The idea didn’t go over well when it was first proposed, but the loose housing system has outproduced the other barns
BANFF, Alta. — Larry Coleman, a swine veterinarian in Broken Bow, Nebraska, didn’t like the idea of open sow housing.
The operations he serviced at Thomas Livestock, comprising more than 16,000 sows, had a 96 percent farrowing rate, an average 14 pigs per litter and 34 pigs per sow annually using the stall system.
“We were very happy with our stalls,” Coleman told those at the Jan. 12-14 Banff Pork Seminar.
“I’ve literally spent most of my career talking producers into putting sows in individual housing as opposed to putting them in group housing.
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“We liked what we were doing but going forward, crates were going to be increasingly difficult to defend.”
Animal welfare groups have demanded an end to the use of gestation stalls for sows and many food companies have committed to sourcing pork only from operations that use loose housing.
So, when it came time to build a new barn in 2013, the Thomas Livestock owner decided to try group housing. Now that barn has better results than those with stalls.
“We couldn’t be more pleased,” said manager Tim Friedel.
“We are breaking ground on a new farm … and we’re going with an identical system. We feel totally satisfied with this system and the production it can bring.”
He said the loose housing barn out-produced the others in its first year and has 97 percent pregnancy rates, 95 percent farrowing rates and 35 pigs per sow annually, on average.
Coleman said he and Friedel investigated other open housed sow operations, including some in Canada, before deciding on a design.
They saw several challenges associated with a new system, including inaccurate feeding, social stress, training difficulties, heat detection and sow management.
“We were going to solve these five problems or at least have a plan in place for why we could be successful,” Coleman said about early research.
Feeding issues were addressed with an electronic sow feeding system. Referencing studies on sow socialization and observations from other farms, Friedel decided to put the animals in groups of 150 or more.
“By doing that you create a grouping of animals where they won’t recognize an individual that maybe they have a problem with.”
Added Coleman: “We think it’s had a calming effect in that instead of trying to figure out a pecking order, these sows have somewhat said, ‘well we’re just going to have to co-operate.’ ”
The barn employed a racetrack design with each pen holding 280 animals and six ESF systems. Nesting areas within those pens accommodate 10 to 12 sows. The arrangement allocates about 24 sq. feet per sow.
Training gilts to use the feeding systems was managed by allowing the animals to gradually explore doors and gates before they had to actually use them to obtain feed.
Friedel said one of the staffers at the barn was designated as the “hog whisperer” and does all training of the gilts when they enter the ESF open housing system.
Heat detection is managed by computer monitoring of sow ear tags when the animals show interest in a boar housed in a small pen within the sow barn.
To manage the sows, Friedel said those recently bred are mixed with later-term animals, which seems to work well.
“Those heavy pregnant sows really didn’t want to cause any problems.”
Personnel at the barns who have worked in both the stall and open housed systems say they like the latter, Friedel added.
“Everybody that’s worked in both systems much prefers the group housing system versus the crated system. They just all say the same thing, that the animals are more content, they’re easier to be around, they’re easier to move. Even in the farrowing house, when you’re working with them in there, they seem to be more content.”
Dr. Temple Grandin, a world renowned animal handling expert, said she liked what she heard at Coleman and Friedel’s presentation.
“I was really pleased when I saw the productivity figures were so good,” said Grandin.
“They’re learning how to do it. They were saying in the beginning they were really skeptical and now they’re loving it. The pigs are definitely going to benefit and the people liked it better too.”
She also praised the stockmanship involved in finding a staff member who could train and work with the gilts and sows.
Group housing is one of the biggest welfare issues facing the swine industry, added Grandin, and genetics are making it easier for producers to make the transition.
“Back in the ’80s there were certain mean lines of pigs that were extremely aggressive and nasty when it came to fighting. People are breeding those pigs out.”
barb.glen@producer.com
