Sri Lanka’s CIC Feeds has selected the latest SmartSetPro setters and SmartHatchPro hatchers, together with a full suite of ventilation, climate control and hatchery automation systems from Dutch hatchery technology company Pas Reform, to fasttrack plans for further expansion.
As an integrated poultry company the operations of CIC Feeds Group include the manufacturing of compound feeds, breeder farms, hatchery, broiler farms and processing plant.
With plans to expand its breeder business, the company will increase production with a further 400,000 day-old chicks per week, to meet rising demand both in its own broiler farms and for supply to customers.
Mr Lal Silva, managing director of CIC Feeds Group, said: “For solid, sustained growth, we have looked at the latest Modular, single-stage technologies to deliver robust, uniform day-old-chicks that support our plans throughout the integration, as well as increasing efficiencies in our hatchery operations.
“In choosing Pas Reform, we have an incubation partner that understands our challenges and opportunities for the future, with SmartPro hatchery technologies that meet all of our criteria for quality, increased production and energy savings.”
As an integrated operation, says Silva, it has become imperative to exploit the full genetic potential of modern chicken breeds, which is made possible by modular, single stage incubation practices.
The company has chosen 12 SmartSetPro setters and 12 SmartHatchPro hatchers, in combination with Pas Reform’s SmartTray 162 setter tray with space saving honeycomb design, for improved cost per hatch. The new hatchery is nearing completion and will be fully operational in the third quarter of this year.