Save water with HyCare

Save water and labour when cleaning a poultry shed with HyCare

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Water and energy savings will become an increasingly important issue in poultry farming in the near future, also in legal terms. You can do a stable cleaning with considerably less water and labour. The HyCare method at a poultry farm in Hapert proves this.

Poultry farmers are obliged to report energy and water-saving measures to their municipality. They are also obliged to report which techniques and measures they apply. Officials make an inventory of what farmers do and check the implementation of the measures. This is supposed to raise awareness. The EU regulations requiring this came into force in February 2017 and must be complied with within four years. 'Be economical with water' could also affect poultry farmers in times of drought.

32 % water savings

One third less water use for cleaning and disinfecting a poultry house with HyCare'. That is the purport of a new message from MS Schippers. Thomas Mallens, division manager poultry at this company, sharpens this even further: "If you only apply this to the coated walls and floors, then this is even 38 percent." Currently, one house according to the HyCare method is in use at the Hapert broiler farm. Recently, after a round of broilers, the labour time and water consumption for cleaning was measured. The comparison was made with the labour need in a conventional house of the same size, volume and inventory. "We assessed water use on three components," says Thomas Mallens. "It turns out that water and labour are in the ratio of approximately 1:1 for ceiling cleaning and inventory compared to a conventional barn. We made the biggest gains when cleaning the coated floors and walls, as HyCare does. Here, the ratio of water use to labour requirement turns out to be almost 1:1. After removing the poultry litter and soaking, after ceiling and inventory cleaning, the labour saving was 1.75 hours to clean 1,000 square metres. Net, 32 percent less water was needed." If you determine the water savings specifically for floors and walls, Mallens mentioned, the water and labour savings are as high as 38 percent!

Good coating is important

Thanks to stables that work with the HyCare method, poultry farmers can start a new round more efficiently and without germs. They thereby benefit from the 'New Stable Effect', whereby the chance of reinfection is reduced. Mallens estimates that there are already 40 to 50 poultry houses in the Netherlands where floors and/or walls have been coated. But these are not companies that work according to HyCare and this method involves more than just coating," he emphasises. "There is only one such poultry house in the Netherlands. In Germany, there are now two, but several poultry farmers are showing interest." The coating of walls, floors and the complete sealing of seams is one of the important aspects of this method, which is new for poultry farming. The coating does not contain significant amounts of solvents. As a result, each kilo of coating applied, after curing, is actually 1 kilo of new floor or wall: wear-resistant and 100% pore-tight. As a result, it remains - proven - to do its job for a long time: concrete can no longer absorb water and dirt. "We have determined that a traditional concrete floor absorbs approximately 1.5 liters of moisture per square meter and with it manure particles and germs. The moisture has to evaporate before you can get the barn up to temperature again for the next laying round. A stable with a good coating dries very quickly. Later on, we also want to look at the energy effects of HyCare in the barns", Mallens says.

Less disinfectant

The coating prevents water and dirt from penetrating the concrete floor. This facilitates cleaning and disinfection. Mallens: "Cleaning foam should be applied to damp surfaces and you must ensure that it never dries out. I like to talk about degreasing with biodegradable products, which adhere well to the surface. This is to counteract the force of gravity on hanging and vertical parts. Sucking surfaces must remain moist for this soap to do its work. It is also striking that the need for disinfectant in the Hapert barn was lower: 150 milliliters per square meter instead of 400. A coated barn is dry sooner, so a poultry farmer can receive the next round sooner," says Mallens.

Good to know...

What other tricks are there for more efficient cleaning? "Give the flat floor, or rather the convex floor, a raised edge of five centimetres," says Mallens. "Make sure that this edge stands on the concrete floor and is not attached to the rafters. This prevents gaps where manure and moisture can accumulate." Cleaning expert Peter Swinkels, All Round Cleaning from Moergestel, sounds enthusiastic about HyCare and about cleaning in general, he says: "You have to take this into account when building the barn: make sure there are no rafters and cable ducts in the barn where dust can get on or in. Ensure that the ceilings are flat and avoid situations where the 'Styrofoam' beetle could cause you a nuisance. Completely hide electricity cables! And choose easy-to-clean feed pans in the broiler and laying hen sector. And for the manure loading area, choose a smooth concrete surface, not bricks. You can never clean them properly! As for cleaning specialists, we sometimes see extreme differences in the cleaning of barns."

Big differences

Suspension cables of feeding and drinking lines where dust easily adheres are a problem child and always cost a lot of cleaning time. "The choice of material is important", says Peter Swinkels, who when asked gives some figures on cleaning: "We see variations in the cost of house cleaning of up to 45 % per broiler. Just imagine with 200,000 broilers and seven rounds at 0.6 cents! Per 30,000 - 35,000 broiler places, on 1,500 square meters, you lose 7 - 8 hours of labor. We always calculate with 1.3 cubic meters of water per hour. In the Netherlands, this is almost exclusively spring water. And to drain all that water, Swinkels advises: "Use large sewer pipes and plan the very last drain in a corner. Harmful bacteria such as Salmonella are very difficult to keep out of a poultry house. The need to control this is increasing and there is also stricter control. I think that with the complete HyCare method poultry farmers have a chance to succeed in controlling Salmonella as well."