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SOW HOUSING SEMINAR2013 PORK ACADEMY
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Donald G Levis, Ph.D Harold Gonyou, Ph.D. Ronald O. Bates, Ph.D.
Levis Worldwide Swine Consultancy
Prairie Swine Centre(retired)
Michigan State Univ.
Lincoln, NE 68526-9486 Saskatoon, SK, Canada E. Lansing, MI
Email:[email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Email:[email protected]
Outline for Sow Housing Seminar
• Objectives of the seminar
Brief description of the main types of group-housing systems
General factors involved with deciding which group-housing system to use
Overview of retrofitting project
Retrofitting an existing individual stall gestation facility into:– Electronic sow feeding facility
– Short-stall feeding facility
Comparison between ESF and short-stall system2
Sow-group housing systems
• Noncompetitive feeding system
– Electronic sow feeder
– Free-access stalls (self or caretaker locked)
– Cafeteria feeding with lockable feeding stall
• Competitive feeding systems
– “Short” feeding stalls (Trickle feeding; Traditional drop box)
– Full-body length stalls (non-lockable)
– Floor feeding
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Electronic sow feeder (ESF) system
4Photo: Jeff Schoening / AP
Resting bay
Sows enter
Sortsows
Water
Sortalley
Protectedfeeder
Feed delivery
This specific system:Feeds up to 80 sows per stationFeed two different diets & top dressTo establish a “day” for the sows, feeder is closed 4 to 6 hours per 24-hour period
Electronic sow feeder (ESF) system
5Photo: Jeff Schoening / AP
Individual stalls for weaning, breeding and early gestation
Electronic sow feeder (ESF) system
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Multiple feeders can be used to fit the number of sows in the pen.
Photo: Nedap Livestock Management Systems
Free-access stall (locked rear gate)
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“I” Configuration with front alley
Photo: Prairie Swine Centre (Canada)
Free-access stall (locked rear gate)
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“L” Configuration with front alley
Photo: Dr. Niels-Peder Nielsen (Denmark)
Minimum = 9’10”
Free-access stall (locked rear gate)
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“T” Configuration (ease of cleaning floor)
Photo: Egebjerg International / Axel Sogaard (Denmark)
Trickle feeding (non-gated feeding method)
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Top auger fills feed drop boxBottom auger slowly turn to dispense 0.17 to 0.44 pounds of feed per minute (eating time: 15 to 30 minutes)
Partition length• Head• Shoulder• Half-body• Full-body with
no rear gate
Feeding spacewidthIf shoulder:18 to 22 inches
Floor feeding
11Photo: Prairie Swine Centre (Canada)
Feed drops in bays.
Slattedfloor
Feed drop 2
Feed drop 1
Cafeteria feeding
• High amount of staff time is needed for feeding sows
• Potential for injury
of sows and staff
• Requires patient staff
• Can top-dress feed
• Feeder management
needed; unequal
number sows per pen;
different sow body
condition between
pens
12Lee Whittington, Prairie Swine Centre (Canada)
Choosing a group-housing system involves:
• Investment costs
• Ability of housing system and management to maintain a high level of the sow’s health and welfare
• Ease of performing daily management practices
• Labor requirement and availability of skilled labor
• Feeding system (major factor to consider)– Competitive while eating
– Non-competitive while eating
• Method of housing (static vs dynamic)
• Reproductive performance
• Overall simplicity of the system
• Not one system fits all situations13
Overview of remodel project
• 2,500-sow unit
• Goal is to produce 1,000 weaned pigs per week
• Farrowing ~108 sows per week
• Breeding 120 per week
• Breeding-gestation facility– 79 ft wide x 492 ft long (interior dimensions)
– 4 cross-over alleys
– 720 breeding-gestation stalls (2 ft x 7 ft)
– 1192 gestation stalls (2 ft x 7 ft)
– 239 stalls per row; 8 rows of stalls
– Partially slatted floor
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36" feed alley
36" feed alley
36" a
lley
36" feed alley
36" feed alley
36" feed alley
7’
2’
7’
7’
7’
7’
7’
7’
3’
2’
2’
2’
7’
3’
3’
3’
3’3
9.5
’3
9.5
’
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BEFORE
AFTER
Courtesy of AP
Typical floor plan for a partially slatted breeding-gestation stall building. How can this facility be modified for use with a group-housing system that uses ESF or short-length feeding stalls? Is the raised feeding alley a problem?
Overview of remodel project
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Factors to consider when remodeling
• Feeding/Housing System
• Stay within the present building shell or expand
• Work with the present feeding system
• Floor space allocation per sow
• Number of sows per pen
• #Boar pens
• Size and configuration of relief space
• Number of relief spaces
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Nutritional Care of Group-Housed Sows
• Electronic Sow Feeding
Specify amount of feed offered to each sow each day
Can modify diet fed
Can change daily feed intake based on body condition, body size and stage of gestation
Provides a daily report that indicates which sows did not completely eat their previous day’s allotment of feed or did not eat any feed.
Potential feed savings18
Feeding method with most control of daily
feed intake and diet
Nutritional Care of Group-Housed Sows
• “Short-length”, non-gated feeding stalls
Allocate feed volume to average body weight of
sows in the pen?
Use of multiple pens for the same breeding group
can improve feed allocation requirements per pen
(body weight; body condition score)
Gilts
Small & thin sows
Big Sows 19
Feeding method with “partial” control of
daily feed intake and diet
Nutritional Care of Group-Housed Sows
In any competitive feeding system, dominant sow(s)
have opportunity to “steal” feed from other sows.
• Short-length feeding stall
• Non-gated, full-body length free access
feeding/resting stall
• Floor feeding
• Trickle feeding
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Conclusion
Factsheets and the accompanying webinars for the Group Sow Housing project can be found at:
www.pork.org/sowhousing
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