Innovation in new organic chicken house

Farming is in the Vullings family's blood. Several generations of farmers and cattle traders preceded the 26-year-old Jens Vullings from Castenray. Through the years the family adapted the business regularly, sometimes forced by circumstances. Still, parents Ben and Jolanda had their doubts when Jens presented his plans for an organic chicken house to them. However, he managed to convince them and now they are enthusiastic about the new barn full of innovation.

Growth

It was grandfather Vullings who expanded the poultry farm in Castenray several times. In the 1970s it grew from 600 to 9,500 laying hens, and in the decades that followed another 36,000 were added. The construction freeze in the 1990s stood in the way of expansion to a total of 72,000 hens, but a fattening marriage between Ben and Jolanda eventually led to an additional barn.

Stable choice

The Vullings-Litjens couple started with a battery stable, a Big Dutchman Eurovent. In 2004 they added a two-storey barn with Vencomatic laying nests in a traditional Big Dutchman system. With a cradle, manure belts and also manure aeration.

Seven years later a new barn was built. In it came the aviary system Natura Step from Big Dutchman. "So in that year we had three types of systems: battery, free-range and aviary," says Vullings.

On January 1, 2012, the battery ban went into effect. Because the Natura Step system was well liked, the battery, and free-range barn were replaced with it by the family. "After that period we took it easy for a while. You can't keep investing one after the other," explains the poultry farmer.

Future-proof

Son Jens meanwhile studied at the MAS in Barneveld and the HAS in Den Bosch. "During my HAS studies I had to make a business analysis and a business development plan for my own company. This showed that our company had the best future prospects if we were to expand with organic or Freiland," says Jens Vullings.

The idea did not immediately strike a chord with his parents. But Ben and Jolanda eventually went along with the idea, partly due to new government measures. The standard of free-range was raised, for example by the beak treatment ban and the ban on electric fencing. Another advantage was that with 7 square meters per hen you needed less poultry rights. So the step to organic became smaller and smaller.

The organic barn

Construction of the new barn started in August 2018. "We chose the Natura Step system again in the organic barn, because we like this aviary system. But also because Big Dutchman dealer Versleijen Agri is only 3 kilometers from here."

The barn is full of innovative systems. For lighting, Vullings chose Hato's Corax light distribution system. "This system rivals LED lighting in terms of light color and spectrum, and in terms of distribution of high frequency fluorescent lighting," explains the poultry farmer.

As a feed and climate computer, the Fortica-PS from Hotraco Agri was chosen. Furthermore, the family chose a Plettenburg heat exchanger with overcapacity, to achieve sufficient emission reduction and minimum ventilation now and in the future.

A special feature is the air distribution in the barn. The air is distributed by means of round, elongated airsocks. Vullings is one of the few poultry farmers in the Netherlands that uses this system.

It's a unique system.

Liquid feed

Not only the technology in the house is ingenious. Family Vullings is also the first organic farm to give the hens Soliq. This is a combination of a (dry) core feed and a nutrient-rich liquid laying mix, which prevents the hen from choosing only the coarse particles from the feed. A transport and dosing system has been specially developed for this purpose, which adds the liquid laying mix to the dry core feed in the feed line; the BRIDOlay feed chute. During transport, the spiral in the BRIDOlay feed chute mixes both components into a slightly moist, but 'dry' mixture. In the Soliq mixture, the fine and coarse grains stick together, which helps to prevent selection.

"We chose this system because most animal species like to eat liquid," explains Jens Vullings. It was quite an investment for the family, though, partly because the entire feeding system had to be made in stainless steel. "But we are already seeing feed savings of at least 3 grams per hen," says Vullings. "Since the first flock is currently still sitting, it will be a while before we can make further statements about any other benefits."

Transparent

Jens Vullings is thinking about a sustainable future and wants to connect with society. "By being transparent and showing what we do there will be more understanding and we show that the poultry sector is full of all kinds of great initiatives. I have zero secrets and open up to everyone."

Source: New Harvest and Ter Heerdt