Namib Poultry on a steep learning curve
Launched just two years ago, Namib Poultry is delivering outstanding results as a brand new integrated poultry producer, developed to address rising demand for poultry and poultry meat products in Namibia against the backdrop of a rising economy in the country.
The integrated company occupies a centrally located 5,000 hectare site, to provide easier supply routes throughout Namibia. The site includes six breeder farms with a combined total of 90,000 broiler breeder hens, seven broiler units, the hatchery and processing plant.
Established links between Dutch hatchery company Pas Reform’s South African Agent Jankees Sligcher and the company’s management team were pivotal in the company’s decision to employ SmartPro single stage incubation technologies from the outset. Previous experience of Pas Reform’s service offering, combined with the quality of technical support available, proved crucially important in starting up operations with a new team – and the hatchery has been designed to deliver optimum results as rapidly as possible, with a full training and support programme for Namib Poultry’s hatchery personnel who came to their new roles largely without any previous hatchery experience.
The new hatchery includes nine SmartSetPro setters and 12 SmartHatchPro hatchers, producing 250,000 day old chicks each week currently, with the inbuilt capacity to more than double production as demand increases.
A centralised SmartCenter hatchery information system delivers finite control over the hatching process, which can only be accessed by a small number of hatchery personnel who have received in-depth hatchery management training from Pas Reform Academy in Zeddam and further ongoing training on site in Namibia.
Careful control of the hatchery’s internal environment has also been a key factor. With outside temperatures ranging from -6°C-45°C, SmartPro’s modular design allows for the fine control of temperature and humidity levels during incubation and equal attention being paid to managing climate throughout the hatchery, for example through the use of large mobile fan units in the chick holding area.
Pas Reform has also helped Namib Poultry in developing suitable processes to maintain hatchery hygiene. Personnel are fully trained in the use of a simple colour-coded system for the separate areas of the facility, while the easy-clean design features of SmartPro setters and hatchers make it quick and simple to ensure that incubation equipment is thoroughly cleaned between hatch cycles.
Since its first hatch in March 2012, the Company is well on its way to delivering quality poultry products for a rising nation.
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