PROJECT NAME:
MAKÜ Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Research Application and Research Center Modernization and Activation of Poultry Farming Facility
PROJECT MANAGER:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kadir Emre BUĞDAYCI
PROJECT SUBJECT:
The project is planned to contribute to the revitalization of poultry farming, which is part of the livestock activities carried out in our region but has a smaller contribution compared to other activities. Within the scope of the project, the existing infrastructure will be developed to increase the quality of the contribution provided by the university, and the education of future veterinarians who will work in the sector will be supported. Simultaneously, the needs and operations of free-range poultry farming businesses in our region will be studied. Poultry farming in free-range systems is a growing market in recent years. Due to criticisms against closed production models and consumer demand, this growing livestock activity is important for our region. For breeders living near villages or city centers with a garden of 1 decare or more, the profitability of this breeding model, which can be started with low investment costs, can be increased by demonstrating a series of technical approaches. In the project, the competencies and needs of the operating businesses will be identified, and handbooks addressing breeders or entrepreneurs interested in the subject will be prepared. At livestock fairs with active participation, our region's breeders will be brought together, information will be shared, and the booklets will be distributed to the relevant regional people. The project will also reach viewers through the local press. In line with the project's subject and objectives, postgraduate education targeting regional development will be carried out in the modernized unit. The focus will be on the evaluation of the region's products in terms of the poultry sector, aiming to create added value and train competent veterinarians needed by the sector.
PROJECT OBJECTIVE:
The project aims to transform the Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Research Application and Research Center Poultry Farming Facility into a unit where current poultry farming needs and problems can be researched. The objectives of the project can be summarized under the following headings:
• Modernization of infrastructure
• Conducting research on the use possibilities of products obtained from ongoing projects in the poultry sector and topics supporting regional development
• Standardization of free-range poultry businesses
• Creating an application area that allows undergraduate and postgraduate education, training veterinarians for the sector.
Modernization of infrastructure: It is aimed to provide the minimum conditions in the designated area within the previously designed building inside the small ruminant breeding facility and to enable the use of the existing equipment within our structure. For this purpose, it is aimed to meet the basic needs in the empty building designed within the small ruminant business, and the minimum conditions required for ventilation, photoperiod (the duration of light and dark periods needed during the day), workbench, sink, and cleaning will be provided and made available with the existing equipment. To prepare the ground for the research to be carried out, 8 cages and slaughter equipment and incubators will be provided, where broiler chicks can be fed for the first 21 days, and the effects of changing climatic conditions (such as heat stress) on animals can be evaluated.
Research on products with usage potential in the poultry sector and topics supporting regional development: The project aims to evaluate the effects of products expected to be obtained from other projects carried out in the field of livestock (such as single-cell proteins, etc.) and products produced in our region, whose usage possibilities for the poultry sector have not been thoroughly researched, on poultry. The evaluation of the effects of regional and climatic impacts on animals in parallel with incubation and/or breeding periods is within the scope of the objective.
Standardization of free-range poultry businesses: The project does not remain indifferent to the increasing demand for healthy animal products and poultry models that consider animal welfare. It aims to optimize the free-range egg production activities in our region, ensure that businesses can produce healthily, provide animal welfare within standards, allow breeders to receive scientific support during the production process, and obtain a product that can document a certified production process if minimum conditions are met. Within this scope, a free-range poultry coop will be implemented to provide an exemplary breeding process, and an exemplary production process will be demonstrated. The coop will produce and package under the auspices of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University Agriculture, Livestock, and Food Research Application and Research Center.
Creating an application area that allows undergraduate and postgraduate education: In line with this objective, both the ongoing modernization works and the established free-range poultry coop provide infrastructure for undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students. It is aimed to create an opportunity where students can conduct individual studies with or without the supervision of an instructor, participate in ongoing project processes, and evaluate egg-laying hens, quails, broilers up to the 21st day of their development stages, free-range egg-laying hens, or the incubation process and its aftermath.
REGIONAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE PROJECT:
Free-range poultry farming
According to the 2021 data of the Egg Industry Association, the number of open commercial egg businesses in Burdur is 17. Their total capacity is 23,250 egg-laying hens. These figures are reported as 9,050 in 14 businesses for Isparta province. In Antalya, the largest province of the Lakes Region, 22 businesses reported 21,940 free-range egg-laying hens. The increasing consumer demand for free-range eggs, which prioritize animal welfare, is increasing the number of free-range egg businesses day by day. According to the 2021 data, the total population of Antalya, the largest province of the Lakes Region, is 2,619,832. Again, as of the same year, it hosted 9,094,051 visitors for tourism purposes. It is clear that the province does not have the capacity to meet the demand for free-range eggs in terms of population and visitors. This situation presents itself as an undeniable employment and livestock activity for the other provinces of our Lakes Region. Increasing the number of free-range poultry systems in terms of regional development will contribute to employment and increase the business volume of the feed sector, which is closely related to each other, and of course, the food sector. Thanks to the project, the working area of veterinarians and agricultural engineers receiving education in our region will expand, and the business volume of technical issues such as poultry equipment, health, and disinfection supplies will increase. At this point, the most important output of this leg of the project will be the psychological and economic satisfaction of the regional people involved in production and healthier-fed generations.
Contribution to undergraduate and postgraduate education
The project will contribute to the education and training of veterinary undergraduate and graduate students through the modernization of the existing poultry unit, ensuring that qualified veterinarians needed by the sector are brought to society. There is a high interest in veterinary medicine from our region's provinces and surrounding provinces. Our veterinary faculty graduates an average of 150-160 veterinarians each year, including students coming through horizontal and vertical transfers. Future veterinarians are expected to make not only regional but also national and even universal contributions. Our university is aware of the support that our students' education and future contributions to development will provide, due to its specialization in the field of livestock. The contribution of the poultry project at this point is at an undeniable level. Everything is done for the future veterinarians with high knowledge and experience.
Evaluation of products produced or processed in our region with usage potential in the poultry sector
Evaluating products with potential value for the poultry sector, grown or found in our region, and products to be obtained from other ongoing livestock projects in postgraduate education will be an important regional contribution. In this way, it is hoped to create added value for the products in question.
SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION OF THE PROJECT:
The project opens the doors to an alternative livestock area for the regional people by revitalizing the limited poultry production activities in our region, where the large livestock sector is intensely active.
Standardization of free-range poultry businesses
It is hoped that the free-range poultry farming and certification activities carried out within the project will encourage existing initiatives. It is estimated that businesses that will raise their standards to a certain level and qualify for certification will increase their market power. Another social benefit of this situation will be the contribution to employment by entrepreneurs who want to operate in the relevant field of livestock. Poultry farming, like other branches of livestock, is in direct interaction with the feed sector and the food sector. Activities in this area will contribute to the movement of the relevant sectors on a regional basis. The project also addresses the increasing demand for healthy animal products in society. Production carried out in systems that consider animal welfare is also a separate gain for animals indirectly. The fact that free-range poultry businesses can be carried out with lower costs compared to other livestock activities is another social benefit that will allow the economy to move quickly.
Application area that allows undergraduate and postgraduate education:
The activities carried out and to be carried out under this heading, thanks to our infrastructure facilities developed to contribute to ongoing livestock projects and new regional development-focused topics and problems, create the necessary application area for undergraduate and postgraduate education. Our country needs competent and knowledgeable veterinarians in the poultry sector. It will be a great success for our university and our region if our university students become influential in the poultry sector.
Evaluation of products produced or processed in our region with usage potential in the poultry industry:
Many medicinal aromatic plants grow in our region and find medicinal usage areas. Not only herbal products but also the investigation of the usability of oligosaccharides or single-cell proteins produced or to be produced in our region in the poultry sector can contribute to both the sector and our region.