September 4, 2020

Vencomatic acquires Van Gent Laying Nests 

Earlier this year, Vencomatic Group officially acquired Van Gent Laying Nests Company which has a long-established auto-nest system in Europe for more than 50 years.

Van Gent Laying Nests has an excellent reputation in the international poultry world, including the breeding and layer sector.

Van Gent Nests and Flooring (hardwood and plastic slats) are known for their high quality and durability. The products are designed with a balance of achieving user efficiency and promoting the natural behaviour of birds.

Simon McKenzie, regional director of Asia & Oceania, said that in order to increase the presence of community nests in Asia, the division has lined up long-term strategies with the Asia Pacific Sales and Service team to increase sales in the Asia market which has a lot of growth potential. He strongly believes that his team (Scott McKenzie responsible for Australia and New Zealand territory, Steven Loh responsible for North East Asia territory, Tommy Chew responsible for South East Asia territory, Jeremy Kwan in charge of technical service) will provide full support to their customers under their assigned territories.

Simon added that company growth would benefit from the advantages of the wooden nests of Van Gent and those highlighted by Vencomatic Research & Development from Kempenkip Research Facility which proved that hens preferred to lay eggs in the wooden nests which promoted their natural behaviour.

With good maintenance, it has been tested that the wooden nests can last more than 20 years. Floor eggs are also significantly below accepted industry standards.

Simon highlighted that the first two weeks in the production house determines the floor eggs result, saying that early intervention is the best solution. Training of birds involves: birds exploring the house constantly; birds hopping in rearing over the troughs to get mobility; having enough light intensity for activity; having uniform light distribution.  

He also stressed that the layout of the house (including the location of nests, slats, watering lines, feeding lines, lighting, service and ventilation) and the management (including the rearing, before the arrival of birds at house, density of nest, clock setting, eggs outside the nests, feeding, watering, and the relationship between male and female birds) play important roles to ensure the success of having production in the community nest. These can increase the number of hatching eggs output per house compared to the traditional manual nests. Bird density for community nests per house is about 6-7 birds/m2 compared to traditional manual nests which is only about 4.5-5 birds/m2. While the initial investment is higher, significant advantages and return on investment can be seen in less than two cycles.

The auto-nest system additionally reduces labour requirements while improving output, from three to four workers in the traditional manual nest system to just one worker.