December 2, 2009

Israel develops new approach for layer farms 

In a bid to reform the country's layer industry, the Israel Ministry of Agriculture held a contest on poultry farm construction and winners were announced in September for the first of its kind architectural competition to design the next generation of layer farms.

The first prize was awarded to the team of architects Itai Peleg and Joseph Burshtein, landscape architect Nathan Gulman and construction company Agrotop Ltd.

The winners were chosen by a professional jury chaired by head of the Planning Administration at the Israeli Ministry of Interior.

Israeli agricultural construction company Agrotop Ltd said the winning proposal re-examines the idea of environmental integration in a rural setting. It seeks to minimize the physical and ecological footprint of the layers' farms - an approach fundamentally different from simply blending in the landscape by means of visual camouflage.

By considering the full life cycle of the farm and layer houses, the proposed farms demonstrate ways to minimize land works and re-use excavation waste at the stages of farm erection, offer means of enhancing their efficiency during operation, and retain the possibility of easily restoring the site to its original condition, when the time comes to replace the farms with other uses.

The proposed layer houses and farm function as a closed system, which safely handles all waste and byproducts: sewage, dust, plumage and droppings, so these do not become a source of pollution. The tube-like shape of the house structure, constructed of prefabricated corrugated steel segments, echoes its function as a "wind tunnel" and emphasizes the centrality of the ventilation system in the design. The wide asymmetric roof allows for the installation various systems with solar orientation. The structure offers biological isolation and optimal living conditions to the laying hens, by means of automatic ventilation, moisture, feeding and waste disposal systems.

The layer houses adhere to modern European standards of animal welfare, and are flexible in use. They can be occupied by anything from modern enriched systems to systems for barn and free-range layers.

Agrotop says the proposal "offers a vision of farms which will only minimally damage nature and the environment". The company added the proposed farm will not only be a consumer of energy, but also a producer of renewable energy from droppings used as biofuels, photo-voltaic cells and wind turbines.