Broederij van Gent, a Cobb parent stock hatchery located in Veenendaal (the Netherlands) has recently upgraded a substantial part of its incubation equipment. Hatchery Manager Mr Cees van Gent gives us an exclusive view inside his hatchery.
Project info
Broederij van Gent: 68 years of hatchery experience
Broederij van Gent was founded in 1946 in Veenendaal, the Netherlands, as a layer and broiler hatchery. In 1991, the company became a parent stock breeder hatchery for Cobb Europe, with whom the owners, Mr Cees van Gent and his wife Leida, enjoy an excellent partnership. Nowadays, van Gent employs 17 people in total. The chicks are supplied to Cobb customers across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and can sometimes go farther afield in support to other Cobb regions worldwide.
Major hatchery upgrade in record time
The equipment for the recent hatchery upgrade was delivered by Petersime in a matter of weeks. The installation of 30 Petersime BioStreamer™ setters was completed at the end of December 2013. For reasons of flexibility, the incubators are a mix of 4, 8 and 12-trolley machines as van Gent works with all kinds of batch sizes.
In January 2014, the Eagle Eye™ hatchery monitoring software was set up. Moreover, the floor was renewed and the existing HVAC control system was replaced with Petersime controllers. Delivery, installation and commissioning were completed within a very short time frame in order to ensure continuous operation.
For this upgrade, owner Cees Van Gent opted for high-end BioStreamer™ incubators for two reasons.
“Firstly, we wanted to optimize our hatch results, and to me, Petersime’s single-stage incubators are among the best in the market,” he explains. “Secondly, we want to improve biosecurity even further. Hatchery hygiene is of the utmost importance for us, and Petersime incubators are especially designed to safeguard biosecurity during the entire incubation process.”
Indeed, hatchery hygiene is a top priority at van Gent. As a result, not a speck of dust or fluff is to be found in the entire building. Visitors are required to shower and leave their clothes and personal belongings behind in a locker. Smartphones are strictly forbidden.
About Broederij van Gent
Broederij van Gent was founded in 1946 in Veenendaal, the Netherlands, as a layer and broiler hatchery. In 1991, the company became a parent stock breeder hatchery for Cobb Europe, with whom the owners enjoy an excellent partnership. Van Gent employs 17 people in total. The chicks are supplied to Cobb customers across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and can sometimes go farther afield in support to other Cobb regions worldwide.
