Automating the Poultry House Cleaning Brings Comfort and Efficiency at EARL Les Roches Agri

At EARL Les Roches Agri in Mayenne (France), Sylvie Roche raises broilers in 3,000 m² of buildings split across two poultry houses, under the Nature d’Éleveurs charter and entirely without antibiotics. She and her husband had always managed the farm on their own, but over time, cleaning the buildings became a too physically demanding task that was increasingly hard to keep up with.

In 2021, Sylvie decided to automate the process with the Washpower’s ProCleaner P200 – a choice that have completely transformed her day-to-day work.

Sylvie Roche and her farm consultant technician sitting on a bale of straw to take a photo

Manual Cleaning: Takes Too Long and is Too Exhausting

“To clean the smaller 1,200 m² building, it took the two of us eight hours – and 17 hours for the larger one,” Sylvie recalls. When her husband wasn’t available, she had to handle the entire job alone.

Cleaning a broiler house is tiring, yet essential. Many farmers outsource this to cleaning companies, but if the job is not done properly, it can compromise the health status and become a risk for the broiler flock.
On top of that, these companies are often fully booked, making scheduling difficult.

Automating the wash means gaining full control over the cleaning quality, downtime, and the physical strain involved. “It was really the physical hardship that pushed me to invest in the robot,” she explains. With shoulder, neck, and back pain, cleaning became a chore she could barely repeat between each flock.

Why She Chose the ProCleaner P200

Equipped with a long-range spray reaching up to 12 meters and a 360° rotation, the ProCleaner P200 delivers a thorough and even cleaning of floors, walls, and ceilings.

Its 400-liter buffer tank, intuitive touchscreen controls, and automatic hose reel – handling up to 130 meters – allowing the robot to work fully autonomously and adapt to most broiler buildings.

For Sylvie, the benefits are undeniable:

8 hours saved on the large building
5 hours saved on the small one
And most importantly, a major reduction in physical strain

” The robot is extremely effective and has brought real comfort to my work. I couldn’t go back now,” says Sylvie.

A Boost for Biosecurity as Well

Corentin Lambert, a technician from Huttepain Aliments who has been following the farm for six years, also sees the improvements:
“The robot has reduced Sylvie’s physical health issues and improved the sanitary safety of the farm.”

More frequent and consistent cleaning helps reduce contamination risks and maintain better hygiene between flocks, while giving farmers better control over downtime.