When economic pundits talk about the inconsistent performance of the housing sector, they aren’t talking about chicken housing. That business is doing just fine.
The poultry industry of South Africa is of huge importance, both to the economy of commercial concerns as well as the supply to subsistence farmers and rural communities with a source of quality protein. Reports say that the poultry industry is the largest segment of the South African agricultural sector, contributing more than 16% to the gross domestic product. It provides employment, directly and indirectly, for nearly 108 000 people throughout its value chain and related industries (DTI, 2017). Demand for poultry reportedly exceeds two million tons per year.
Third generation MD Chris van Gaalen with his father Hans van Gaalen
In South Africa the per capita consumption of broiler chicken is higher than all other meats. Many people believe that poultry meat remains an affordable protein source as opposed to pork, beef and mutton. Some also view poultry meat as a healthy alternative protein for red meat. The price of chicken – the cheapest meat source – is also a contributing factor.
Generally, poultry farming comes with a high profit within a certain period if the farmer does everything correctly. When raising chickens for production they are called layers and chickens raised for meat are called broilers. There are three distinct sectors in the poultry industry – meat production, egg production and incubating and raising chicks.
Housing and equipment
Similar to the broiler industry, housing of commercial layers will be housed in two types of buildings: Mechanically ventilated in which climate control is possible by means of extraction fans and cooling pads or naturally ventilated depending on air displacement by current winds. Close monitoring is needed because broiler birds, for example, are sensitive to fluctuations in temperature.
The company uses Trumpf punching machines
There are several types of poultry housing systems and these include a deep litter system, a battery cage system and of course a free range system. These housing and breeding systems are made up of a number of different elements, equipment and accessories including feeders, waste disposal systems, crates, brooders or heaters, egg trays, incubators, laying cages, nest boxes, waterers, lighting, perches, coops, trolleys, hoppers, feed troughs, in line feeders and many more.
Welcome J van Gaalen & Son
Welcome J van Gaalen & Son, a self-sufficient manufacturer of commercial chicken housing and breeding systems, pig farming feeder systems and accessories, including watering, feeding, and climate/ventilation systems.
The company has its roots dating back to 1967 when Johannes (Jo) van Gaalen registered the company. Jo, a trained tool and diemaker, emigrated to what was known as Rhodesia in 1936 from Holland (the Netherlands) to escape the worldwide economic downturn that began in 1929. Jo would later move the family to South Africa where he worked for Jurgens CI Caravans before starting his own company.
Initially Jo followed his trade and concentrated on manufacturing dies for clients. Business grew steadily and expanded enough for wife Jacoma (Jo) to join the company as well as son Hans.
The company has three different size Amada press brakes in the bending department
The company has CNC lathes and a CNC milling machine in its machine shop
“I joined the company when I was only 16. I am at work every day but I don’t carry much influence these days,” said Hans van Gaalen with a mischievous smile.
“I am much happier driving the forklift and delivering material to whichever machine needs it. I have handed over to Chris my son, who is the Managing Director. Like me he joined the company at a relatively young age of 26 in 1996. Chris was employed at Haggie Rand where he served an apprenticeship as a pupil engineer and Superintendent of the wire drawing department. During this period, he completed a National Higher Diploma in Mechanical Engineering T4. Chris now runs the family business as a third generation Managing Director.”
The family involvement does not stop with Chris though. Mother Yvonne has been with the company many years and is the CFO. Sister Sharon also works in the finance department and brother Ian was the Production Director until his sad passing after contracting Covid last year. Ian’s wife Amanda is the manager of associated company Pipework & Engineering Services 2007 (Pty) Ltd and Chris’s son Simon is currently serving his time at the company as a tool, jig and die apprentice.
One of the newer press brakes to be installed to process the smaller components is an Amada RG 3512, a 35-ton machine
J van Gaalen and Son have become a self-sufficient manufacturer of commercial chicken housing systems wherever possible. Components for their equipment and systems are made by themselves
“Last year was not a great year for us as it was for many around the world. We lost Ian, my brother, who had been an integral part of the company for many years. It was a great loss and a shock to all of us at the company,” said Chris van Gaalen.
General engineering, sheet metal work, poultry and pig equipment manufacturer
“He was instrumental in building the company into a recognised general engineering, sheet metal work, poultry and pig equipment manufacturer. The company had broadened its scope from just being a die manufacturer to first taking on general engineering work and then servicing the agricultural and poultry industries with various systems and equipment.”
“Today the poultry and pig industry business accounts for about 80% of our production and fabrications, with poultry being the dominant player. If you had eggs for breakfast this morning, the source of those eggs might be living in one of our housing fabrications and could have been transported around the supermarket on one of our trolleys that we specifically manufacture for egg trays.”
“These housing systems have become very high-tech these days while also taking into account the safety and well-being of the chickens. The poultry house should have proper ventilation and lighting and if you decide to start a medium to large-scale commercial broiler farming business, you need to build a broiler poultry housing, specifically designed for broilers. This means that your broiler housing must ensure proper temperature and proper regulation for the birds because of their sensitivity to change.”
J van Gaalen and Son have recently installed their third Durma fiber laser machine supplied by Spectrum Machine Tools Africa. The Durma HD-FS 3015 has a shuttle table like the other two Durma lasers but is front loading rather than side loading. The machine has a bed size of 3 000mm by 1 500mm. The 3kW was installed in March 2022 and cuts sheet thicker than required
The new front loading Durma HD-FS 3015 fiber laser
“They could also be long, wide and have a number of tiers. Tiers refer to the number of levels in each row. Typically, these facilities are arranged into four to five rows of multitiered-stacked cages, similar to the floors of a building. Tiers are separated by manure-collecting belts that take the waste from the hens above, allowing the hens below to remain healthy and clean.”
“The broiler chicken housing units should also allow for proper and free movement of each bird. The purpose of poultry housing is to provide chickens with a healthy and comfortable environment that’s clean, dry and secure. The most affordable type is a naturally ventilated house scalable to any size.”
“Plenty of engineering and galvanised steel goes into these systems. In some of them, everything is automated. That includes delivery of chicken feed, medications and water, removal and disposal of manure and collection of eggs. In the larger systems, human hands may never touch an egg.”
Manufacturing and fabrication internally
“It has always been the company’s objective to be as self-sufficient as allowable when manufacturing our equipment and systems. There are going to be items that we have to purchase – motors, gearboxes and sprinklers are examples – but for the most we will machine, cut, bend and press all the components and sheet metal that are used on our equipment. All the welding and fabrication is also done inhouse as is the coating of metals when required.”
Plenty of engineering and galvanised steel goes into manufacturing the products and systems
J van Gaalen and Son does not operate on a just-in-time basis. Components and spares are always ready to be despatched from the shelves
“We therefore have three Durma fiber lasers, Amada and Promecam press brakes with widths between one and three metres, Trumpf punching machines, guillotines, Amada bandsaws, custom and plasma pipe benders, over 20 Caxton presses, thread rollers, two robotic welders and 10 CO2 welders, MIG and TIG welding, spot welders, CNC lathes and a CNC milling machine. This is just some of the more prominent equipment that we employ on the floor to manufacture and fabricate.”
“We recently installed the third of our Durma fiber laser machines supplied by Spectrum Machine Tools Africa. The Durma HD-FS 3015 has a shuttle table like our other two Durma lasers but is front loading rather than side loading. The machine has a bed size of 3 000mm by 1 500mm. The 3kW was installed in March 2022 and cuts sheet thicker than we require.”
“Where applicable we will assemble but if we have to do an installation on site we will do so. We do not sell directly to the farmer or public, we rather work with the poultry and agriculture equipment distributors such as Plasson Livestock and Big Dutchman who are turnkey suppliers to the end user. They will supply the building equipment such as the house structures and panels whereas we are virtually turnkey suppliers of the inside the building equipment. We do not manufacture or supply any equipment for hatchery or meat processing. We rather supply for broiling, breeding, pullet rearing and laying businesses.”
“A pullet is the word used for a female bird from day-old to point-of-lay when she becomes a hen or a layer.”
“Today the poultry and pig industry business accounts for about 80% of our production and fabrications, with poultry being the dominant player. If you had eggs for breakfast this morning, the source of those eggs might be living in one of our housing fabrications and could have been transported around the supermarket on one of our trolleys that we specifically manufacture for egg trays.”
Pipework & Engineering Services 2007 is part of the Van Gaalen Group and is one of the leading stockists of pipes, pipe fittings and pipe supports
“We will however communicate directly with the farmer and commercial businesses and visit their facilities to get feedback on our equipment. We are always looking for input to improve our products and who better to get it from but the end user.”
Components, spares and accessories
“As you can imagine with the amount of equipment that we manufacture we require many different components, spares and accessories. We manufacture over 400 different products with approximately 280 being ex-stock products that are in constant production. There are over 1 800 line items that we manufacture and not all of them are used on the equipment.”
“Take the suspension products for example. We manufacture and supply nine different pulleys. To name a few others there are guards, shafts, couplers, yolks, legs, j-bolts, universal joints, sprockets, hooks, all components and products used in assembling and installing the equipment designed for the poultry and pig businesses. It is our objective to provide every single item needed so the supplier does not have to run to a number of different places to get what he needs.”
“Equipment is designed to suite the wide varying needs of the poultry industry in various markets. We are aware that broilers are raised in different climates and different marketing weights ranging from 1.5kg to 4kg so we need to accommodate the differences.”
Pipework & Engineering Services 2007 supplies suspension solutions for the fire reticulation and ventilation industries. Any pipe or similar that needs to be suspended, in parking garages for example, PES 2007 will supply
J van Gaalen and Son have two robotic welding cells
“Our aim is to offer the best solution and package of equipment that will enable each and every single grower to maximise his achievements with a superb package of equipment that ensures excellent results for many years of use.”
“Most of the sheet metal we process is light gauge between 1mm and 6mm, all galvanised because of the conditions it is used in, and we could process up to 500 tons in a year. A difficult number to give because of the variants.”
“Post Covid we are having supply challenges like many other processing and fabricating companies in South Africa. The one and only manufacturer is very unreliable and we are having to create new supply chains. At the same time the government is not putting any restrictions on cheap imports so we are not operating on a level playing field.”
Staff and training
“Currently we employ 85 permanent staff. We also like to train our staff and besides my son we have two other apprentices employed. One of the youngsters has a grandmother that worked for us for 38 years. Additionally we have trained up eight other apprentices.”
Pipework & Engineering Services 2007
“Pipework & Engineering Services 2007 (Pty) Ltd was established by Frans Deken in 1971 and traded as Pipework & Engineering Services (Pty) Ltd. As the company expanded Mark and Alice Deken joined their father in his venture.”
Hans van Gaalen, son of the founder Johannes, is happier driving the forklift and delivering material to whichever machine needs it
The company has a number of spot welders for the mesh used in the caging that it manufactures
“In October 2007 Dad invested in the company to assist with the rapidly expanding company. Today PES 2007 is fully owned by the Van Gaalen Group and is one of the leading stockists of pipes, pipe fittings and pipe supports. They are also stockists of Fischer and Hilti products and the manger of the company is my late brother’s wife Amanda, as I mentioned earlier.”
“To describe their products, you have to refer to them as suspension solutions for the fire reticulation and ventilation industries. Any pipe or similar that needs to be suspended, in parking garages for example, PES 2007 will supply.”
“The majority of the product they supply is manufactured by J van Gaalen & Sons.”
A product for a chicken breeding system
J van Gaalen and Son have 20 Caxton type presses that they use
“Like most manufacturers we have our challenges such as the power supply no longer being secure. In our industry in the past, it was a case of the client being prepared to wait for product to be manufactured. This has now changed to “Where is it?’, no which is not a bad indication of the faith they have in our product. We now carry many items and products ex-stock to accommodate the market trends.”
“Poultry production also has significant challenges, with high input costs and narrow margins being near the top of the list. However, meticulous management and keeping a close eye on finances can bring business success. But like choosing the right and best-quality feed for your chickens to produce the best-quality meat, demands that the best-quality equipment is also chosen to house the chickens in. This is where we fit in.”
For further details contact J van Gaalen & Son on TEL: 011 027 7458 or visit www.jvangaalen.co.za
