EuroTier: pig-related gold medal innovations

02-10-2008 | Home | News

Four innovations at the upcoming EuroTier show, held 11-14 November in Hanover, Germany, have been awarded a gold medal by the independent expert commission. Three of them are related to the pig industry.

Another 13 products received a silver medal, of the total of 243 innovations that were submitted for the awards. The award winners were made public earlier this week.

Animal locating and identifying system

Austrian animal equipment company Schauer Maschinenfabrik will introduce Argus Welfare System at EuroTier, a tool to identify the position of an individual animal in the housing facility with the aid of reference nodes, recording movement patterns.

The system can be used in all housing facilities and facilitates group management. As farm and sow group sizes grow, it simplifies locating of the animals and makes it possible to follow their movements.

It can at the same time provide indications of oestrus and illness developments and feed intake. This leads to a distinct improvement in work productivity. The system can also be used for other animal species.

This innovation can be found in hall 12, stand B19

Slatted floor cleaner in modular fashion

From the German cleaning company Westermann Reinigungstechnik comes Cleanmelon 3, a novelty in slatted floor cleaning. Their new cleaner is built up in a modular fashion, consisting of a sliding pusher, radial clearer, cleaning nozzles and drying facility.

The cleaner makes effective cleaning of slatted floor surfaces and gaps between the slats possible for the first time. Furthermore this improves the permeability of slatted floors, reduces odour and ammonia emissions, lowers the risk of slipping and diminishes claw and hoof soiling, as well as facilitating work by comparison with manual cleaning.

This innovation can be found in hall 13, stand E08

Egg counting system

German animal equipment manufacturer and supplier Big Dutchman introduces EggCam at EuroTier – a system for counting eggs with integrated egg weight identification and recording of egg quality criteria (shell soiling) using a video-supported sensor.

In previous systems eggs are counted mechanically or electronically on collection from keeping facilities while there is generally no checking of weight and egg quality. Soiled eggs are only roughly detected visually and if appropriate gathered by hand.

However, today fast and objective capture of such information is necessary for optimised plant management. The system makes it possible to determine the egg weight produced by weighing directly on egg collection. In the event of deviations from the target value suitable correction measures can be taken quickly.

Identification of soiled eggs and eggs with shell defects can be used both to identify problem zones in individual housing compartments and for preliminary grading of eggs.

No comparable system has existed so far in layer hen keeping. It represents an interesting and important management tool for medium to large-sized layer hen operations (for both small group and barn husbandry).

This innovation can be found in hall 11, stand C21

Automatic feeding system

The Innovado from Dutch automated feeding company Schuitemaker is an automatic feeder mixer wagon that removes feed from the clamp silo, mixes it, drives it to the housing, distributes the feed there and returns to the silo, all without an operator.

The route is pre-set via induction loops in the ground. The wagon is guided by sensors, a gyroscope and laser. In the concept presented, the company combines several known engineering elements to produce a device that allows genuine automation of the complete feeding procedure from the clamp silo.

This can cut labour time requirements, secure work quality and optimise feeding. The wagon can service several feed storage locations and supply different animal groups in several housing facilities with different rations round the clock.

It is thus also particularly suitable for growing farms. Safety is ensured by a laser that scans the surroundings for persons, animals and objects that should not come within the vicinity of the machine. If they do the feeder wagon stops immediately.

This innovation can be found in hall 27, stand C26