Smart and integrated: Quebec’s Couvoir Réal Côté looks to the future

Family-owned Couvoir Réal Côté, a well-known and long-standing business in the Canadian hatchery industry, is to expand operations to 400,000 broilers per week for the Quebec market, with a fully integrated new facility that will be built around a brand new SmartPro™ single-stage hatchery at its Ange-Gardien site.
calendar icon 17 January 2018
clock icon 3 minute read

With 12 SmartSetPro™2 incubators, 12 SmartSetPro™4 incubators and 14 SmartHatchPro™ hatchers, the new installation will also include a total overhaul of the hatchery’s climate control system, with air handling units that use 100% fresh air to eliminate the need for recirculated air and a completely new chilled water system. Hatchery automation will also be replaced, with stackers, de-stackers and a new transfer, candling and clear egg removal unit as part of the project.

New washing machines, a vacuum system and a farm-to-setter trolley stacker/destacker are also included. The complete system will be connected by advanced, web-based SmartCenterPro™ hatchery management software, to deliver realtime analysis and reporting across the entire operation, both from Réal Côté’s office in Ange Gardien, or remotely from support teams at Pas Reform’s Zeddam HQ in The Netherlands or NatureForm in Jacksonville, Florida.

“Production of the day-old broiler chicks will be split over two weekly hatches,” explains Martin Lavoie, hatchery manager, “and with the ability to analyse hatches both on site and remotely, we will work closely with Pas Reform’s technical team to ensure that performance is optimised.”

“After 38 years of operation, it was time to renew the hatchery,” says Réal Côté, founder and president. “We have been providing quality day old chicks to the Quebec market all these years, and we are very happy to continue working with Pas Reform as we look to the future. Our customers want nothing but the highest quality broilers from us.”

The company started incubating broiler eggs 38 years ago and, he says, if it’s up to him they will continue to do so for another 38 years. “With this investment, we not only replace, upgrade and expand our current operation, but we are also building in room for further expansion in the future.”

“When I visited the Réal Côté hatchery for the first time back in 2003, people were surprised to see someone from Pas Reform, a Dutch company, in North America,” comments Bouke Hamminga, Pas Reform’s director of international sales and business development. “Since then, Pas Reform’s international presence has grown significantly and our partnership with NatureForm has emphasised our commitment to this market. We are very happy to have jointly progressed this collaboration with Couvoir Réal Côté - and the best is yet to come!”

A five year SmartCare™ preventive maintenance and hatchery support programme is also part of the new contract, which plans to have the expanded and refitted new hatchery fully operational by the end of 2018.

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