Roving Robot Keeps Chickens Moving

Roving Robot Keeps Chickens Moving LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous French poultry farmers Laetitia and Benoit Savary were so tired of the monotonous and time-consuming job of checking poultry in their coops that they invented a robot to do the job for them Their device is called Spoutnic and it can work unattended 24 hrs a day and reduce eggs laid on the ground by more than 20 percent The inventors say this amounts to big savings as eggs laid on the ground often go to waste “Our thinking was that if we can launch a space probe to transport the Philae Lander 510 million kilometers from earth we should certainly be able to develop a solution to eggs laid on the ground ” Benoit says To develop their idea the Savarys teamed with Cimtech a Mechatronics design office near Rennes France with engineering software and electronics expertise Together they formed Tibot Technologies to concept design and build Spoutnic Originally intended to manage layer hens Spoutnic has expanded its use into breeding and meat production poultry As Spoutnic randomly moves through a poultry barn the birds quietly move out of the way creating exercise that fosters better health and weight gain Steve Roger a French turkey breeder says Spoutnic moved quietly and effectively throughout his flock of broiler turkeys and handled several hours of work that was previously done by a person walking through the barn Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tibot Technologies 21 rue de l’Oseraie 35510 Cesson Sevigne France ph 011 33 2 30 96 4800; www tibot fr

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