For farmers it’s like a coin sorting machine. For pigs it’s like a lobster trap.
An Airdrie, Alta., company thinks it has invented an automatic pig sorter that is fast, doesn’t upset the pigs and works at temperatures as low as -40 C.
“They’re not scared of it,” said K and L Technical Services Ltd. vice-president Liesel MacPhee as she described The Super Sorter.
Sorting pigs in open barn operations has always been difficult, as most producers know.
But recently companies have been making pig sorting machines that separate market weight hogs from their lesser brethren.
Read Also
Government, industry seek canola tariff resolution
Governments and industry continue to discuss how best to deal with Chinese tariffs on Canadian agricultural products, particularly canola.
The K and L machine can sort 150 to 200 pigs per hour, which is a lot more than people can do by themselves. The Super Sorter can divide more pigs overnight than two people could sort in two days.
The machine, built around a weigh scale, allows one pig at a time to enter. It looks like an alleyway, so the pigs aren’t frightened by it, said MacPhee. They can also see all the way through the sorter.
Weight determines fate
The machine reads the pig’s weight, and if it is the minimum weight set by the producer, an exit gate to the market hog pen will open and the pig will amble out to join its colleagues.
If it is underweight, a different exit will open and it can join other pigs who need more feeding.
MacPhee said the pigs are keen to pass through the gates when feeding bunks are on the other side of the sorter.
The machine weighs about 200 pounds and can be easily wheeled in and out whenever sorting is required. Most producers who use the system only use it when they need to separate pigs for shipping, but MacPhee said some keep the machine permanently operating so they can closely monitor their animals’ weight gain.
The gates use air pressure rather than hydraulics, which allows the scale to function in the coldest winter conditions, MacPhee said. Producers can use either carbon dioxide or an air compressor to make it work.
The severe temperature capability is important because sorters are usually used in the open hoop barns many producers are using. These barns are open to the air and allow the pigs to run in one large enclosure, rather than in small pens as in conventional barns. During the winter, temperature inside the barn is the same as temperature outside.
The company recommends producers bring in the sorter 24 hours before shipping. That way even the laziest, fattest pigs will succumb to the urge to pass through to eat.
The Super Sorter costs $5,500, plus the cost of fencing.
“You really shouldn’t need anything else,” said MacPhee.
For more information phone 403-912-0341. Email: leonking@telusplanet.net
