“Vencomatic is a company that has always been cage-free,” said Aaron Willey, sales representative with Vencomatic. “Our equipment and what we're doing as a business today is just building on that experience with birds being able to move freely through the equipment, perch and have food and water in the right places. Everything is available for the bird to exhibit its natural behaviors and reduce stress.”

Vencomatic's equipment is built terraced-backed versus stacked-deck like a cage style with a vertical front.

“We're not asking the bird to jump 20 feet straight up or 20 feet straight down. The bird has an adjacent tier to every level, so it's only making a small jump while we're still taking advantage and creating additional space in the house,” said Willey.

Welfare-based Benefits

As the industry transitions to welfare-based standards, it’s important to address things like keel bone damage and plumage. For the producer, it means reducing stress for the bird, better feed conversion rates, better overall production and a better profit at the end of the day, he said.

Current global resource based standards used to measure animal welfare are only inches of feed, inches or perch, and number of water nipples, etc.

“The language is transitioning into more of a welfare based standard where a producer might be held to an outcome or result and not just how the equipment stacks up against resourced based regulation, but actually how that birds performing for that producer,” said Willey.

Vencomatic as a company has a proud history of producing innovative cage-free housing solutions that not only meet minimum resource-based standards, but consider the birds natural behaviors and a positive welfare based outcome for their customers. When you give the birds what they want, where they want it, in a good environment, the birds pay you back in reduced labor costs, reduced mortality and better production. It’s a win-win for the bird an producer alike.