Poultry

PUPIL AI vision technology, SmartBase software and HMI touchscreen control all add intelligence to the VC-i. (Image source: Marel)

Primary poultry processing receives a revolutionary upgrade with Marel introducing the world's first intelligent vent cutter—VC-i

The vent cutter's job in the primary poultry process is to drill out the cloaca without damaging the intestines and hang it over the back of the carcass. Being the first operation performed inside the product, vent cutting needs to be done with surgical precision and hygiene. This is because mistakes cannot be corrected by the remaining operations in the evisceration line.

The Marel VC-i vent cutter sets a new benchmark in accuracy by meticulously drilling out the cloaca without touching the intestines, thereby preventing any soiling or contamination. Designed to optimise hygiene, efficiency and automation, the VC-i eliminates manual adjustments and ensures precise, contamination-free vent cutting. This precision is driven by PUPIL (Precision Unified Processing with Intelligent Learning) AI vision technology, which provides real-time insight into the machine’s performance, ensuring that cloacas are extracted and positioned correctly.

Promoting automation

Advanced features including the HMI touchscreen allows users to set the VC-i on-the-fly with a few taps. Pre-defined recipes are controlling the automatic machine settings to achieve optimal parameters, such as drill depth and product positioning, for the incoming flock. Thanks to these digital machine settings, manual adjustments based on guesswork are a thing of the past. PUPIL visually monitors performance, eliminating human error and ensuring consistent, high-quality results irrespective of significant variations in bird weights and sizes.

Automated adjustments along with PUPIL AI monitoring maintain high performance across all shifts and flocks, even with wide weight ranges. Internal SmartBase software contributes to VC-i’s consistency by monitoring the machine’s health in real time. It offers early warning alerts on performance at both machine level and unit level, enabling proactive adjustments and maintenance.

Prioritising hygiene

When it comes to VC-i design, soiling or contamination is strictly unacceptable. The open structure of the 20 newly developed, robust carousel units not only reduces wear and tear, but also residue buildup and contamination risk, while offering enhanced cleanability. After each operation, the individual drill units are thoroughly cleaned by their own spray washers. The VC-i’s vacuum system also adds to hygiene by removing initial feces from the intestines, preventing soiling of the clean process and contamination in downstream processes. Moreover, to save water, empty shackles are identified by the smart product detection system and switched off. 

The company's egg flow control systems offer a comprehensive and groundbreaking approach to smart egg collection. (Image source: Hotraco Agri)

Global leader in innovation farm automation, Hotraco Agri recently announced its participation in the 2025 International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) scheduled to take place from 28-30 January in Atlanta, Georgia

Hotraco Agri will present three next-generation products and systems developed to optimise every aspect of farm management, setting new industry standards in egg flow control. These groundbreaking solutions are designed to boost efficiency and profit, enhance animal welfare, and simplify operations.  

The company's egg flow control systems offer a comprehensive and groundbreaking approach to smart egg collection, setting new standards for optimising processes at both barn and farm levels. At the barn level, the new Antares Egg controller ensures smooth egg flow by synchronising belt speeds, reducing shell damage, and minimising labour requirements. Equipped with a user-friendly 7-inch touchscreen, it provides real-time insights into egg production with 99.5% accuracy, making it easy to monitor and adjust operations as needed. 

For organisations with multiple barns, the Fortica MAX - centralised egg collection (CEC) solution elevates egg flow management by coordinating outputs across barns. This system adjusts for production fluctuations, ensuring a consistent flow to centralised processing points. The result is reduced downtime, less egg breakage, and more efficient packing and grading. Both integrate seamlessly into new or existing farm setups and operations and offers specialised solutions for barn and farm-level egg flow control. 

Attendees can feel free to meet experts available at Booth B18042 to provide demonstrations and discuss tailored solutions for farming operations.

Chaona eggs have become a popular choice for numerous consumers. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

The State Grid Ningxia Electric Power Co., Ltd. Guyuan Branch recently visited the Chaona egg sorting and marketing centre in Pengyang County Industrial Park to investigate potential safety hazards in electrical equipment

Given their unique advantages of low fat, low cholesterol, large egg yolk and thick egg white, Chaona eggs have become a popular choice for numerous consumers. Since the traditional egg sorting method relies on manual operation, which is inefficient and labour-intensive, the egg sorting marketing centre project came into being, injecting new vitality into the development of the industry.

Chaona eggs are currently being sold to Beijing, Xiamen, Xi'an, Yinchuan, Guyuan and other cities, and the market share continues to expand.

The HCS ProLife is a smart solution leading fresh drinking water through the hatching crates. (Image source: Giordano)

Giordano unveiled the HatchCargoSystem – ProLife (HCS ProLife) — a gamechanger in the early feeding phase of day-old-chicken — at last month's Eurotier Exhibition that took place in Hannover, Germany

The HCS ProLife is a unique sy stem that provides day-old chicken with fresh drinking water and feed inside the hatchery and during road transport. In addition to these internal drinking gutters, the trays are also equipped with feeding gutters, with both drinking and eating being positioned on either sides of the tray, providing maximum access to chicks.

Customers who wish to hatch the day-old-chicken will be provided with a smart tray that can be placed alternately between the crates and offers enough space for 74 hatching eggs. Having a unique framework, these trays allow the day-old-chicks to easily find their way onto the underlying crate immediately after hatching, where they have direct access to fresh drinking water and feed. The tray design allows the fresh drinking water to overflow from the above crate to the one below the tray, all the while ensuring a calm flow down and zero splashing. 

Extensive testing which has been carried out on the system has shown that the water quality remains within all current standards, right down up to and including the last crate. The system can be used in all existing incubators with very minor adjustments, allowing customer expectations to be met, while also keeping law and legistlations costs low.