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A Model Mill: Improving Feed Quality and Efficiency—and Education by Karen Hunley
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Poultry Science Department head Don Conner (standing, right) and research unit director Mitchell Pate (second from right), join staff and students at the new $7.1 million Auburn Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center.
What factors do you consider when buying eggs or poultry? Freshness, fat content, or whether the food is organic might come to mind first. But do you think about what exactly those chickens spent their lives eating? There is an entire science dedicated to what poultry consumes, and the subject is increasingly important, says Dr. Don Conner, head of the Poultry Science Department at Auburn University. Several years ago, Conner and his team recognized the need for a special facility at Auburn University where this research could be carried out. They began visiting feed mills at other universities. Only two other facilities like the planned Auburn University Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center existed in the country—one at North Carolina State University and one at California Polytechnic State University. Conner’s team modeled its center on the Animal Nutrition Center at Cal Poly. The feed mill had strong industry support early on, and in 2008 a technical advisory committee
composed of poultry nutritionists and feed mill personnel was formed to provide input on the facility’s design and equipment. More than 40 corporations donated to the facility, including one gift of $750,000 in equipment. In November 2012, the new Poultry and Animal Nutrition Center opened on Auburn Lakes Road just off Highway 280 northwest of the city. Conner notes that it was time for a facility like this in Alabama, since about 10 to 12 percent of chickens consumed nationwide come from the state. The $7.1 million feed mill has the cutting-edge technology and equipment to meet Auburn’s research needs as well as provide outreach through short courses for the feed and poultry industries. Housed inside a 12,500-square-foot steel building, the facility consists of nine prefabricated modules, each 40 feet long by 8 feet wide by 9 feet and 6 inches high. The facility is small but scaled to a commercial feed mill, so research results can be applied to larger mills.