Productora Avícola Cevallos ‘Proavicea Cía Ltda’, founded in 1978 as a family-led broiler farm, specializes in the breeding and processing of broiler chickens. As its poultry integration continues to expand, the company headquartered in Ascázubi near Ecuador’s capital has partnered with Petersime on a modern hatchery with an incubation capacity of 13.5 million hatching eggs per year.
Once a small family broiler farm…
With an entrepreneurial vision to venture into the poultry world, Mr Carlos Cevallos Gordón and his wife Mrs Marina Gordón Santillán founded the family business in 1978 to breed and market broiler chickens on a small scale. The dedication and success of Proavicea’s first broiler farm quickly resulted in the company growing along with the overall increasing consumption of domestic-bred chicken meat in Ecuador.
In 1985, Proavicea introduced a small feed mill plant into its production process. As this action reinforced its competitive position in the national poultry market, further expansions followed with the addition of more farms.
…now a successful poultry integration
Five years ago, Proavicea made the strategic decision to again expand its poultry integration with a new breeder farm and broiler hatchery. Aiming to achieve superior performance and chick quality, Proavicea and Petersime joined forces to design a modern hatchery with the highest quality and efficiency standards. The result is a building where all egg, chick, personnel and material flows are optimized so that biosecurity is never compromised.
Mr Juan Carlos Cevallos, General Manager at Proavicea, commented: “We decided to work with Petersime because the advanced equipment is easy to use and maintain. We also highly value the excellent technical support and the expert advice from Petersime’s incubation specialists.”
The hatchery with a current production capacity of 13.5 million hatching eggs per year has been supplied and installed in three phases:
- The first phase in 2016 included the installation of 6 single-stage BioStreamer™ 12S HD setters and 3 4H HD hatchers.
- In the second phase, the hatchery’s production capacity was increased with 3 additional 12S HD setters and 3 4H HD hatchers.
- With the addition of 3 more 12S HD setters, the third and final installation phase was completed earlier this year.
All incubators are equipped with Embryo-Response Incubation™ technology to create the optimal incubation environment. The high humidity levels in the region called for an HVAC system that dehumidifies the air to reach the most optimal levels for incubation. Petersime proved to be the perfect partner for this by designing and delivering a custom-made HVAC solution that perfectly handles the extreme conditions.
The entire hatchery is monitored by Eagle Eye™ software, giving hatchery managers an integrated control of the setters, hatchers and room conditions. Recently, Proavicea also started using the Easy Connect™ smartphone app to view the conditions of its incubators round the clock and in a very simple and intuitive way.
Close cooperation with Avicorp, Petersime distributor in Ecuador
Acting as a key link between Proavicea and Petersime, Avicorp – our official distributor in Ecuador – coordinated the entire hatchery project from its initial start-up over the import of the incubators and other material to installation. Conscious of the importance of fast, efficient support, Avicorp has kept constant communication with the hatchery staff. The agent also offers local services, such as the availability of spare parts to support customers in maximizing their hatchery performance.
In line with Proavicea’s long-term vision for growth, the integrated poultry company has plans to double its current production capacity in the future together with Petersime.