Upon their return from the SPACE 2015 international trade show in Rennes (France), the Big Dutchman team brought an impressive number of four awards with them. 20 years ago, the Innov'Space award was presented for the first time on the occasion of the French leading fair for modern pig and poultry production. Since then, 513 companies were recognised with awards – and the poultry and pig equipment supplier from Vechta, Germany, received the greatest number of all: 30 awards in total. For their continuous innovativeness, Big Dutchman International GmbH (BDI) and Big Dutchman Pig Equipment GmbH (BD Pig) each received a special award. Moreover, the jury, consisting of well-known specialists of several French technological and agricultural institutes as well as journalists from national trade magazines, granted the much sought-after award for innovation for two new products.
Big Dutchman was presented an award in the category "poultry equipment" for the Pekino cup drinker used in duck production. For BDI, this was the 17th award. The animal-friendly innovation allows Pekin ducks to drink water as well as to show their characteristic behaviour thanks to the deep-drawn shape of the cup drinker. In contrast to conventional drinkers, the birds can submerge their entire head and preen extensively with the water consumed.
BD Pig was happy with innovation award no. 13. The award went to the EcoMaticpro dry feeding innovation for pig finishing and sow management. This dry feeding system dispenses each feed component according to volume, which means that a mixing tank is not required. A frequency-controlled auger is situated in the feed hopper under each silo and dispenses the amounts of components into the conveyor pipe of the feeding system as required. The components are then mixed to create the required recipe which is dispensed in portions by valves in the next step. EcoMaticpro works without distribution unit and feed kitchen.