Sussex Pig Club's third event on Tuesday saw producers comparing notes on how they coped with the winter's freezing weather. Temperatures went down to -7 and -12 in the area. Piglet mortality varied across the farms from an extra 0.4 pigs per litter to an extra 2 pigs per litter.
One unit
experienced fencing issues as the weight of the snow was breaking many fences.
They worked out it was one person for 1.5 hours per day working just on
fencing.
Another
unit said that they altered feeding times to encourage sows out and said that
3pm was the most effective time. At the earlier times sows did not want to come
out as they were warm and did not want to walk on the frozen
ground.
Stories of
bowsing water were high on the agenda with one unit finding they had to borrow a
bowser as their own one had rusted through due to lack of use in the last few
years!
Then the
group moved on to explain the farrowing paddock layout, feeding systems, hygiene
and weaning principles on each of their units. Further
discussion at the end of the evening led to ideas for future meetings, including
bringing in farm managers to talk about their experiences changing from group to
individual farrowing paddocks.