Producer Neil Newlove demonstrated his system for feeding lactating sows during a virtual tour at the Easey Breeder Pig Club meeting in Yorkshire.
He laminates sow information cards and posts them up between the paddocks (one sheet for two paddocks).
The cards show how many kgs of feed the sow requires daily and staff cross off each day on the feeding table as they go along so everyone knows what is happening. The sows’ farrowing date and numbers born and fostered are also recorded on the cards.
More
topics discussed during the virtual tour:
·
Neil has
used huts for gilts in training paddocks but has now changed to tents. Others’
experience says huts are better, as there are no problems with getting gilts in
the huts in the farrowing paddocks.
·
Wood chip
versus straw for dry sows in tent accommodation (not paddocks)? Neil uses both
and others use wood chip in the dunging area and straw in the lying
area
·
Neil has
had good experience with deep catheters on both sows and
gilts
·
Barley
straw is being used in farrowing huts as is wheat not available and there have
been no problems
·
Neil uses
gilt rations during 1st lactation and there is a clear benefit to using special
rations on 1st parity sows
Benchmarking
among the producers present showed that:
·
Performance has picked up after the
winter
·
Batch
system performance can get badly hit during poor weather – one batch can be
affected – unlike the weekly system, where batches are spread over longer
periods and weather may improve
·
‘Missing’
piglets appear in the beds at weaning therefore check beds thoroughly for
recording of deaths