Hen House High-Rises Cage-free facilities represent a new era BY JOSEPH HOPPER
T
he chicken coop has changed. Today’s cage-free egg laying farms not only look different from the outside but on the inside, too. Some egg farmers playfully call them “chicken condos.” “These are not your mom and dad’s chicken barns,” says Dr. Craig Rowles, director of cage-free operations for Center Fresh’s parent company Versova. Center Fresh is constructing its newest cage-free facility west of Sioux Center. It represents not only a demand for cage-free eggs but also a boost for Iowa soybean farmers. Changing consumer preferences and new regulations have contributed to the demand for cage-free products, according to Rowles. At the same time, the animal agriculture industry is adapting to approaches of how best to raise livestock and poultry. At Versova, cage-free demand first began to escalate around 2014.
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At the Center Fresh site west of Sioux Center, the investment is being made where the company began — at the family farm, which was first established in the 1970s. Three, four-story housing systems are being built to meet the natural needs of its future feathered tenants. Interior lighting will simulate sunrise and sunset. The birds descend to the lower levels during the daytime hours, where they walk around, eat and drink. The modern facility allows operators to simulate dusk by dimming the lights in a certain sequence, thus enabling the chickens to determine where they’ll spend the night inside the
barn. During the nighttime hours, the upper levels on the floors accommodate the birds’ instinct to climb upward as it gets dark. “The nest boxes are in shady and quiet areas, so they’re drawn to that location,” Rowles says. The floor’s design allows the eggs to roll onto a conveyor belt, where each egg begins its journey to the plant. Besides new cagefree housing, the complex includes a breaking facility, supplying liquid egg products to the commercial food industry. “You wouldn’t see eggs from this farm in a store,” Rowles says. “You’re going to see them in cake mixes, hotels, restaurants, hospitals or commercial food establishments.”
