a Hit with
Strathroy
Producer
The licence plate on the truck in front of the farmhouse located northwest of Strathroy, Ont. reads GR8HATCH. The licence plate suits because that is the goal of Peter and Annette VanderVloet.
Set well back from the house is the broiler breeder barn. Inside the barn, which was built in 1999 when Peter and family started their business, is a new not-so secret weapon.
Peter has installed oval-shaped feeders. They are the new KixooTM feeders from Roxell.
To say Peter is enthused about the performance and results would be understating his reaction.
Production is up versus the chain feeder he used to have in his barn, the uniformity of the birds is much improved and cleaning and maintaining the system is easy, he said.
Peak production with the KixooTM pan was 82 per cent with 14 weeks over 70 per cent peak production. Production at 46 weeks was 66 per cent of peak. There were no culls at 30 weeks and the weights after 27 weeks showed five per cent under target weight, 85 per cent on target and 10 per cent over target weight. With the chain feeder the numbers were: peak production of 77 per cent with 10 weeks over 70 per cent and production was 63 per cent at 46 weeks. Meanwhile, 120 birds were culled from this flock due to under-performance.
The number of chicks per hen housed was about 103 for the flock with the chain feeder while the KixooTM pan flock had about 113 chicks per hen housed. Both were Cobb flocks. VanderVloet said he attributes about 50 per cent of the improved results to the new feeders and the other 50 per cent to better management on his part. “I hope my management helps,” he said with a smile.
A new flock arrived at the VanderVloet farm the day before Canadian Poultry Magazine went out for the interview. This time he has Ross birds. There are 10,400 hens and 1,000 roosters. Inside the barn, he has 750 pans averaging 13.7 hens per pan.
While Peter was describing the features of the pans, one rooster tried to feed at the pan. “He can’t do it,” said Peter. “The adjustable slots won’t let his comb through.” Sure enough, seconds later the rooster gave up and headed off to the open pan feeders near the side of the barn with the other roosters.
The slots adjust very easily using a dial on top of the pan casing and can be narrowed or widened according to the age of the birds.
The oval shape is also a big plus, he said allowing more space between the pans and easy access for all the birds. The pan is also designed to ensure that the exact amount of feed required gets to the pan and the auger system ensures smooth delivery.
Initially, he wondered about cleaning the pans but that has proven very easy. He just raises and tilts them and they powerwash very nicely, he said.
Reprinted with permission from CANADIAN POULTRY