Roxell, the Belgium based company that specialises in automatic feeding and drinking systems for the poultry and pig industry, has launched an automatic beak smoothing concept for poultry
In professional poultry farms, beak treatment is used as a preventive measure to reduce damage caused by injurious pecking such as feather pecking, vent pecking and cannibalism. This measure improves the longevity and uniformity of the flock.
In spite of its many benefits, beak treatments involve a lot of risks as the known methods including trimming in hatchery or debeaking on farm are relatively laborious and time consuming. Beak treatments have also been proven to cause stress in birds which impacts their performance early in the production cycle. The process involves creating an open wound where bacteria can enter freely and cause infections, resulting in an increased mortality.
Concern over the welfare of birds had resulting in the banning of cosmetic treatments in some parts of the world. 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 banned in the near future.
In order to meet the specific market demands and animal welfare regulations, Roxell has developed a feeding system for broiler breeders with a rough structure to smooth the beak of the birds. The rough structured bottom pan is designed to control the beak growth of broiler breeders while they are fed. This new solution aims to improve bird performance and feed savings and also provide compliance with animal welfare regulations.
Yousef Daoud, product manager at Roxell said, “At Roxell, we believe we should use nature as a reference to develop new feeding solutions. The animal behaviour and the design of our feeding systems go hand in hand. Therefore we launch the Natural Beak Smoothing concept”.
