Andrea and Norbert Holste have invested in their future with the building of two new poultry sheds upon their farm in Schöppingen, in the district of Borken. Some 300 visitors accepted the invitation of the new farmers to take a closer look at the new sheds, with the Holstes buying all necessary equipment from Big Dutchman.
Impressive poultry sheds
The new building consists of two stalls, each with a size of 20 x 95 metres, and offers places for approximately 84, 000 birds. The feeding system is composed of eight drinking-lines with stainless-steel drinking nipples and four feeding lines: this is the innovative Fluxx feed pan from Big Dutchman, that also employs the 360° flooding mechanism for a high feed level in the day-old chicks. Depending on the age and size of the birds, the entire feed line can be raised, which causes the flood mechanism to automatically close, and which in turn decreases the feed level, so that feed loss is reduced to a minimum.
Healthy poultry climate control
The 16 exhaust air chimneys in each house push the exhaust air towards the outside; these chimneys are built into the ceilings and are ten metres above ground level. Big Dutchman fresh air inlets keep the fresh air supply moving around the house, resulting in a healthy house ventilation system.
Two RGA-100 heating systems per house are able to ensure an optimal poultry house temperature with high energy efficiency in each house. The heating machines work with a closed combustion system, so that the poultry sheds remain free from smoke and harmful gases, which are discharged outdoors through a chimney. The built-in ventilators are able to ensure that there is a good dispersion of air throughout the entire house because of their large range.
In order to ensure a consistently good animal performance even during high summer temperatures, a spray cooling system with stainless-steel nozzles can be employed, and therefore reduces the possibility of heat-stress for the birds. Moreover, the humidity in the house can also be constantly monitored – another plus for this system.
Control feeding systems and climate systems for poultry growing by mouse click
Another important feature in the new sheds is the use of the control system amacs. With this computer-controlled system, Andrea and Norbert Holste can easily control all essential functions in their new sheds – for example, the feeding installations or the poultry climate control system – with only a mouse click.
amacs works off the basis that network engineering can be combined with modern technology for communication, which enables permanent data acquisition, supervision and control of the two buildings in real time. Therefore, houses can be controlled without any problems, either on the spot, or by remote control, from any location in the world, with either a Windows-PC or even a Smartphone.