Why is Automated Egg Collection a Revolution in Poultry Farming?
Poultry is one of India's significant economic contributors. The industry is already valued at a little over USD 30 billion, exhibiting a healthy YoY growth. Some factors driving this growth include changing dietary habits, government support, and urbanization. However, with growth comes responsibility. It requires embracing more efficient poultry farming by expediting various activities, including
Automated egg collection.
In India, manual egg collection has always been the norm. However, automation is proving a significant game-changer, unlocking new horizons for poultry farmers across the country. The name automatic egg collection system makes the concept self-explanatory. However, it has various aspects associated with it, defining its usefulness and its transformative nature. Let's look at some of them in this blog.
What is Automated Egg Collection and How Does it Work?
Manual egg collection involves collecting eggs by hand from individual nesting boxes/cages. While laborious, it also involves employing people to collect the eggs regularly and preserve them carefully. That also makes the entire process expensive - let alone the high risk of damage that comes with it!
However, automatic egg collection makes gathering eggs easier, quicker, and safer. The technique involves using an advanced automated egg collection machine to collect eggs from nesting boxes/cages and transport them via conveyor belts to a centralized point. Since the process is automated, it requires little human intervention and ensures meticulous handling of eggs, reducing the likelihood of breakages or damage. Additionally, automated egg collection machines enable poultry farmers to collect eggs more frequently, collecting eggs when they are freshly laid and reducing overcrowding in the nesting boxes and egg rolls.
The Need for Automated Egg Collection
Eggs are delicate. Frequent manual handling can make them prone to hair cracks. Often, these cracks are invisible and thus go unnoticed, making them susceptible to contamination. On the other hand, handling eggs manually can also cause breakage, reducing the number of saleable eggs and causing financial losses to the poultry farmer. Furthermore, non-availability of labour or scarcity can result in the piling of eggs, again making them more vulnerable to breakage and contamination.
This is where the need for automatic egg collection steps in. So, let's delve into it a little more to understand why poultry farmers should immediately switch to it.
Cracks Due to Frequent Manual Handling
Handling eggs frequently can result in hair cracks on the eggshells. Often, these cracks are invisible. However, although not visible, they can contaminate the egg making it unfit for consumption.
Demand for Farm Fresh Clean Eggs
Who'd prefer consuming contaminated or damaged eggs? Of course, no one! Consumers always look for farm fresh and clean eggs that reach them promptly. Besides, given the massive demand for eggs, automating egg collection proves the only solution to meet every consumer's need.
Integrating a farm egg collection system with the egg cross conveyor, poultries can collect eggs and transport them to the centralised egg storage facility. Such a system will help maintain bio-security and restrict external traffic from entering the farm.
Same-Day Collection and Packaging
In the case of larger farms with daily produce ranging in millions, automated egg collection can help poultry farmers collect, grade and pack eggs on the same day to reach consumers in the early morning hours. This is one of the ways through which farmers can build a solid reputation for supplying farm fresh eggs in the market.
Benefits of Automated Egg Collection
Automating egg collection can help you, as a poultry farmer, in various ways. The benefits aren't merely technical but extend to making poultry farming more productive and profitable. Let's overview each benefit.
Increased Efficiency and Reduced Labour Costs
Automating the egg collection process helps reduce manual intervention and the need for human workers to gather eggs manually. While lowering labour costs, it allows the existing staff to focus on more complex tasks. Besides, it expedites the egg collection process and ensures continuous operations. The system collects the eggs as soon as they are laid, reducing piling up, damage and contamination. Thus, poultry farmers can transport more eggs to the market.
Enhanced Egg Quality
Automatic egg collection systems are programmed to handle eggs carefully, reducing the risk of cracking or damage during collection. It leads to a higher percentage of saleable eggs, minimizing losses due to damage and contamination.
Improved Animal Welfare
Manual egg collection can prove more stressful for the hens, resulting in improved hatching performance and overall well-being. Besides, automated systems ensure consistent egg collection times and processes, making the poultry environment more stable and secure for the birds.
Increased Production
Humans have physical limitations that restrict their ability to collect eggs. While that's understood, it results in overcrowding of the nest, breakage and contamination. However, automated egg collection can operate continuously, ensuring regular and frequent egg collection. It results in higher overall production and reduced downtime. Besides, poultry farmers can customize automated egg collection systems to fit into various layouts, optimizing the available space and productivity.
Scalability
Automatic egg collection systems can be used by small and large poultry farms. Besides, you can scale them according to your growing and evolving business needs. So, these systems stay with you and serve you efficiently, scaling based on your expansion plans without causing significant disruptions.
Data Collection
Modern egg collection systems have sensors and data collection features enabling farmers to track daily egg production and collection efficiency in real time. They can also analyse production trends, and identify potential issues like a decline in production, and irregularities in flock health. Identifying these problems early can help farmers take proactive measures to maintain productivity. Besides, they can make informed decisions concerning housing conditions, feed management and flock health, enhancing efficiency.
How Does Gartech Contribute to the Automation Revolution in the Poultry Industry?
Committed to supporting the growth of the poultry industry, Gartech Equipments manufactures advanced automated egg collection systems and poultry farm equipment with numerous customizable features and functionalities. Our systems are aligned with the needs of the modern poultry environment, helping farmers increase efficiency and contribute to increased poultry profitability. Do you want to know more about our automated egg collection systems and other egg farming equipment? Please email sales@gartech.co.in for an appointment to navigate our products.