Using ultrasonic water meters as management tool early in the flock

Water meters are used as a management tool to track daily water usage in poultry houses. Most mechanical water meters used in poultry housing can only measure water flow rates more than 0.25 gals/min which limits reliable measurement of water usage for birds that are less than four days of age. Producers can now accurately measure water usage within minutes of chicks being placed in the house by using ultrasonic water meters. Modern house controllers can collect, store, and graph water consumption when connected to ultrasonic meters allowing for identification of problems during early chick management. Over the last 2 years, a series of field trials were conducted involving multiple farms using ultrasonic water meters connected to a house controller and a data logger system. Using this combination of ultrasonic water meters and modern controllers, a number of common management related issues that can occur on broiler farms have been documented based on water usage. In one field trial, a drinker leakage issue was discovered less than 24 hours after chicks were placed in the house. In the first 16 hours, water usage increased 133% more than the adjacent house adding 200 gallons of extra water to one area of the floor. Birds typically do not consume water during dark periods. When water usage continued in one of the field trials, it was found that the house lights never turned off the previous night. This would not have been discovered unless the birds were checked between 12 and 4 am. These birds had a 18% longer day compared to the house light system that operated correctly. Bird density at placement can be monitored by water usage. Data from a house indicated 20% more birds in the front of the house on Day 14. Despite the grower efforts to correct the issue, the difference continued throughout the flock resulting in bird weights that differed by over 0.5 lb between the front and back of the house. This body weight difference reduced the grower pay by 20%. The use of the ultrasonic water meter provides monitoring from day of placement through the end of the growout. This meter is a relatively low investment ($350) but can provide information that can yield large returns on investment through optimizing chicken management.

Key Words: Water consumption, brooding, house controller.