Fluff production in Hatchers

Dr. Ron Meijerhof

From an environmental standpoint, expelling fluff from hatcheries and more specifically from hatchers is gaining in interest. A number of hatcheries are currently confronted with regulations concerning the amount of dust (or fluff) that can be introduced into the environment.

Fluff production in HatchTech hatchers

The HatchTech R&D Department measured the amount of fluff expelled from both the 28800 and 42240 hatchers. In both machines the production of fluff is approximately 7.7 grams per 1000 hatched chicks. This is the amount of fluff that leaves the machine in the outgoing air. The real production of fluff is actually much higher but the majority remains in the machines and the take off room. It does not leave the machine by the exhaust air.

Fluff production in other types of hatchers

Although chicks from HatchTech machines typically develop a large amount of fluff, HatchTech hatchers do not produce significantly more fluff than other machines. While the average air velocity in HatchTech hatchers is significant, the peak velocities are relatively low as the air velocity is very uniform at every spot in the machine. Traditional machines have a high air velocity around the stacks of hatcher baskets. Download the entire article via the button below.