Since 2021, Petersime’s cloud-based Eagle Trax™ software has revolutionized hatchery digitalization. Eagle Trax™ standardizes and digitizes hatchery data analysis, enabling hatcheries around the world to optimally use the valuable data they have available. With the launch of OvoLogger™, Petersime takes it one step further by presenting a device that logs vital data on the conditions experienced by the hatching eggs in all production phases. For the first time, hatchery managers can consistently acquire and analyse egg data without gaps, allowing data-based optimization of their production.
Intelligent data loggers to uncover blind spots in egg data
The overall targets of any hatchery are to maximize the number of chicks, achieve the highest chick quality and obtain the highest possible chick uniformity. Hatcheries work hard to create the best possible incubation environment and have strict processes and controls in place to achieve those targets. Yet, at the same time they are dependent on breeder farms and logistics partners to preserve the genetic potential of the product they source, the hatching eggs.
“The output of premium-quality day-old chicks by the hatchery depends on the careful attention to the hatching eggs in all production phases. From oviposition until incubation start, the eggs need to be kept in optimal conditions. However, hatchery managers have no visibility into the egg storage conditions at the breeder farm and during transport. This blind spot can leave them struggling to gain insight into the causes of a disappointing hatch,” explains Rudy Verhelst, Business Development Manager at Petersime. “In answer to this challenge, Petersime has developed the OvoLogger™, an intelligent egg data logger that provides an easy way to get an overall picture of the conditions experienced by the eggs prior to incubation.”
OvoLogger™ and Eagle Trax™: a truly unique combination to acquire and analyse egg data
More than twenty years ago, Petersime launched a unique technology called OvoScan™ that closely monitors the eggshell temperature in the setter, steering the machine to meet the needs of the embryos. Over 10,000 OvoScan™ sensors inside Petersime incubators all over the world help hatchery managers to reach high hatch results. With OvoLogger™, Petersime now presents the industry’s first intelligent egg data logger to come to a next level in egg monitoring: It provides the ability to consistently collect vital data on the conditions experienced by the hatching eggs from breeder farm through to hatchery. Quick to set up, the OvoLogger™ logs the air temperature, humidity level and shock exposure history per egg batch along the entire breeder-farm-to-hatchery timeline.
Gathering data about relevant parameters is only half the job. The other half is having a set-up that allows hatchery managers to analyse the data effectively and efficiently. Petersime’s solution covers both: At the end of the data acquisition period, the data is easily offloaded to the Eagle Trax™ software and available for further analysis. If the causes of a disappointing hatch are unclear, Eagle Trax™ allows to perform a batch-specific analysis to gain deeper insights into what went wrong. Alternatively, Eagle Trax™ can also issue a warning if the values recorded by OvoLogger™ deviate from a pre-defined acceptable bandwidth, providing the option for incubation program adjustments before loading the setters and enabling quick responses to anticipate on lower chick numbers if needed.
At Petersime, we see data and digitalization as a critical factor in the ultimate efficiency of hatcheries and the entire poultry value chain. The invention of the OvoLogger™ is an important step forward in allowing greater transparency between all parties involved. Improper egg storage or transport can be clearly localized and identified. Areas of improvement can be much more easily communicated to breeder farms and logistics partners.
Would you like to know more about our intelligent hatchery solutions and the benefits they can bring to your business? Don’t hesitate to contact us: our sales team is ready to answer all your questions.
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