Within the hatchery of today, a hygienic production process is crucial to ensure product quality and to minimise the amount of contaminated eggs. The appearance of bacterial infections is a major cause of first week mortality and production loss and is a serious problem in the poultry industry.

For this purpose, Viscon Hatchery Automation, which specialises in hatchery equipment from egg reception to chick delivery, had established a new company "Vinovo", which emphasises on poultry health solutions in the process of in-ovo vaccination and transfer of eggs.  Vinovo has developed an innovative product line within the last three years.

One of the innovations is Live Embryo Detection^®. By the use of a patented heart beat sensor this unit accurately indicates if the egg is infertile or contains a living or dead embryo, no matter which embryonic stage (early dead or late dead) the embryo is in. Based on this information, only living eggs are transferred to the hatcher baskets. The unwanted eggs are not touched and are processed in a separate room, which prevents breaking of infertile eggs and the exploding of late dead eggs (bangers) during transfer. This creates a more sterile environment and prevents the presence of contaminated eggs during the hatching and day-old chick stages. Vinovo is going to apply these new techniques in in-ovo vaccination technology. 

More innovations and technical details of the new Vinovo line will be unveiled at VIV Europe in Utrecht, May 20-22.