30 layer and 12 rearing houses equipped by Big Dutchman

In 1938, the Big Dutchman founders invented the world’s first automatic chain feeder for poultry in the USA. Today, the headquarters of the company are located in Vechta, Germany. In regard to housing and feeding systems, the poultry equipment supplier is considered to be the international market leader: On five continents and in more than 100 countries around the world, Big Dutchman is a trademark for lasting quality, reliable service and unsurpassed know-how. 

A prime example is Asia’s largest and most advanced, fully integrated layer project in the Chinese district of Pinggu (Beijing Province): An impressive number of altogether 30 closed poultry houses accommodating four million birds have been fully equipped by Big Dutchman. The state-of-the-art facility belongs to the Thai Charoen Pokphand Group (CP) and was put into operation in 2012. 

The birds are kept in 18 layer and 12 rearing houses. The Univent poultry cage, which CP decided to install, is a classic Big Dutchman management system and being used in poultry houses worldwide: More than 164 million bird places throughout the world have been equipped with Univent cages. 

Layer houses

Each of the 18 layer houses is 127 m x 15.6 m large. Six rows of manure belt batteries of the Univent UV 600 models are installed. They allow room for nine birds per cage, resulting in a cage surface area of 402 cm2 per hen. Univent 600 cages provide the birds with sufficient feeding and drinker space. Approximately 167,000 birds are kept in each house. 

Centerpiece of the layer houses is the AMACS control system that makes it easy to control egg production and climate. AMACS is based on the most modern internet technology and also speaks Chinese. It allows poultry producers to monitor in real time for example the data regarding house temperature or ventilation, but also to check only with a few clicks on feeding or water supply and modify settings if required – all this from virtually any location in the world. The result is a stable house environment which is mandatory for healthy birds. AMACS also ensures reliable control and management of the egg collection system. 

Each layer house has been equipped with the OptiSec manure drying tunnel. Up to 90 % dry matter contents can be achieved, thus creating ideal conditions for safe storage of the manure.

Rearing houses

In each rearing house (94 m x 16.6 m), approx. 88,200 pullets can be kept. The houses are equipped with rearing cages of the Univent Starter UVS 680a model. All houses contain six cage rows and each individual cage can house 27 females. The cage surface per bird is 303.70 cm2. The Univent Starter UV-S680a cages provide the birds with sufficient feeding and drinker space. The manure collected by the cages’ manure belts can be dried by a drying system. 

ViperTouch

To provide a healthy rearing environment in the houses the ViperTouch climate and production computer is used. The state-of-the-art user interface makes the handling intuitive, simple and fast. The easy-to-operate touch screen is another innovative feature. ViperTouch is multilingual and also speaks Chinese. 

Apart from this, ViperTouch offers a variety of functionalities that facilitate poultry production, such as the recording of all important data concerning production, growth, feed and water consumption. This permits the user to quickly react to any change. Furthermore, the controller can be used for all established types of ventilation (natural, mechanical and combined). Further advantages are, among others, an optimized control of the comfort temperature.