Equiporave Ibérica-Venco News_2020

Venco News + December 2020 of the digital dealer meeting. Occasionally the technology let us customers to the Venco Campus to enjoy an informal evening dinner together. Exchanging experiences, sharing newest inn- o had a total of 160 participants from over 50 countries. That’s a vations and solving their daily issues. This program can be held at fantastic turnout, and more than we normally have at a live event. any location, in any country. Please ask our marketeers and sales Nevertheless, we do hope to welcome you to the Netherlands guys to join and support you with your local event. next time as the chemistry of collaboration really comes from face to face contact. I have no idea what COVID brings in 2021, but my personal goal We truly appreciated your video creations, these were really am- u will be to connect more with you. Physical meetings, Teams sing and expressed your creativity and commitment to us. Thank meetings or the traditional phone calls. I’d like to learn what -dri you all for that. ves you and your business and how we can grow together. I also want to exchange ideas on how to change our business model COVID proved again that for us, an international operating co-m from selling products to selling services. Let us share and learn pany, local partners are key. You are, the ones who meet the from each other how to expand our promising range of Meggsius customers in person, build trust and pull the new orders in. Pe- o products… ple buy from people. Having you in the market is our strength, it’s Then the challenge; during my dealer-event-presentation, we can grow together even in times like these. I challenged you to sell at least 1 proportional order on top of your 2021 budget. I promised to Organising the digital dealer event was meaningful to us. Also award the top 5 ideas by ‘executing’ them, important is that it forced us to further explore digital platforms which we are doing on the moment like Teams. We need to use these platforms to support you in you read this article. But I now realize; your daily work, to stay in contact but also for instance to d-igi we must execute the ideas from all tally accompany you in a meeting with a customer. We believe of you! in collaboration, using each other’s skills and knowledge to c-re ate meaningful experiences for our customers. This is why we I end my story with a big thanks for expanded our Marketing team and welcomed a new colleague: your cooperation in 2020, and I’m inbound specialist, Edwin Vlems. also looking with one eye towards 2021: hungry for having your new suggestions in my mailbox! We also will host a COVID-proof ‘Warm Winter Wednesday night’ Warm regards, program. We invite a select group of customers and potential Ton van de Ven

Vencoperch If it was up to the bird she would choose.. In 2017 we introduced the Q-Perch, the perch that con - trols red mite based on their natural lifecycle. The unique mushroom shape of this perch is studied to be the most - cilitate movement through the system. In practice, we see that birds respond positive to the perch, they stay longer on the perch and walk easily lengthwise over the perch ensuring movement throughout the system. As birds b- e perch available for a bigger part of the market. This is what led to the release of the Vencoperch. - de the mite control technique, so there is no electrical current at the bottom of the perch that kills the red mite. It does have - perform better. The Vencoperch will be available in Kwotes. 2 Venco News+

Going green in the house Last year we introduced our green drinking nipple. Green is of We started a trial in 2018 in the Rondeel and extended it to other course the main colour of our corporate identity with which we - also underline the importance of a natural environment for the hens in the house. To continue this line we have changed the haviour or performance in any of the houses and are absolutely convinced to make this change. We have since installed dozens market. Prior to this change we conducted a thorough test. standard version for all our aviary systems. Both aviaries and -lay ing nests, available in the system from 1 January 2021. Layers Systems Green Red Nest systems Breedrers Classic Sidebelt Nest Veranda systems Classic Centerbelt Nest Aviary systems Optima Nest Turkey Nest Layers Duck Nest Grando Condor Nest Grando Nest Grando Castle Nest Van Gent Nest Veranda Breeder RED-L Bolegg Terrace Bolegg Gallery Optimisation of our rearing systems with new feed trough grill trough. When the trough starts to run chicks were taken along on - the trough. Just before the turn of the trough a tool is installed guration it doesn’t ask for any adjustments during the cycle. It has that expels chicks to prevent them from getting stuck. This works current projects. spread of chicks in the systems. This grill is thoroughly tested and in use in several projects with In the Unistart we have doors in the length of the system which - makes a good spread of the chicks possible. The Bolegg Starter is designed to prevent migration of chicks. Therefore this system is ter when a quote is requested. closed with partition walls and has a special grill to prevent chicks from hitchhiking. Once chicks go back into the system properly after releasing, the grill has to be taken out of the trough to e-na ble the chicks to reach the feed at the bottom of the trough. With the new grill this extra handling is no longer needed. It is an open construction which allows chicks, even when they’re 17 over the full length of the trough which makes hitchhiking for Venco News+ 3

Dealer Meeting 2020 4 Venco News+

Dealer Meeting 2020 Do chickens eat have also started to pay more and more attention to everything? pathogenic organisms in the feed, such as salmonella. A farmer has to take a sample of each feed delivery and store it “My uncle had a shed with 300 in case something turns out to be wrong later on. That’s chickens 50 years ago, he just called tracking and tracing, isn’t it?” threw in his leftovers. Nowadays there are 15,000 So chickens are not fed extra? laying hens in the smallest “Chickens are generally not given supplementary feed, house, but no farmer who unless they consciously want to increase the chance of throws food leftovers in there.” mating in broiler parent animals. After all, a hatching egg Wim Peters is a poultry specialist at Vencomatic Group, he must be fertilized, otherwise it is worthless. Often farmers has had many questions from farmers about chickens. then give special ‘scratch feed’ in the form of broken grain or Including the question if chickens eat everything. Wim is broken corn, which you throw into the litter room, attracting the hens and therefore also the roosters. If the hens stay on the slats, they will not be ‘entered’ by the roosters and are far too afraid of salmonella infections, food safety has the nothing will be fertilized”. “With broilers you often see highest priority”. exceptions to the rule. For example, if farmers grow grain Do chickens really like everything? themselves, they naturally want to reduce feed costs. But then they need a separate installation with their own grain, “They do a lot. A chicken is an omnivore, they eat both which mixes it with the regular feed. I’ve been to a farmer in vegetable and animal food: piers, for example, and turrets. At the Netherlands once who did that.” “What not many people a petting zoo they also get bread, which is made from grain, know: food determines the taste of the egg. In a store, you so they like it. But they also like apples. Pigs, however, are the real omnivores, they often get waste products. With chickens this is hardly ever done, especially to prevent salmonella infection. You have to have a new installation for new chicken feed and a new silo, but that’s not the case with pigs.” “As a people who swear by free-range eggs, but I think that’s rule, therefore, chicken farmers only buy feed from a feed mainly because they feel less guilty about it. The taste is the factory, which contains all the nutrients. In recent years they same.” Venco News+ 5

farmers switching to the Vencomatic’s products History of cage free sustainability, animal health and animal welfare are key. For Ruth Harrison was a British animal welfare activist and author. In broilers there is the on farm hatching X-Treck system of 1964 she published Animal Machines, in which she describes Vencomatic. the intensive poultry and livestock farming. In reaction of this book, the UK government installed a research commission, led Due to this development more and more eggs were requested by Professor Roger Brambell. The research was into the welfare of intensively farmed animals. The commission formulated groups forced the government to give the birds more freedom. recommendation, which became known as Brambell’s Five This resulted in a cage ban in 2012 announced by the Freedoms, to describe the needs of an animal related to welfare. government in Europe. So, the cage ban in Europe was forced As a result of the report, the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Committee was created to monitor the livestock production Since September 2019 in The Netherlands there is also a debeaking ban. We think more countries will follow this Freedoms have been adopted by professional groups including example. The world of keeping laying hens is changing fast. veterinarians and several organizations. After Europe, other countries are thinking to move or are already moving to animal welfare friendly systems. This process lasted • Freedom from hunger or thirst by giving access to fresh water 40 years in the Netherlands, but goes much more rapid all over and a diet to maintain full health and vigor; the world. In the UK, free-range systems are the most popular of • Freedom from discomfort by providing an appropriate the non-cage alternatives, accounting for around 50% of all environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area; eggs produced, compared to 4% in barns and 3% organic. But • Freedom from pain, injury or disease by prevention or rapid so far most of the layers worldwide are still in cages. Apart from diagnosis and treatment; Europa, there is another movement in the cage free direction. • Freedom to express (most) normal behaviour by providing American companies, like Starbucks, Mc Donalds, Unilever, public announce that they only want to use cage free eggs in own kind; the future. How could this happen? The request for cage free • Freedom from fear and distress by ensuring conditions and eggs comes from welfare organizations, Non-government organizations, and by large multinational companies. But most During the period between 1980-2000, there was almost no important, consumers are moving and the market requests more and more cage free eggs, now and in the future. For were mainly large public campaigns against for example, crates example the big company Unilever announces to be fully cage for calves. In the council of Europe, codes of conduct were free in 2020 worldwide. developed. These codes of conduct only could be adopted by uniformity. This leads to a lot of discussion and a minimum of Welfare and cage free legislation. Due to some disease outbreaks like foot and mouth disease, a public debate about intensive farming emerged. In negative states such as disease, hunger and thirst (Bracke and the past farmers produced food, but this production model Hopster, 2006). However, a shift in animal welfare science has made a 180 degrees turn. The market no longer dictated the led to the understanding that good animal welfare cannot be sector. The market became more consumer oriented. Farmers achieved without the experience of positive states (Hemsworth had to produce wat consumers asked for. In the period from et al., 2015). Unequivocally, the housing environment has 2010 until nowadays, we focus more on innovation and housing systems have impact on some of the key welfare issues and animal health are topics that have become very important. for layer hens: musculoskeletal health, disease, severe feather Banning outbreaks of salmonella, campylobacter, etc., reduce pecking, and behavioural expression. Birds can have bone energy, dust, etc. and reduce the antibiotic use, to prevent fragility and muscle weakness when they are unable to move antibiotic resistance. New concept were born that have taken these subject and animal welfare into account. For laying hens conventional cages, where birds have extreme behavioural Vencomatic Group has the Rondeel, where food safety, (LayWel, 2006). Of all housing systems, hens in conventional 6 Venco News+

fractures at depopulation (Widowski et al., 2013). In cage-free can cause rupture of the liver and sudden death. The main systems, the hens have the best musculoskeletal health factors which are thought to contribute to the development of fatty liver include lack of exercise and restricted locomotion, comparing cage-free and furnished cages found that hens in high environmental temperatures, and a high level of stress cage-free systems had stronger wing and keel bones than hens in furnished cages. An increased behavioural repertoire and the ability to exercise, including walking, running, perching, wing- decreases the incidence of osteoporosis and fractures which Feather pecking and cannibalism occurs in all types of housing occur during depopulation. systems (Bestman et al., 2009). Housing birds in large groups can cause an increased risk of severe feather pecking (Potzsch Looking at disease, the incidence of bacterial infections, viral et al., 2001). However, Management practices that may minimise diseases, coccidiosis, and red mites in litter-based and free- the risk of severe feather pecking are the provision of adequate from an early age onwards, no sudden changes in diet or with the correct biosecurity and vaccination programmes, the environmental conditions, minimising stress and fear in the risk of these incidences will decrease (Martin, 2011; Fraser et al., birds, provision of environmental enrichment, appropriate 2013). Hens in conventional cages may experience metabolic rearing conditions, good husbandry and matching the rearing disorders due to lack of exercise. Caged hens can show ‘cage layer fatigue’ which is due to bone weakness, fractures of the thoracic vertebrae, and compression of the spinal cord litter and disuse osteoporosis are more prevalent in conventional may predispose particular birds to initiate the behaviour, to cages compared with systems that allow greater opportunities enable genetic selection against these traits. Venco News+ 7

Welfare in cage-free systems is currently highly variable, and management. In cages the farmer controls the birds. In cage needs to be addressed by management practices, genetic free systems, the behaviour of the birds determine the selection, further research, and appropriate design and maintenance of the housing environment. Conventional cages manage them depending in their needs. Our poultry specialists lack adequate space for movement, and do not include features have lots of experience and knowledge with aviary systems and to allow behavioural expression. Hens therefore experience extreme behavioural restriction, musculoskeletal weakness and cage-free systems in terms of an increased behavioural repertoire, but do not allow full behavioural expression such as foraging, dust-bathing, perching and building or selecting a suitable nest. If hens cannot perform such high deprivation or injury, which is detrimental to their welfare help farmers all over the world with the management of the chickens in our systems to get the best possible results. To space to allow the movements described above to be carried achieve good results with healthy chickens in a aviary system it out by each bird taking into account the presence of other birds is important that you start with a good well trained pullet. A and the frequencies of exercise and other activities required by good pullet must be able to: Jump, perch, jump to a perch and roost on perches (Wichman et al., 2009; Freire and Rogers., Injurious pecking should be minimized by appropriate housing 2007), sleep away from the litter, respond to light dimming and management as well as by genetic selection. Wherever possible, this should be achieved by provision for the hens’ ingredients make sure the pullets grow out in strong layers, with needs, including opportunities to avoid birds which carry out strong bones and good developed muscles. In this way, the pecking, rather than by beak-trimming. Source: The EFSA keelbone damage will be minimized but also by strategic Journal (2005) 197, 1-23. placing them in a production aviary house. For optimal Vencomatic Group and cage free performance, rearing conditions should mimic production Vencomatic started in the hatching egg production in 1983. conditions (Janczak and Riber (2015). Hatching eggs are valuable eggs and they need to be handled with care. Nest mat and transition from nest to egg room is very Due to the tree concept in an aviary system, birds can move important. From this knowledge of save egg handling, easily through the complete system and can express their Vencomatic started with traditional nests for layers. We as natural behaviour. This increases animal welfare. They can Vencomatic started with barn egg production around 1984. In scratch and dust bath in the litter area, sleep in the system on Europe the transition to cage free has led breeding companies perches, lay an egg in an safe and dark nest, and eat and drink in adapt the birds to aviaries systems. They selected on birds with the system.. If birds can explore their natural behaviour, you better performing in aviaries. Also the feed is adapted because minimize stress related behaviour like feather packing. In an the birds have other nutrimental needs. We as Vencomatic have aviary system manure mostly drops on manure belts and will be adapted our systems to the needs of the birds. However, a good transported out of the house, this means in the house you have reared chicken is the key to success in an aviary system. a fresh environment. It’s no secret that “change is coming.” In Therefore, Vencomatic also developed rearing systems. By fact, change already started. We as Vencomatic has faced this increasing the amount of birds moving freely in a house, the transition in Europe and are now supporting the transition in more challenges their occur. Vencomatic faced these challenges debate and the consumer awareness. The consumer keeping birds in cage free housing, we call this bird management. expectations are changing rapidly. Food safety and the With good housing systems and bird management techniques reduction of antibiotics is a major issue in the political debate. A in Europe they are capable to house a large amount of cage free positive public image is very important for food processors and retail. Food safety is more and more becoming an important subject for political debates. What took us 35 years, may happen to you within 10 years from now. 8 Venco News+

Poultry and data management: James Bond with gadgets, the nerds of those days loved “From data with love” it. A computer nerd used to be very recognizable as well: put them in a dark room, throw in a few pizzas and “I recently had an IT guy visit beautiful software comes out. Today’s nerds are more me, who thought that all we ordinary, less stereotypical. Like me, haha.” can do at Vencomatic Group is bend iron. However, he went What can you do with data in a barn? outside ‘wagging his tail’, after we had shown him the the farmer in a dashboard. We use data from our own beautiful things we do with systems and machines, but also from third-party climate data management.” Bas van computers. We can help the farmer remotely with de Langenberg is a Software problems, in the future we can even predict and prevent Engineer and Project Leader, together with his team he problems. Soon you will have an app that helps the ensures that farmers get a better picture of what is farmer manage his barn, problems and causes can be happening in their barn. With data management: “I often tackled faster. Because you can search in a targeted way.” use soccer as a metaphor. In the Netherlands, we always “We have developed various dashboards, with important shout loudly about old trainers like Hiddink or Advocaat, KPIs for the farmer. We are also working on ‘heatmaps’ to who use the old-fashioned skills to manage their team. But see which part of the barn an egg comes from. You can in the meantime, a young generation of trainers is evolving then see whether it matches the expectations, we look and making much better decisions. Thanks to data.” for connections. ‘They never lay eggs on that side of the barn’, a farmer might say, but now you can check it to see Soccer and farmers get better because of data if it’s really the case. We need to know for sure, because if management? “As a farmer you are playing soccer somewhere between “Of course you still have to work on feeling and the Champions League and lowest class, but thanks to experience, data is only instrumental. Vencomatic Group you immediately start in a high class. But then everyone has to realize how important data and data believe in that. Maybe I would have Blog management are. We have to accept that we not only have become a much better soccer player to innovate mechanically and electrically, but also in terms with data at the time, haha.” of software. You can’t teach farmers anything about their profession, but you can support them.”“From data with love, Meet our new colleague  Edwin Vlems Edwin Vlems recently started at Vencomatic will attract customers with your knowledge: Group on the Marketing Department, as every buying process starts at Google. Instead New job a specialist in inbound marketing. Before of interrupting potential customers with what Vencomatic Group he worked at our metals they are interested in (with advertisements supplier MCB, and as a parttime entrepreneur etc.) you should BE what they are interested he also helped other companies with their in. There is a huge potential at Vencomatic inbound marketing. At Vencomatic Group, Group for this: interesting people with Edwin will also investigate the event/fair interesting stories and interesting knowledge. process (and alternatives) and look for ways to I welcome all ideas from dealers to help them streamline it. “With inbound marketing, you with their (inbound) marketing.” From the beginning of October Sten Mann me in my new role as Operations Manager. started in his new role as Operations Manager In my new position, my goal is to improve at Vencomatic Group North America. processes and build bridges between our “Since 2006 I have been working as a Project in Adel Iowa.” Leader. I was responsible for several European dealers, North America and Mexico. My main focus the last 6 years has been the Canadian and US dealers and customers, which will help  Sten Mann Venco News+ 9

In the News: Best practice in egg production Source: Zootecnica International, October 2020 (Zn, Mn), vitamin D3 and oyster shell, particularly in hot seasons. A uniform, brown shell colour is often a sign of good quality. If an egg is pale brown or white in colour, this should act as the  Freek Leijten the egg. Although there is no correlation between degree of How robust management and proactive measures can pigmentation and cuticle deposition, there appears to be an drive best practice for egg production on broiler farms. advantage to improved cuticle coverage. Preventing disease transmission in the hatchery could potentially improve poultry health by selecting for improved cuticle deposition. “Monitoring shell quality characteristics is essential for the promptly,” says Mert. “Without strong shell quality, hatching good quality chicks is simply impossible.” In partnership with Cobb, this article examines best practice in Nesting systems are designed to maximize the production of clean settable eggs that are free of contamination and exposure to moisture. Unfortunately, a producer will occasionally Mert Yalcinalp, Senior Technical Manager at Cobb. “If left this behaviour. Cobb alongside Vencomatic Group, provide some key advice lower hatch performance and, ultimately, reduced chick quality on these two issues, drawing on their experience and expertise and poor broiler performance. “There is no such thing as a clean as well-regarded providers of high-performance broilers and equipment. Shell quality Group, provider of innovative poultry management systems. “A visually clean egg collected from the litter surface may be quality. Poor shell quality can cause issues in the incubator, such contaminated by up to 30 times more than a clean nest egg.” as microbial contamination (rots and bangers) or late embryonic mortality, while issues post-hatch may result in increased defence for protecting the embryo from physical damage, as Rearing Period well as providing it with calcium and assisting in the regulation • Use double wires or rolling parts on the drinkers and the of gas exchange and moisture. feeder systems so the breeder is unable to grab and balance on the drinker and feeder system. This is advised over electric It is clear that shell integrity must be a high priority. But what countermeasures, which can instil a fear of jumping in the criteria should we meet to prevent complications? Firstly, a shell breeder. thickness of at least 0.28mm is the optimal. Viable chicks rarely hatch at levels below this due to excessive moisture loss. Shell • Choose the right type of perch. If the birds are going to be thinning can occur as the hen ages – egg weight and percentage yolk increases whilst the percentage of albumen perches that are preferably manufactured with the same slats decreases. The shell, however, does not increase in the same (perches) as those found on the automatic nest box. This will way, resulting in shell thinning as the breeder ages and encourage the birds to jump and adapt more easily in the ultimately a reduction in shell integrity. To combat this, older production house. 10 Venco News+

• Position slat type perches under one nipple line to encourage • Feeder heights should allow the birds to freely pass under and jumping by providing positive reinforcement for birds that drinkers should not be crowded. jump up on the slats to drink. Set the slat height as no higher than 45 cm. • Growers should always follow the manufacturers’ technical suggestions and not exceed the suggested bird numbers or • Use pan feeders to incorporate enrichments and reward use less product than is needed. jumping. Enrichments can be placed with ramps for access when necessary. • Interiors of the nest boxes should be clean and free from parasites like red mites, which can disturb the birds and cause • Very low light intensity (less than 1 lux) during rearing can the hens to actively avoid the nests. reduce bird activity. Set the lux between 1 and 5 for ideal activity levels. According to a study by the Vencomatic Group on how a nest needs to be designed for maximum nest acceptation , there are Production Period three important factors: • Collect eggs regularly (at least four collections per day) so that the birds have minimal opportunity to see eggs on the litter. 1. Wooden nest walls: when a hen can choose, 80% of hens will choose a wooden nest. • correct behaviour. 2. Avoiding draughts: hens are very sensitive and avoid nests • Always follow the breed standards. 3. Nest design: Nest design is important for the number of nest inspections and visits that the hen makes. If the nest is too • big, you will get more disturbance inside the nest, resulting in the slats. • giving you a chance to solve the problem. A proactive approach especially in warmer and lower humidity areas. Fresh bedding observation and taking action is key,” adds Freek. “Bad laying can be added post-peak to help reduce pododermatitis and habits are hard to break but taking precautions and working leg issues, especially in males. This will help maintain life of eggs.” Strong management • is robust management,” adds Mert. “Invest in measures that need time to get used to the new equipment in the production diligence and precise strategies, best practice can be house. Automatic nest boxes should stay closed prior to the foundation for strong egg production” sleep. Avoid creating shadowed areas. The hen will search for relatively • 80% of birds will lay between two to six hours after the lights go on. Any disruptive activity during this 4 hour period can time. Venco News+ 11

Dear partner, We are approaching the end of 2020. I often hear around me ‘let’s Family businesses have been known as the ‘pillars of our econ- o my’ for many years in almost all regions of the world. During this course it was a year full of challenges, a lot of families experienced pandemic, the values that characterize family businesses were - maybe more important than ever: the ability to quickly respond to crises, like the shift to full remote working over night or giving fortunately, there are also several Vencomatic Group team me-m management support through on-line trainings. But at the same bers who have chronic complaints after an infection. We learn time keeping the focus on long-term goals, in our case to ma-in more about this virus every day and with that there is good hope tain investing in innovation, making sure we can release new, d- is that their health improves. In addition, loneliness has also been a tinctive products and services to the market. In order to give all of big problem for many people this year. And that is sad. Still, I don’t us a better position in the market. Furthermore, and we need to consider this a lost year. I hope the digital way of working is a do this together; please invest in your digital communication and social media, stay in contact with your customers and partners. - Because of course the pandemic will come under control, and we have to be there. Contact us if we can help you please! amount of time was saved, because you didn’t have to wait in It is also becoming more clear that our world is not fully engine-er Dear partner, we hope you and your families are safe and healthy. able, even if it looked like it for a long time. People become more And we hope that we will see each other in person again next aware that we pay a price for our standard of living, and it just has year. That we will be able to host customers here, and to run an to change. At the digital dealer days I mentioned this: we can exhibition together again. Because as I said before: we do miss make our contribution! Poultry is overtaking pork as the most -po you all! I am concluding by wishing you all a very merry Chr-ist pular meat for human consumption because it is the most sust-ai mas, with your families, and a very healthy and successful 2021. nable. The longer term demand for cage-free eggs will grow. And it’s our goal to make poultry farming even more sustainable. With warm regards, That’s what we’re going to do in 2021, together with you: we will take the next steps, and make sure that less feed is wasted, less On behalf of the rest of the family the entire Vencomatic Group energy is used, less medication is needed, so that the eggs and team, for animal welfare. Lotte van de Ven Vencomatic Group Postal address: Phone +31 (0)497 517380 Vencomatic Group [email protected] Visiting address: P.O. Box 160 www.vencomaticgroup.com Venco Campus 5520 AD Eersel Meerheide 200 The Netherlands 5521 DW Eersel The Netherlands Partner Equiporave Ibérica, Lda Tel: E-mail: Rua do Carril nº33-35 - Ap.47 (+351) 263 200 700 [email protected] 2600-623 Castanheira do Ribatejo (+34) 689 465 357 [email protected] Portugal (+244) 945 107 316 [email protected] www.equiporave.pt