In the 1990s, Alfons Lürwer from Billerbeck in Germany started his production of barn eggs with 2,000 laying hens. Today, the farm houses more than 90,000 laying hens thanks to his son, Benedikt, who added a substantial amount to the production capacity when he joined the family enterprise.

Happy faces at the inauguration of the new poultry house and poultry system: Heinrich Beckmann (third from the left) and Sebastian Dierken (far right), both Big Dutchman, congratulate the Lürwer family on their new poultry shed. On the left: Brigitte and Alfons Lürwer, on the right with Benedikt Lürwer and his wife, Sarah, the proud owners of this handsome new poultry house for aviary-type barn egg production.

Barn egg production in a well-designed poultry shed

The result is a poultry house with a rather non-traditional lay-out: the 47,000 laying hens with which Benedikt almost doubled his father's stock, are housed on two levels. When looking for a poultry system for barn egg production with an optimal utilisation ratio of housing space, Benedikt Lürwer opted for Big Dutchman's Natura70.

Customised poultry system

A view into the aviary shows that the young farmer had a hand not only in designing the poultry shed itself but also in the installed poultry housing system. The customized Natura70 installation is, for example, equipped with a longitudinal egg belt of 50-cm width instead of the standard 35cm width.

Benedikt Lürwer also requested the installation of an additional egg belt inside the aviary for barn egg production – no problem for the renowned poultry equipment supplier from Vechta-Calveslage. Now, mislaid eggs can be collected easily by the elevator, which saves the farm manager valuable working time.

Barn egg production with reduced management requirements

In general, the concept of Natura70 is based on the idea of reducing management requirements in aviary-type systems and increasing the production reliability. Pullets have an optimal start into the laying period, which is also demonstrated by the low percentage of mislaid floor eggs.

Another advantage is that the birds do not fly at eye level – which allows the farm staff to inspect the laying stock without problems, easily and comfortably. Further amenities of the poultry housing system include the small, well-manageable group sizes which are created by cross-partitions that are installed every 2.41 metres.

To download any of the following leaflets about the Natura system from Big Dutchman, click here:

• Poultry systems for successful egg production: leaflet download – NATURA, the modern aviary system for barn, free-range and organic egg production
• Poultry systems for successful egg production: leaflet download
• NATURA 60 & 70, the modern aviaries for barn, free range and organic egg production