Dr. Jennifer Brown, a Research Scientist with the Prairie Swine Centre said electronic sow feeding appears to be the wave of the future for gestating sows in Canada.
As part of a project conducted on behalf of Swine Innovation Porc conversions from stall housing of gestating sows to group housing, there are documents to provide information to assist other producers planning to make the change.
Dr. Brown said at a panel discussion on Electronic Sow Feeding as part of World Pork Expo, the majority of producers moving to group housing are adopting some form of electronic sow feeding.
“I think ESF is the wave of the future and people like working with these systems because the automation takes care of much of the sow needs and allows for very individual feeding,” she said. “If you go into these barns, you see very consistent body condition, and we all know that a consistent body condition will increase productivity and also give you more reliable litters and rebreeding of sows. It adds that degree of control.”
Dr. Brown said barns using the ESF system haven’t seen any changes in the number of staff. There appears to be a change in the type of work that people do and, in general, it’s a more pleasant barn to work in because staff gets to interact with the animals.
“Some people were concerned initially about aggression or how do you do preg checking or vaccinations,” she said. “Clearly the panel members all explained that they have no problem.
The system facilitates these chores in the barn and gives people more time to look at health and maintenance of the sows.”
Dr. Brown said up to 20 per cent of the sow population is now in ESF housing and that’s expected to grow in the coming years as producers switch to group housing. For many, these necessary changes loomed large when first mandated by the amendments to Canada’s Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pigs. This calls on pork producers to move from stall housing of gestating sows to group housing by 2024.
Dr. Brown said those who have made the change are finding the sows in these systems more relaxed and comfortable to work with and it’s more interesting because staff can notice more of the individual differences and behaviors of the sows.
“One thing we see very consistent across the board is those producers are thrilled with the systems. You go into free access or an ESF barn; it’s hushed. The sows are easier to manage,” she said. “The sows get used to walking around so people often note that they’re easier to get into a farrowing pen because they’re more comfortable to walk down the hallway and to walk into a farrowing crate that would be if they spent their gestation in a stall.”
Dr. Brown said the sows are very calm if the producer has set up his feeding system set up correctly. Everyone knows their place in the social hierarchy, so mixing pens was another part of the discussion and how to form groups.
“That’s another important area to get right when you’re using these systems, is the training and the mixing but once you’ve got those working properly people seem very happy with these systems,” she said. “I’m hopeful these changes will bring some younger people into the pork sector because we have barns now with new technologies that allow for more animal interactions. This as very positive for both staff and animals.” •
— By Harry Siemens
