JF Equipment develops customised Off-Loading Bay

When delivering the birds to the abattoir, the challenge is to minimise stress and injury. “In order to overcome this challenge, JF Equipment has studied the designs of equipment the world over and by incorporating the best of these technologies we have created a system that ensures the safe and humane transportation of the poultry from truck to conveyor,” says company Sales Director Pat Young.

The company states that the Off-Loading Bay can be constructed in any suitable configuration. Beginning at one end, forklifts transport the birds in large modules from the truck to a de-stacker. Each module contains 3 columns of crates stacked 4 crates high. The de-stacker is placed between pusher rams and a conveyor belt. Once the module is placed on the de-stacker, the rams extend through the module, pushing the crates onto a receiving slide plate. This plate facilitates crate movement from the module to a conveyor. Air operated, the slide plate then drops to leave the 3 crates resting on, and moving along, the conveyor. This gentle vertical movement is only about 50mm.

The crates then travel along the conveyor, to where the birds are taken out of the crates and hung on the overhead line taking the birds into the abattoir. The crates, however, continue to the automatic crate washer. Once washed, the crates are transported to the empty module bay, where the reverse process is applied and the clean crates are loaded back into the modules. The clean and stacked modules are then replaced onto the delivery vehicle.