Renewable Farming

Pursanova water filters and Pursalex tube improve egg production and shell strength

On May 31, Pursanova Ltd. president Vatché Keuftedjian forwarded this text message from an Iowa farmer who installed a Pursalex water treatment system:

June 4, 2010 — “Prior to installing the Pursanova water system on our farm, we were experiencing significant challenges to the shell quality of the eggs from our chicken flock. We record the egg production of the flock daily, year-round. We hoped the Pursanova system would help to mitigate issues we were having with shell quality, which we believed was partly caused by various mineral components in our well water. 

“We looked at the daily egg production 30 days prior to installing the Pursonava system, then for another 30 days after installing the system. Our feed ration has not changed. We have been utilizing the Fertrell Company’s poultry pre-mix and the nutrient-dense non-GMO grains we raise on our farm. 

“The egg shell quality has improved significantly since we installed the Pursanova system, and we recorded a 4% increase in egg production. We are also seeing a slight improvement in the feathers of the chickens in the first 30 days. This flock went into production in September 2019.”

We asked Vatché if we could speak directly to the farmer. It turned out to be a longtime friend, Howard Vlieger of Maurice, Iowa, an advocate of environmentally sound, non-GMO farming.

This morning, Howard confirmed his results. He and his wife Pam have maintained a layer flock for years, marketing eggs locally along with other nutritionally healthy food and feedstuffs. “Our long-term problem with fragile eggshells probably stems from our well water’s high iron content, which disrupts hens’ metabolism of calcium and phosphorus,” he reasons. 

His flock has seasonal access to free range pasture in paddocks, with regular rotation to fresh ground. Hens roost inside at night, with the door locked against predators.

The Vlieger’s hens lay eggs in traditional bedded nests. A hen typically leaves a nest after laying, and the next hen uses the same nest — stepping over and sometimes onto a clutch of eggs. Despite the regularly refreshed bedding, successive nest usage resulted in some cracked eggs. 

With thicker and better-mineralized shells, that problem has subsided, helping reach an initial 4% gain in salable egg production.

Update June 6:  Howard travels a lot, demonstrating a burndown herbicide under development, and didn’t have time to change filter elements for several weeks. The No. 1 filter plugged and reduced water pressure. To restore pressure quickly, Howard switched the well valves to bypass the filter and Pursanova system until he could find time to change filters. For three days, Howard’s wife Pam didn’t realize that the laying flock was getting untreated water. But she did notice an abrupt change in eggshell quality in those three days. She asked Howard: “What happened?” 

Howard found time to change the filters. The laying flock quickly returned to producing thicker, well-mineralized eggshells.

 

Used particulate filter, No. 1 in a three-filter Pursanova system,
shows yellowing from trapped iron.

Howard said his well water analysis shows a high iron concentration — a common problem across the Iowa landscape. The Pursanova system’s large filters, installed ahead of the Pursalex energizing tube, strip out particulate matter and many soluble toxins.

The first filter filter in a series of three (photo nearby) has just been removed after about three weeks of use. The rusty look shows it has trapped microscopic iron particles. A second in-line filter stops even finer particles. A third filter is packed with fine carbon which chelates many dissolved toxins and blocks bacterial contaminants. The filters and Pursalex tube are installed in the farm’s freeze-proof outdoor well pit, alongside the electric well pump. Howard tells us he has to change the No. 1 filter unit every three to four weeks.

Filtered water flows through a Pursalex treatment tube, which creates a natural harmonic energy similar to a natural flow of water in a clean, rocky stream. You can read more about Pursanova technology at this link.

Improved poultry performance in this instance, as well as other livestock-related examples, results from the combination of clean water plus the energizing benefits of the Pursalex tube. 

Our own view of this example — especially after living with a similar Pursanova system for many years: What’s good for poultry is good for people too.

Our son Erik and his wife Jeanene, along with their three sons, keep a small layer flock, benefited by Pursanova-treated water. We enjoy tasty eggs from those hens. Hens are rotated from paddock to paddock, like the Vlieger flock. Eggshells from that flock are always sound. We have no comparison with supermarket eggs… we haven’t bought chainstore eggs for years.

Somewhat related to this subject, here’s a mini-riddle posed a few days ago by our son Erik. He was tongue-in-cheek about a technological wonder: 

“Scientists have discovered a robotic composting unit weighing about 4.5 pounds which uses no electricity, constantly turns over organic material in a sheet-compost bed, senses and destroys beetle grubs and other pests, automatically fertilizes the compost for ideal nitrogen/carbon ratio, and has an initial base price under $4. Available in virtually unlimited, renewable quantities and widely varied ornamental colors. Also, each unit daily produces tasty high-protein food as a byproduct.”

A laying hen.