Baiada Poultry seeks to hatch an addition 1 million chicks per week at its hatchery in Tamworth, Australia.
The company presently hatches about 1.3 million chicks on a weekly basis, but would like to nearly double that output in order to help meet the increased consumer demand for chicken in Australia, reported the Northern Daily Leader.
In order to meet that goal, it will not be necessary to add any buildings to the present site, but it would increase the amount of traffic that travels down nearby roads, the company stated on a development application filed with the Tamworth Regional Council.
“To ensure adequate supply is maintained it is important that significant expansion of the industry is facilitated through maximum utilization of existing infrastructure and the planned development of new facilities,” Baida stated in documents provided to the regional council.
The Tamworth facility was chosen for the site to expand hatchings due to its close proximity to a feed and grain supply.
The company also informed the council that there would be “no change to the existing waste management strategies implemented on the site for the current hatchery operations.”
Other plans for growth
Baiada’s plans to hatch more chicks in Tamworth follows the company’s plans for an expansion project that would allow the company to significantly increase its feed production in Beresfield, New South Wales.
The company, around the beginning of 2018, submitted plans for the project, which would call for an increase of annual feed production. Presently, about 250,000 metric tons of feed are produced there annually, but under the proposal, Baiada Poultry would be able to produce about 410,000 metric tons of feed on an annual basis.
Baiada, according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, is Australia’s largest chicken processor, which claims 35 percent of the Australian broiler market.