Taking advantage of IoT, Startup from Malang Makes Smart Chicken Cages

Two youths from Malang, Tubagus and Ashab, built a technology-based livestock startup called ChikIn Indonesia. This startup is here to make it easier for farmers to control the climate of the chicken coop through applications on smartphones and provide direct data digitally.

Both of them started a business while studying and met in the young entrepreneurial community of Universitas Brawijaya, Malang. Previously, Tebe (Tubagus’ nickname) was in the food business, coffee shops, and plastic and yarn recycling.

While Ashab is a man who graduated from the livestock department who brought his knowledge in improving livestock efficiency. As entrepreneurs, both of them identify the problems that exist in chicken farming in Indonesia.

After four years of running a conventional chicken coop business, both of them faced many problems in the production of close house chicken coops, including low meat growth ratio, high mortality rate, and wasted electricity.

This series of problems affect the chicken farming business which has a small margin for farmers. Even though it is fairly modern in Indonesia, the close house cage system still uses an analog system and is often inaccurate in controlling the climate of the cage, a crucial thing in raising broilers.

Using IoT Technology

As a solution, they finally took advantage of Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Ahmad as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of ChikIn Indonesia is the figure behind the development of digital infrastructure and IoT devices in the company.

Ahmad said that running a livestock business requires comprehensive data on chicken needs, such as the amount of feed, temperature, humidity, and electricity consumption.

“(The data) we are trying to give to farmers and cage owners so they can run their business more efficiently,” said Ahmad through his statement, Wednesday (11/24/2021).

ChikIn Indonesia develops hardware in the chicken coop that is integrated with software used via smartphones to make it easier for farmers to control data and control the temperature and humidity of the cage according to the needs of the chickens.

In addition, ChickIn’s AI (artificial intelligence) technology is also able to recognize the climate needs of chickens according to the age and size of the chickens.

ChikIn claims that the benefit of using ChickIn’s Smart Farm technology is that farmers who use IoT save an average of up to IDR 3,000 per chicken for feed efficiency and IDR 1,000 per chicken for cost reduction. That amount can reach IDR 120 million if there are 30,000 chickens in one cage.

Realize Food Security

ChickIn has the vision to realize food security in Indonesia through innovation in chicken farming technology. Tebe, CEO of ChickIn, sees the potential for the poultry industry to grow significantly in the future.

The market value of chicken meat production and consumption in Indonesia per year has reached USD 16.9 billion and could double. In addition, it is also important for ChickIn that farmers who are directly involved in the industry experience the benefits of growth firsthand.

According to the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia produced 3.2 million tonnes of broiler chickens in 2019 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16% from 2015-2019.

Until now, the market value of chicken meat production and consumption in Indonesia per year has reached USD 16.9 billion. Despite its status as one of the most recognized proteins in Indonesia, Indonesia still lags behind other Southeast Asian countries in terms of per capita poultry consumption.

Currently, Indonesia only consumes 7.92 Kg of chicken per capita, while Malaysia consumes 49.3 Kg of chicken per capita and Vietnam and the Philippines consume 16.8 Kg and 13.7 Kg, respectively.

This provides large growth space for Chick-In to increase chicken production in Indonesia. Driven by this vision, ChickIn or PT Sinergi Pangan Ketahanan aims to synergize all parts of the poultry supply chain to promote food security for all Indonesians.

Regarding future plans, Ashab, chairman and co-founder, stated that ChickIn is ahead of competitors in providing the most comprehensive and cheapest option for agricultural technology, a strong ChickIn-led farmer community, and technical know-how from experienced farmers and IT developers.