Animal AgTech company, TARGAN, Inc. (TARGAN), has secured its first international placement of WingScan^TM as part of efforts to transform the production of animal protein worldwide. The automated chick feather sex identification system has been delivered and installed at Trouw Nutrition’s Ramsay Hatchery in Saint-Félix-de-Valois, Québec, Canada.

A division of Nutreco, Trouw Nutrition is a global leader in livestock feed with a focus on developing smarter and more sustainable ways of raising healthy farm animals. Eric Stejskal, General Manager, East Region of Canada at Trouw Nutrition North America, says: “TARGAN’s system is an impressive innovation and aligns well with our company purpose, to feed the future. We’re always looking for next-gen solutions to help ensure we feed our growing population, sustainably.”

With a throughput of up to 100,000 chicks per hour, depending on the configuration, the advanced imaging system uses artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve the equivalent performance of up to 32 or more manual bird sexers, with an in-field accuracy of up to 98%. Ramin Karimpour, TARGAN’s Founder and CEO, commented on the placement: “By automating the sexing process, hatcheries can tackle labor challenges, expedite delivery and shorten the time chicks spend at the site. The system itself is also less invasive on the bird, which increases animal welfare.

“By automating feather sexing, more producers will be able to take advantage of the benefits of sex separated rearing. At the farm, sex-specific feeding strategies can be implemented, and barn space can be optimized. More consistent feeding and reduced competition among chicks lead to increased uniformity. This reduction in size variation benefits both primary and secondary processing stages, facilitating the introduction of new automated processes at the plant.”

Pre-installation, TARGAN visited the site to consider the specifications of the hatchery and ensure seamless integration into the existing set-up. In addition, the system was placed between Friday and Sunday for customer convenience with no impact on production.

Jimi Godin, Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence Manager at Trouw Nutrition’s Ramsay Hatchery, oversaw the placement: “It was a flawless installation, and we’ve seen a very impressive speed gain. The delivery trucks have been able to arrive around four hours earlier than what we would have expected with manual sexing.”

Ali Matloub, Director of Technical Sales and Business at TARGAN explains: “It’s an industry-wide challenge to deliver sexed birds to customers in a timely manner. What Trouw Nutrition has managed to achieve for their customers opens the door for potential growth.”

Godin continues: “So far, I am very impressed with TARGAN’s responsiveness and professionalism. I feel this is already becoming a strong and successful partnership.”

Trouw Nutrition is a belonging of Nutreco, the global producer of animal nutrition and fish feed. Trouw Nutrition has a more than 90-year history of innovation in animal nutrition, developing smart and sustainable ways to help raise healthy farm animals. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company has a presence in 105 countries, 22 manufacturing plants, and a global network.