Steve Walcott, Director of Sales for the Egg Business Unit at Big Dutchman, spoke to The Poultry Site’s Sarah Mikesell at 2024 IPPE held in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Editor’s note: this interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about the new innovation you’re showcasing here at IPPE.

This is our NATURA Visio, a new design we’ve recently created. This new system is based upon our proven NATURA systems. We listened to the information we received from customers and looked at improvements they would like to see in the design of equipment. So, we created a two-tiered system. First, the system is lower, allowing employees to look into the system and more quickly check for mortality and see how things are operating. We also designed it with the ability to create multiple tiers or levels within a building. So again, much of it was based upon information we received from customers and what they wanted.

What are some of the features and benefits of this new piece of equipment?

One of the things we looked at when designing this system is we knew we wanted to do an ejecting, closing nest, so it’s a true nest system. We designed this system with a single slope floor, so we don’t have uneven edges. All the eggs roll into the belts. We have two belts on the system. A system egg that is laid never rolls through a nest. We raised the nest entrance to make the nests more acceptable to the birds. So again, it’s really about those little design features and things that we picked up along the way through years of experience that we utilized when we designed this system.

How does this benefit both producers and the birds?

We absolutely listened to our customers. It’s about understanding what the products do, what features and benefits the products have and how the birds use them.

What does a piece of equipment like this really mean for an egg producer?

It’s all about efficiencies. How do we improve the whole process of laying eggs? How do we improve the labor side of producing eggs? Because what we hear from talking to customers is that labor is the biggest challenge they have. So again, it’s really about listening, understanding and doing what’s best for everyone.