Thinking of starting a new small-scale commercial egg production flock? There are lots of decisions to make, including what type of production system to use - confinement, free-range, pasture-raised, etc. Dr. Ken Anderson from North Carolina State University will be discussing the costs involved in the different types of production systems, an important consideration when deciding what type of system to use.
As the Director of the North Carolina Layer Performance and Management Program and investigator on the associated test, Dr. Anderson provides a tool to address current industry production concerns. This extension program has been ongoing since 1958 in cooperation with the NC Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services along with the Primary Breeders of Commercial Egg Strains. Thirty-eight flocks have been completed and a major facility remodel is underway. The initial purpose of the test was to provide strain evaluations in a common environment to the producers in North Carolina. However, in recent years, the test and the support it provides has given the industry an avenue with which to examine common problems with the housing alternative environments and management of the different strains of leghorns available. There are two other tests in the world but this test is the only one of its type, scope, and distribution remaining in the world.
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