Category: POULTRY AND LIVESTOCK

Breeding has powerful effects. Although all chicken breeds originate from the same wild ancestor, they differ dramatically in appearance, physiology, type and metabolic rate. Surprisingly though, one detail remains fairly constant: the incubation time. Whether for a lightweight laying hen or a solid yield broiler, it is very close to 21 days. Comparing incubation requirements,…

Sustainability most often refers to a process aimed at balancing economic, environmental and social interests for a given project or action. In the field of food and agriculture, the FAO has defined five principles of sustainability, the first being improving efficiency in the use of resources. In this respect, improving digestibility and feed efficiency of…

The poultry gut houses a complex and dynamic ecosystem formed by microorganisms (bacteria, protozoa, fungi, yeasts, bacteriophages, and other viruses), within the lumen and attached to the mucosa. This microbiota maintains an essential symbiotic relationship within the host. Understanding that strong relationship is key to appreciating the benefits of the live yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii CNCM…

The user-friendly Fortica® system controls four broiler houses, with a total of 110,000 animals, at the Mekkes farm in Geesbrug, located in the province of Drenthe in the Netherlands. Controlling all barn processes from one reliable system is ideal, according to the broiler farmer Mekkes. The Fortica® system controls the climate, feed, water, animal weighing…

Jansen Poultry Equipment have various solutions for the production of hatching eggs, poultry meat and consumption eggs. Innovative solutions, designed by specialized poultry managers and engineers, that meet the needs of today’s breeder, broiler and laying hen. Maximum number of clean hatching and consumption eggs Maximizing breeder and layer production depends on several factors. One…

Normally one would expect stories about innovations and new applications. In this case, however, we zoom in on a small but very important detail in egg graders that has existed for decades: the rollers. Eggs are transported into an egg grader on hourglass-shaped rollers. In many cases, these are made of industrial plastics or rubbers.…

Octopus Robots company has developed a range of robots to compensate for the lack of solutions to decontaminate extensive buildings such as livestock buildings, food warehouses but also airports and shopping malls. Our robots surpass all exiting “competitor” solutions and even set a positive precedent as there are no similar systems in the market. Octopus Robots…

n the poultry sector, there is a global trend towards choosing group nests over individual nests. Wannes Dermaut explains how farmers want to optimize house space and make smart investments. I’ll begin this article by stating the obvious: automation reduces the amount of manpower needed. It’s the same in every sector, including poultry farming. Particularly…

Valley® Irrigation, The Leader in Precision Irrigation®, has released Pump Command™, a new solution for growers to automate pumping and wirelessly control irrigation pumps. The innovation helps save time and resources with wireless remote monitoring, plus control of all pumps and the ability to link them to a fleet of pivots or linears. Learn more at valleyirrigation.com/pump-command.…

Kenya has finally cancelled the contract of Green Arava, an Israeli company that was setting up a model farm at the Galana-Kulalu irrigation scheme, bringing to an end a protracted battle between the parties. A local company would be contracted to complete the work, the government has said. Water and Irrigation Principal Secretary Joseph Irungu…