Research Journals
Volume 16, December 2019, pp. 1-12 [ISSN 1656-2496]
DEVELOPMENT OF LOW-COST BIOCOMPOSITE EGG TRAY
Katrina Angela C. Nieto, Rhuelyn A. Ballaran, Kevin C. Reyes, Gladys S. Plaza, and Isabel Samantha C. Belonio
Abstract
Biocomposite egg tray using rice straw as substitute fiber material and waste paper was developed and tested. Tensile and compressive strengths, moisture content and water absorbency were investigated with different fiber ratios (70, 60 and 50 wt%). Tensile and compressive strengths increased with decreasing fiber content. Higher tensile and compressive strengths were observed in the 50 wt% fiber with loading at 9.3467 MPa and 0.4042 MPa. Moisture and water absorption increased with increasing fiber content. Highest values were observed at 70 wt% fiber with an average value of 6.61% and 42.71% for moisture and for water absorption respectively. Developed biocomposite egg trays had lower production costs compared with existing egg tray with Php 1.29 to Php1.38 difference per piece. Hence, this egg tray has a potential to be commercially produced.
Volume 16, December 2019, pp. 13-27 | ISSN 1656-2496
MODIFIED RE-CIRCULATING COOLING SYSTEM FOR LOW COST POULTRY HOUSING
Rhuelyn A. Ballaran and Nerilyn J. Victoria
Abstract
There is a widespread coping mechanism for climate change adaptations and mitigations nowadays. The extreme high temperatures experienced in the country resulted to higher mortality rate of broilers due to heat stress which led to the design of a re-circulating water conductive floor system for broiler production. An experimental setup for cooling system was established with 2 treatments: the conventional poultry housing (T1) and the modified poultry housing (T2) that used re-circulating cold water conductive floor system to supply the broilers with the needed cooling effect. There were 3 replications for all treatments and each occupied an area of 2 m2, and each filled with 16 heads of chicks reared for 28 days. The re-circulating cooling system brought about an average survival rate of 99% and a highly significant average weight of birds of 1.27 kg. The conductive flooring system was computed to be economically viable and can result to an additional profit of Php 8,616.25 for broiler raisers. Based on the results of the study, the system is recommended to be tested in a commercial scale to verify its economic viability.