Mar 18, 2020

Anticipating climate trends in the poultry market

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With the new update of the innovative Fortica® automation system, Hotraco is anticipating the latest climate trends in the poultry market.

Ventilation via heat exchangers

The trend in poultry houses is more and more ventilation via heat exchangers. With the Fortica® system, the poultry farmer can control the heat exchangers perfectly, creating the optimum climate while keeping heating costs low. Up to four heat exchangers may be activated at the same time.

System ventilation

By System ventilation we mean all the systems that are used to distribute (conditioned) air throughout the housing system in the layer house via the existing ventilation ducts. System ventilation has two functions. On the one hand, it supplies the animals with fresh air, and on the other, this air is used to dry out the manure better. Considering the welfare of the hens, too much air should not be blown in in the immediate vicinity of the animals, nor must it be too cold. This is regulated with the intelligent Fortica® control system.

Save energy costs with Orange Fan Control

For the new generation of high-flow end wall fans, Hotraco offers an energy-efficient ventilation controller: the Orange Fan Control. This control method can also be applied to regulated ventilation circuits. The Orange Fan Control is integrated into the intelligent Fortica® system and it helps to save energy costs.

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Broiler Breeders in the southwest of England

In Devon, in the southwest of England, our dealer Draper Ventilation has delivered a new breeding farm for broilers. The farm consists of four barns, each measuring 115.8 metres by 13.7 metres and containing 9,000 hens and 900 cocks. Hotraco Agri designed the switch panel and delivered the ventilation chimneys which control the climate in these barns.

Fortica successfully applied in Swedish free range chicken farm

The Swedish brothers Christer Berghem and Martin Andersson and their families started to raise Free Range chickens during the autumn of 2015. The Stora Lund farm has been in their family since the brother’s grandfather and father bought it back in the nineteen fifties. They used to produce pigs, but they stopped doing so about ten years ago because of the economic situation. This is when they decided to devote their time to arable farming and started to grow potatoes and wheat. They went to a meeting on organic farming last spring at which they were introduced to the idea of holding free range chickens. As they still had the old pig houses they decided to give this a go as the idea behind the concept was based on using existing buildings.

New two-level poultry barn in Raalte

Friday 22 July was open day at the Kievitsbosch Family in Raalte to mark the new free-range poultry barn. This laying hen barn has two levels, with the lower level allowing access to the outdoors. The entire barn has space for 45,000 hens. Frilim fitted out the entire barn along with all the technical systems. Hotraco Agri developed the operating system in the barn and was present at the open day along with Frilim.

Fortica in broiler house in North Ireland

In the middle of 2016, our Irish dealer delivered a broiler house for the Cowan family in North Ireland. This farm consists of two sheds 280 x 66 feet, each shed holds 28,500 broiler birds. The two poultry sheds are connected by store rooms. This farm is located In Carrickfergus, Bellahill road.

Modern, advanced broiler houses in Hungary

At the start of the year, our Hungarian dealer Poultry-Tech Ltd delivered broiler houses for McDonalds. These broiler houses are extremely modern and innovative. The owner of this company has used the latest technology to reduce the impact on the environment and to improve production and the well-being of the animals. This modern, innovative and advanced approach has led to this company becoming one of McDonalds' Flagship Farms.

Opening of Poultry Innovation Lab

Hotraco Agri took part in the development of a project that is unique in the Netherlands, the Poultry Innovation Lab. The project was initiated by the Poultry Expertise Centre and was carried out in collaboration with the business sector, the education sector and the government. The lab provides a practical learning environment for students and professionals alike. A practical study is taking place into the configuration of stables, climate control, food safety and sustainability. During the course of the study, the focus will lie upon innovative livestock housing concepts.

Fortica Free Flow in Canada

At the start of the year, a number of laying hen barns were delivered in Canada by our dealer Walbern Agri-Systems Ltd. Hotraco Agri has used the new Free Flow ventilation concept in these barns. Free Flow is a ventilation concept which has been specially developed for free-range barns. The ventilation in the barn is based on a negative and positive pressure in the barn. This ventilation concept is fully controlled by one switch panel for each barn with an integrated Fortica computer: Fortica®FreeFlow®.

Poultry barn for education and research opened

On Tuesday, 13 June 2017, the new poultry barn was opened at the Aeres University of Applied Sciences in Dronten. This brand new laying-hen barn is the barn of the future, with a focus on research and education, and will be run entirely by students. This laying-hen barn was designed according to the Beter Leven Keurmerk [Better Living Certification] 3-star guidelines, and therefore meets the strictest requirements that Dierenbescherming [Animal Protection] sets for this certification. The barn has a covered outdoor area and is controlled by a Fortica management computer. In total, this research barn provides space for 1,000 laying hens.

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Broiler house in Belgium automated with Fortica®

A new broiler house in Belgium has been automated with the touch screen Fortica® system. This barn, 110 by 24 metres, is located in Wallonia, just outside Charleroi. The barn houses 58,000 chicks for a period of 6 weeks. The innovative Fortica® system, which is integrated into a switch panel, gives poultry farmers total control over their barn processes. Among other things, the system provides a perfect climate, good air distribution, LED lighting, feed weighing, water consumption registration and controls the winches for the feed and drink lines. The switch panel is also equipped with an extensive ACA-10N alarm system.

Laying hen breeding barns in South Korea

Two barns for breeding laying hens in South Korea have been equipped with Hotraco automation. The well-known ORION poultry system was installed by our local dealer. Each barn, 80 metres long by 16 metres wide, houses 200,000 animals. The ORION system regulates optimal ventilation in the barn. The air inlets, fans and curtains are perfectly attuned with each other and the ORION system uses silo weighing to regulate and record feed consumption in the barn.

Two new modern broiler houses

The official opening of two brand new broiler houses for the Boerma family was held on 21 July 2017. They are being used to house 46,000 slower-growing broiler chickens. These modern barns are provided with the latest layout and systems. Some features of the barn include daylight provision in the side facade with automatic black out curtain, pop holes in the side facade, and heat exchangers for each barn. Hotraco Agri designed switch panels with the Fortica® system to control all processes in the broiler houses, from climate control, ventilation and lighting to feed and water control. The heat exchanger is also completely integrated into the Fortica® system. The Fortica® touchscreen gives you quick, clear insight into every process, and making changes has never been easier. The Boerma family ran the first cycle in the new barn in May.

Broiler houses in England automated with Fortica® system

Our English dealer has automated two new broiler houses with the innovative Fortica® system. All the barn processes, including ventilation, lighting, animal weighing, feed and water registration, are controlled from a central switch panel. These processes can be adjusted quickly and easily with the Fortica system’s user-friendly touch screen. This gives poultry farmers a clear overview of their operational processes.

30 broiler houses in China

A large project in China was recently finished for 5 farms with 6 broiler houses each. Each barn houses 55,680 broiler chickens (to max 2.5 kg). The barn was designed with a cage batteries in 5 rows with 4 levels. Hotraco Agri designed switch panels with the Fortica® system to control all processes in the broiler houses from climate control, ventilation, lighting, animal weighing and feed and water control to manure removal. Poultry farmers can view and adjust these processes quickly and easily with the Fortica system’s user-friendly touch screen. This farm is also provided with the Fortlink®, which enables a secure connection with a PC, tablet or smartphone. The Fortlink® collects data from all the connected barns, displays it on a screen and forwards it to a connected PC or to the Fortica app via the internet. The user-friendly Fortica app enables poultry farmers to read off and control the Fortica system remotely using a smartphone or tablet.

Broiler farmer upgrades from Orion® to Fortica® system

This year broiler farmer Ramon Harmes of Klazienaveen in the province of Drenthe (NL) has upgraded from the ORION® system to the new touch screen Fortica® system. The broiler house systems were installed by poultry house automation specialist Kosse Staltechnieken, which the Harmes family has relied on for the past 25 years. The Harmes had four broiler houses, but they recently razed two to make room for two brand ones with the innovative new Fortica® system. The other two barns are still in use and have been converted to Fortica®. Two additional large broiler houses are currently being built. In total, the agricultural enterprise will have space to house 248,500 broilers, with the day-old chicks being held 6 to 8 weeks. The goal is transformation into a sustainable poultry farm. In keeping with this plan, electricity is generated by solar panels and the barns will be heated with energy produced by burning manure.

New laying hen barn in Scotland

A new laying hen barn has been built in the south of Scotland. This new free-range poultry house, measuring 80 x 15.24 metres, will house 16,000 hens. Here the innovative Fortica® system is integrated in a Hotraco switch panel.

Layer Farm in the UK

Last month the Sally layer farm in the UK opened his doors. The Campus at Sally Farm will be a place of learning for degree students and apprentices. With 4 identical 16.000 bird poultry houses on each development, it will be a venue for research on a commercial scale where comparative controlled trials can be performed. All houses are equipped with the innovative Fortica® system and the new MiteAlert. Fortica® provides poultry farmers with important information about the performance of their animals, such as an insight into the laying percentage and the number of eggs. With the MiteAlert® the farm manager can get and keep track of the size and development of a red mite population in the house, and determine a treatment moment on that basis. This Farm will be a facility for the UK poultry industry, a template for modern egg production and is the future of high poultry welfare.

Broiler farms in China

Hotraco Agri automated broiler farms in the northern province of Jilin, China. Each farm consists of four cage barns, and each barn has six rows and four levels with about 85,000 broilers. The climate control is fully automated, using the Orion systems. These systems can be operated remotely from a smartphone, tablet or PC.

New organic laying hen house

Hotraco Agri recently put a new organic laying hen house in operation in Germany. The 12,000 hens housed there all have access to outdoor free range. Despite this free range access, Hotraco's automation system maintains an optimum climate in the house. In addition to the climate, animal and feed weighing, nest control and lighting are also automated and perfectly integrated with each other.

New broiler house in Canada

In August 2014, dealer CFM Système from Québec, Canada commissioned a new broiler house. It is a stable of 400 x 64 ft in total which houses 36,000 animals. All processes are controlled by the Orion-PB computer for broilers which is integrated in a control cabinet.

Breeder barn in Poland

At the beginning of June, our Polish dealer delivered a new breeder barn in Poland. The breeder barn is 150 metres long and 32 metres wide. The barn contains two rows of laying nests and the incubating eggs are collected in the middle.

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Discover all the poultry solutions from Hotraco Agri

Climate control
Feed & water control
Animal weighing
Lighting & nest control
Egg counting
Farm Management

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