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Role Purpose:

Ensures that the best quality eggs are set to ensure the hatch of the best quality chicks at the lowest cost, delivered to satisfied customers

Required Qualifications:

• Matric with a tertiary qualification in Agriculture as an advantage
• Valid Code EB drivers’ licence

Required Experience:

• Minimum of 5 years in a Hatchery environment, 2 to 5 of which should be in a supervisory capacity

Required Knowledge and Skills: 

Knowledge

• Hatchery production
• Agricultural and hatchery operations and processes
• At least 5 years experience in a Hatchery environment
• Display good people management skills

Skills

• Verbal and written communication
• Interpersonal
• Numeracy
• Computer literacy
• Good Analytical skills

Key Responsibilities:

Grading

• Receiving of eggs from laying farms or external.
• Recording of egg core temperatures.
• Verify eggs received and dispatched.
• Coordinating and management of the egg bank.
• Planning of flocks to be set and setter cards.
• Maintain Pre-Heat Room and Preheating of egg sets.
• Monitoring of cold room temperatures and RH% including hygiene and housekeeping.

Setters

• Monitoring of environmental conditions and pressures including hygiene.
• Planning and monitoring of setting of eggs in the incubators.
• Planning and monitoring of transfers into the hatchers.
• Monitoring of embryo temperatures.
• 10-day candling.
• Record and monitor water loss.
• Monitor and record accuracy of incubators.

Hatchers

• Prepare hatchers for transfers.
• Monitor and record environmental conditions.
• Transfer eggs into the hatchers.
• Verify flocks transferred.
• Program controllers for eggs transferred.
• Measure, monitor and record hatch window.
• Transfer of chicks to the chick holding area.
• Sample chick fluff per hatch.
• Cleaning and sanitizing processes to be audited.

Chick Take off

• Observe chick quality and contamination of chick debris.
• Observe quality of chicks during chick transfer from chick basket to carousel.
• Audit chick counting and record any variances.
• Monitor and record chick quality.
• Measure and record chick weight.
• Measure and record yoke free body mass.
• Analyze and record unhatched eggs per flock.
• Measure and record vent temperatures.
• Monitor environmental conditions.
• Ensure availability of vaccines.
• Prepare vaccine and administer.
• Record culls per flock.
• Prepare delivery note to dispatch.
• Dispose of culls and debris as per procedure.
• Monitor and record truck temperature prior to loading.
• Dispatch chicks as per placement plan.
• Verify chicks loaded with IDN and chick truck driver.
• Communicate, dispatch with farm manager, chick placement supervisor, and hatchery.
• Reconcile chicks hatched to placement delivery notes and other hatchery and farm manager daily.
• Audit and manage seal register.

General Production

• Ensure the submission of samples to the laboratory (blood, water, dust, mortality and feed) as required by best operating practices to enable proactive management of potential animal health issues.
• Manage the vaccination process to ensure immunisations and vaccinations are done in time and according to the RPM, BOP and veterinary specifications.
•  Ensure that effective rodent control measures are in place.

Hygiene and Biosecurity

• Adhere to the VCD and BOP procedures.
• Ensure compliance to SHEQ and Risk Management
• Training of staff with regards to animal welfare, food safety, equipment within the operation and Bio-security. procedures.

Maintenance

• Test equipment and the standby generator on a weekly basis to ensure reliability and good working order.
• Test the alarms in the morning and afternoon, on a daily basis to ensure good working order.
• Maintain the hatchery grounds.

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