and pull the humidity elsewhere in the shed to encourage that even spread. Chickens are a tropical bird and are attracted to humidity.”

On his own farm, Chris has been capturing data from day one, with an emphasis on precision and consistency.

“To achieve that, we have to pay close attention to the age of the parent flock from which the day-old chicks came – which may vary for each of our four sheds.

“Based on our data, we have a fair idea of the perfect shed setup for each parent flock age.

“But one of the biggest variables is the weather – we may get rain, sunshine, hail and wind, all in a 24-hour period, and each flock may respond differently.

“I may have to change ventilation 15 times a day to optimise bird comfort in each shed.

“The data is fantastic, but you also need to be able to understand that data from a chicken’s point of view – and that can only be fully appreciated by going into the shed several times a day.”

New build, new future

© Richard Stanton

Expansion is very much on the agenda for Chris Wright and the team at IEC Poultry in Shropshire.

Building is now well under way for four additional sheds, doubling the site’s capacity from 190,000 to 380,000 birds.

“We built the existing farm eight years ago and questioned everything about it at the time.

“We are taking the same approach now, constantly asking ourselves what we can do to make it better,” says Chris.

The current setup has a long central corridor with windows into each shed, and that is being extended into the new buildings. “The new sheds will be the same size as the others – 380x80ft [115.8×24.4m].

“It can be challenging to achieve even ventilation on 80ft [24.4m]-wide sheds, but it is achievable if you install the right equipment,” he says.

“We are building the new sheds more to an industrial specification.

“For example, we will be using insulated composite roof sheets rather than single skin sheeting and rock wool insulation, and insulated concrete panel dwarf walls.

“With such a significant capital outlay, we must build sheds that will still perform in 20 years like they do on day one.”

The new sheds will use the full array of renewable energy sources: ground source heat pumps, biomass boilers, solar panels and battery storage, to minimise the carbon footprint.

Ventilation

But the real differentiator will be the ventilation setup. “Our current buildings – as is the case for most of the UK broiler sector – are designed to stay warm in the winter,” says Chris.

“But as we start to get hotter summers – and the last two sumers were probably the exception – we need to prepare for temperatures regularly in the mid- to high 30s.”

One approach being taken is to install more air inlets and to position these lower down the side walls, to pull air across the birds to keep them cool.