Articles - Management

Weaning one or several weeks straight into pens, a week worth of space can be gained

Illness and injuries can cost serious economic, physical, and emotional health issues that can deter from an efficient and enjoyable production system and home life. In this article, I will list several categories of health and safety issues for workers.

Spain is, regarding pig census, the third country in the world in relation to pig production, behind China and the USA, and the fourth as pork producer because Germany fattens many piglets imported from The Netherlands and Denmark, and it also slaughters pigs from these and other countries.

Weaning is a critical event in the pig’s life. It is a very important and stressful transition that, if not handled properly, can be responsible for the occurrence of diarrhoea and/or poorly adapted piglets.

This article offers a new alternative to plastic feed scoops, the use of a 5/10-liter can made of strong plastic and with a built-in handle.

This is one of the parameters that must be established between producers and the meat industry as it affects food safety, animal welfare and meat quality.

The article explains how to manage nurse sows in 3-week batch farrowing systems with a practical example.

We are all well aware of how important it is to have a correct replacement rate, BUT are we aware of the importance and costs related to staff turnover?

You can use old wicker baskets, builder’s buckets, etc., but I will now show you a syringe carrier at zero cost made with recycled materials.

Sometimes, when working on the farm, we have to get up close to the sow to check its card in order to know its productive cycle. Or, whilst carrying piglets to be fostered, we ask ourselves, will that sow be a second parity one?

Lifting partitions in the farrowing unit allows piglets from different litters to mix, sharing teats and socializing.

When productivity decreases, but productive efficiency is maintained...

There are many types of boot racks in the market, but we can build one ourselves with something available on any farm: a pallet.

The disadvantage of some boxes is that some piglets are too big and lively and jump off easily.

Traditional culling policies have a threshold number of farrowings after which sows are culled —after weaning. But, what would happen if this policy were to be modified to actually consider the performance of each sow?

A system to check your all-in-all-out management and the consecuences of violating internal biosecurity practices.

Minimizing sow losses in the initial cycles has three positive effects for the economic efficiency of the farm

Great care is needed particularly when handling young pigs above 6kg/3 weeks of age, to avoid causing lasting damage.

A simple, economical and practical trick is to identify the replacement gilts with tags of different colours according to the batch they belong to.

Captive bolt humane stunners do not kill larger growing pigs or adults, they render the pig unconscious. Further action is needed to ensure the pig is dead.

To achieve a good feed intake it is essential to reach adequate water consumption 

This article discusses 4-week batch farrowing (4WBF), very common in small farms (250 sows) in some other countries, including France. Analysis will be based on a comparison with 3-week batch farrowing (3WBF).

It is easy to see the reaction of the sows (of all of them!) when we supply them with paper. A handful in front of their snout or at the reach of their mouth is enough... oxytocin! It is like giving an injection!

Key points to have and to keep high-performing work teams on our farms.