500 thousand eggs a day: behind the scenes of the largest workshop in Primorye

Did you know that the prettier a chicken is, the fewer eggs it produces? Or, for example, the highest productivity of hens is 90 weeks, and after that it decreases? The correspondent of Komsomolskaya Pravda - Vladivostok learned many interesting facts about poultry when he visited the Ussuriyskaya Poultry Farm in Artem. We are ready to tell you about how the company provides products to almost all Primorye, and answer the most exciting questions.

NON-STOP PROCESS

If you have ever thought about what happened to the egg before it hit your table, and indeed how much this product goes on average per inhabitant of the region, congratulations, you are at the right place. Our correspondent talked to Evgeniy Raznik, General DIRECTOR of the poultry farm, and he gladly explained everything to us.

- On the one hand, our task is to produce products and feed the people so that the egg is fresh and tasty. On the other hand, it is also necessary not to go into bankruptcy. Roughly speaking, don't eat yourself up: you see what kind of equipment we have, what scale, it's all very expensive. Here, for example, is an eight-tier poultry house for 100 thousand heads: 120 meters long, 16 meters wide, a huge volume. And all this is being exploited every second.

The scale of the factory is really amazing. It covers an area of ​​350 hectares. And every day here 600,000 chickens lay about 500,000 eggs. As Evgeny Raznik explained, the factory buys eggs in Sverdlovsk, then they are sent to the incubator, where the chickens are already hatching. When they are about 130 days old, they begin to produce fertilized eggs. They are incubated again, the hens are separated, and the roosters are sold. On average, chickens lay well for 90 weeks, then they are already pushed by a new generation of hens, besides, birds become less effective with age, so they go for MEAT. This is a non-stop process, the company operates all year round 24 hours a day.

100 EGGS FOR 1 Primorets

Feed for feathered "workers" is kneaded independently. The director jokingly notes that it is high time to come up with such recipes as for chickens for people, because the birds are fed exclusively with natural healthy products. They buy the most necessary: ​​raw materials, vitamins, oils. Everything is balanced.

– On average, we produce 150 million eggs per year, which is 100 eggs per inhabitant of the Primorsky Territory. If we consider that we have one and a half million inhabitants, this is half of the entire norm. Most recently, the governor set the task of bringing up to 70% of its own production. Now we produce somewhere around 35%.

LAYER LIFE

How do hens live in poultry houses? It's like a big chicken hostel. There are eight tiers inside, they are divided into blocks, which are lined with cells. Each has ten chickens. There is a long strip of food nearby and right under the "houses" there is a special place for collecting eggs. As soon as the laying hen "gives out" the product, it rolls out of the cage to a certain place for collection. The lighting here is dim because the chickens do not like bright light.

And chickens are very different from those that, for example, walk in the village and sparkle with feathers in the sun. Their employees jokingly call them bald - the birds rub against the bars and lose their plumage. But, as experts say, their task is to lay eggs, and not to be beautiful. And they do their job well - 92% egg production.

After the product enters the packaging and sorting shop. Here, a smart conveyor machine weighs the eggs, labels and distributes the volume to three packers who deal with eggs of the first and second categories, as well as a selected product.

It should be noted that the equipment at the factory is German, and there are plans to expand production. The director explained that the company is currently developing a project that will include a new feed shop, an egg processing and sorting center and much more. The company also decided to experiment and ordered Chinese equipment, but it is still at the assembly stage.

VALUE OF EGGS

What about product prices? According to Yevgeny Raznik, the cost is unstable. Before Easter, the poultry farm will sell goods cheaper, this will probably also affect the price of eggs in stores. Now, taking into account the rise in price of feed and packaging, the factory supplies products to retail chains for 95.5 rubles per ten pieces - this is the first category in boxes. In stores you can see this product for almost 110 rubles.

REALLY FRESH

About a week ago, news appeared that the Primorsky OFAS had opened a case against the enterprise. According to the department, the company's advertising slogan misleads people. We are talking about the phrase from the advertisement: "Ussuri poultry farm - the same eggs, only fresh!". But, as the director noted, this slogan has existed for about ten years and does not imply anything bad.

- So far, the case has not been considered. We believe that we are not breaking anything. Our eggs are really fresh. Here the bird is rushing, and today they are here, and tomorrow in the store. We do not deceive our customers, you see everything yourself. And we do not say that only our eggs are fresh. "The same" means the same, ordinary. There are, of course, fresh eggs besides ours. OFAS asks for confirmation that the products are of high quality, but they don’t want to come here to see, - said the general director of the poultry farm.

The turnover of the Ussuriyskaya Poultry Farm is about one billion rubles a year, but this is not the limit. Currently, the company employs more than 400 people.