Blog posts of '2016' 'October'

Andy Altenburg is an expert when it comes to bad slats.  Sitting at a massive, 1200-pound conference table made with a full-size concrete slat, the owner of Altenburg Construction in Lewisville, MN explained how he got started in the business.

Altenburg Construction Conference Table

“I was working for a local producer at a nursery site. We were building new buildings like crazy during that time and got behind grouting slats. Grandpa had an old portable mixer out back, and I figured I could mix cement and sand together, and I needed the money. Later I started repairing slats, and when some of the slats were too bad to fix I figured out a way get the old ones out and new ones in.”

“Our goal from the very beginning was to develop tools to make slat replacement faster with less labor. We developed and manufactured the machines we needed learning as we went. Our volume continues to grow each year because we are getting more efficient. We are on track to replace 20,000 slats by the end of 2016.”

Project Manager, Tyler Sauck explained some guidelines to use when examining the condition of slats in a facility.

Look for damage on the side when cracks are visible on top

“The first thing to judge when you see a crack in slat is how deep it is. Surface cracks aren’t a big deal, but if that crack is deep or starting to separate, it becomes a concern. We look for damage on the sides. One of biggest problems comes from improper rebar placement. If the manufacturer placed the rebar too close to the sides or bottom, you’ll see it swell and pop out the concrete.”

Support beams are the cause of many slats failures.

“Really the support beams are a bigger problem than the slats. Everyone can easily see if slats are bad, but checking the beams takes more work. We shine a flashlight down through the slat openings and look closely at the beams. Many times slats on top appear to be fine, but the beams will be shot. You also have to look at both sides of the beam; one side can look perfect and the other side will have rebar hanging out of it.”

Crumbling slat pocket caused this beam to fall

“Another overlooked area is the amount of bearing surface the beam has on a column or end wall pocket. We like to see at least 3” of bearing surface. Over time a building can shift, especially on the end walls. We recommend producers add a pre-cast column at the end wall when building new barns.”

Dry cast slats, machined finished slats in the yard.

Andy joined in, “This year we set slats produced by 13 different manufacturers. The building owner buys the slats; we only set them. Let me tell you, every company can build good slats some of the time, but only a few can build good slats consistently.   The key is quality control. The best manufacturers use machine finished, dry cast concrete and steam cure the slats.”

Setting top quality slats on new construction project.

“Biggest mistake I see in new construction is trying to save money on slats. A guy builds his first barn and thinks all slats are the same. Well, they aren’t, concrete slats are not a commodity product, and there is a difference. Spend the money up front, and you won’t be calling us to replace them near as soon.

Not everything at Altenburg Construction is work. Andy likes to build and race stock cars. We found this in the back shop.

Stan Shrock fills a unique niche in the poultry industry as an independent pullet producer supplying independent layer customers.

Stan explained, “I have an arrangement to raise pullets for two local independent producers. I bring them in as one-day-old chicks and raise them until 16 weeks of age. I own the chickens and supply the feed with this arrangement. I also raise one flock a year for a producer from outside the state where he supplies the chicks and feed under contract.”

Stan’s construction background enabled him to act as his general contractor and build the 50’ x 320’ structure with local labor. The house will hold up to 25,000 pullets.

Stan Shrock with Rotem house controller

The Rotem house controller acts to integrate all of the building systems into a central station to monitor daily production inputs. Along with controlling and tracking the ventilation, heating, and water data the controller also automatically records bird weights and daily feed consumption.

BinTrac Load Cell Bracket feeds information to record and monitor feed levels.

Each bin leg has a load cell bracket attached and relays information to the digital summing box which feeds a display unit mounted inside the office. This display unit, in turn, is linked to the house controller which records and stores feed intake. Stan can easily monitor the flock’s daily feed consumption and note any problems that can affect production.

Rotem hanging scale records chick weight in only 3 seconds.

A hanging scale automatically weighs the birds as they mount the platform. Only 2 to 3 seconds are required for an accurate weight to register to the controller. Stan’s contract includes a bonus on weight uniformity based on the average recorded from the scale system.

Plastic flooring and water line are raised to 24″ to train pullets

The building contains an innovative approach to training pullets for their transition to the layer house. A section of slatted flooring is positioned under each water line. Gradually the water lines and flooring are raised to a height of 24” before the pullets go out. Stan’s layer customers report fewer floor eggs from pullets conditioned with this technique.

Anti-roosting fixtures above pan feeders

Unique anti-roost fixtures above the feeders prevent chicks from soiling the pan feeders but still allow the feed line to be used as a roost.

Wall inlets with light trap hoods outside.

The building features a cross ventilation system with automatically adjusted wall inlets along one wall with light traps on the outside. The fan banks are located on the opposite wall. Stan explained the system; “We felt cross ventilation fit our production model better than tunnel ventilation. We saw excellent circulation patterns when we smoked the building. When the outside temperatures were 95° we stayed at 90° inside.”

Cross ventilation fans with light trap hoods

The building is set up for half-house brooding with five 80,000 BTU, U-tube heaters supplying 400,000 BTU of heating capacity. Stan commented, “ The brooders do a great job of throwing heat to the outside walls, and we get even temperature across the brood area. Additional heat is supplied on the far end with three 40’ long, 100,000 tube heaters.”

Big Foot U-Tube in brooder area with GroTube Infrared heaters in the remainder of the house.

Stan finished up by saying, “ The chicken business has been a nice addition to our farming operation. It fits in with our purebred cattle as we utilize the litter to fertilize the pastures. I am pleased with how the building performs. As a matter of fact, the only thing I would change is the office…I didn’t build it big enough!”