HyCare proves itself in poultry farming too

The HyCare Demo & Research Facility is located close to the MS Schippers’ international headquarters. It is the second MS Schippers farm that fully implemented HyCare. This farm consists of five stables that accommodate a total of 90,000 broilers. Two were equipped for R&D purposes. Two other stables were built as identical facilities for comparison purposes: one has HyCare fully implemented, while the other uses traditional methods to act as a reference. The fifth stable is located in between them and serves as the ‘HyCare Experience Centre’: a demo stable where visitors can observe and experience HyCare in action. 

Previously, MS Schippers had commissioned a pig farm using the same concept, while a dairy farm stable is projected to be opened in 2020. Both at the MS Schippers facilities and at the farms of customers, the HyCare method is a proven concept for improving both animal health and financial returns. Led by the European Division Manager Poultry, Thomas Mallens, many experiments and tests will take place here, all directed at further substantiating HyCare with hard data for the international market.

Expand health from individual locations to the entire chain

Thomas explains how HyCare leads to an improvement of food safety, predictability of results, uniformity and financial returns (margin per m2). The HyCare Demo & Research facility is just one location within the poultry industry where HyCare is currently being tested. “It will not only prove itself for broilers, but within each link of the poultry industry,. This enables us to facilitate optimal hygiene and health in the entire chain. By ensuring that hygiene plays a central part in poultry farming with the HyCare method, farmers become able to deliver healthier broilers and chickens to the next link in the chain, as well as benefit from its financial and practical benefits”, he says.