Egg handling in the egg room: from collection to palletizing

"Egg handling" is a term that in a poultry farm actually covers several distinct stages, from transporting freshly laid eggs to the final step before shipping. Understanding where one stage ends and the next begins helps in choosing the right equipment for every section of the line.

In a modern egg room, handling happens across several distinct sections. In the first stage, in-house egg handling systems collect eggs from the nests via dedicated conveyors, with straight, curved or inclined runs depending on the farm layout.

From there, eggs reach the processing room, where they're graded and packed into trays or cartons. Only in the final stage — the end of the line — does palletizing come into play: packs are stacked onto pallets, ready for storage and shipping.

Egg handling equipment therefore covers different areas, and is often supplied by vendors specialized in specific segments of the line:

• In-house egg conveyors: collect eggs from the nest and carry them toward the processing room.
• Graders and packers: sort eggs by weight/quality and pack them into trays or cartons.
• Palletizing systems: pick up already-packed trays and automatically stack them onto pallets.

OVO by Lomar sits in this last category: it doesn't replace in-house collection conveyors, but integrates downstream of any packer, closing out the line with automatic palletizing.

Understanding this distinction matters most when purchasing equipment: someone looking for an in-house egg handling system has different needs from someone wanting to automate the end of the line. The former needs solutions built for the farm environment; the latter needs a palletizing system able to integrate with the packer already in use, without structural changes to the room.

A well-designed plant combines several specialized suppliers along the line, each for their own stage, rather than looking for a single one-size-fits-all solution.