There is a good reason why Iceland’s agriculture is dominated by animal husbandry: the island country in Northern Europe has a very unique nature, which is, however, also characterised by lava fields and a harsh climate. Only 1 % of the country’s area is suitable for cultivation, another 19.5 % can be used as pasture.
Poultry production is one branch of Iceland’s livestock industry. It is therefore self-evident that Big Dutchman equipment for broiler production is used on the world’s largest volcanically active island. For example by the company Matfugl ehf. The poultry meat producer, located about 20 km north-west of Reykjavik in the town of Mosfellsbæ, recently built a completely new broiler house and purchased all equipment from the poultry equipment supplier from Calveslage, Germany.
The poultry house itself, 60 x 28 metres large, is only one building when seen from the outside. The inside houses two individual barns, separated by an intermediate wall. Matfugl installed the most modern poultry equipment in the new barn, from the housing to the feeding system and to the computers for efficient poultry house management.
Optimal poultry climate control
Farmers from other parts of the world may need some getting used to seeing a broiler house without any air inlets in the side walls. But what is a standard solution in most countries must be avoided at all costs in Iceland. The reason: Wind speeds tend to be very high; vehicles are even blown off the street from time to time. In such weather, it is virtually impossible to supply fresh air adequately from the sides.
Matfugl ehf therefore decided to use the Fumus fresh air chimney, which pulls in the air from the roof. Fumus supplies either fresh air only or mixed/recirculating air, depending on the ventilation demand and thus the season. Poultry managers can ensure ideal climate conditions in their poultry house at all times with Fumus.
Feed is supplied by the tried and tested Augermatic feeding system in combination with the Fluxx 330 feed pans. The flexible ViperTouch climate and production computer ensures that poultry house management is no problem. The computer is easy to operate by means of a touchscreen, has three freely selectable operation modes and can be used for all established types of ventilation.
Poultry house lighting: modular Big Dutchman innovation
Matfugl ehf not only selected Big Dutchman classics, but also decided to install the Zeus LED lamp. The world’s first modular LED panel light Zeus is extremely robust and a true innovation for poultry house lighting. Until today, it was not possible to repair a failed LED lamp. The modular design of the Zeus LED now makes replacing its pluggable parts easy and cost-efficient.
In contrast to standard lamps, Zeus lights barns much more evenly and efficiently. This is because poultry farmers can now additionally select a variant where the lenses are built into the glass, while clear glass and milk glass covers are the norm. The new lens optics refract the light and increase the emission spectrum in the barn.
Each lamp has an integrated microcomputer that controls and monitors all processes. This is important for the lamp’s ambient temperature, because LED lamps are affected by heat. When the LED’s ambient temperature rises above the critical level of 50°C, the computer immediately lowers it.