December 21, 2016

 

Roxell launched Natural Beak Smoothing concept at Eurotier

 

 

 

Beak treatment is a preventive measure to reduce damage caused by injurious pecking, such as feather pecking, vent pecking and cannibalism, and thereby improve livability and uniformity of the flock, Roxell explains. 

 

For farmers, cosmetic treatments are necessary evil with many risks. The known methods (trimming in hatchery or debeaking on farm) are relatively laborious and time consuming.

 

Beak treatment also causes stress with bird, hence impact on their performance early in the production cycle. Making an open wound where bacteria can enter freely could cause infections, resulting in an increased mortality.

 

Furthermore, the welfare of birds increasingly gains importance in the poultry industry, resulting in the ban of cosmetic treatments. Animal welfare standards vary significantly from country to country. Recent developments in certain countries indicate that beak treatment of broiler breeders and laying hens is or will be forbidden in the near future.

 

Smoothing, saving, performing

 

Hence, Roxell provides a high quality and durable solution for new market trends and upcoming animal welfare regulations.    

 

Yousef Daoud, product manager at Roxell, explains: "We believe we should use nature as a reference to develop new feeding solutions. The animal behavior and the design of our feeding systems go hand in hand. Therefore, we launch the Natural Beak Smoothing concept."

 

Feeding and beak smoothing at the same time?

 

In order to meet the specific market demands and animal welfare regulations, Roxell developed a feeding system for broiler breeders with a general structure to smooth the beak of the birds.

 

With the rough structured bottom pan, the beak growth of broiler breeders will be controlled continuously while they are fed. This new solution guarantees bird performance and feed saving, compliance with the animal welfare regulations and reduction of stress.

 

More than three years of development and testing resulted in an innovative product that was presented in a black box to deliver the Natural Beak Smoothing of Roxell. At a poultry forum in this year's EuroTier, the Roxell team explained the concept and test results in terms of feed saving (3g per bird per day), less mortality (2%) and a better fertility.