WINNIPEG – A Manitoba company has turned the pig sorting business on its ear.
Designed and manufactured by Sierens Equipment in Swan Lake, Man., the Gen II is one of the most technologically advanced hog sorting systems on the market.
Using the latest engineering available to the industry, the system is able to log hog data daily on each animal and then guide that animal into the most appropriate of three nutritionally different food courts.
“We collect data on each pig each and every time it enters a food court,” said company president Dan Sierens.
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“It operates 24 hours a day and does not have to be manned. Producers use it to manage their feeding programs. When we put a sorting system in a barn, we can direct each animal to the food court that has the ration it needs.
“For example, the lightest 20 percent of the animals go to the food court with the highest protein. The next 30 percent go to a food court with lower protein. The top 50 percent of the herd are heavier, or closer to mature, so they go to the food court with the lowest protein ration.”
Although the Gen II has gates for three food courts, the electronic scale can identify five weight ranges, each adjustable for different conditions.
While daily weighing can produce significant performance benefits in a typical feeding situation, Sierens said an even bigger benefit comes from managing expensive inputs such as Elanco’s Paylean feed additive.
Paylean causes nutrients in the feed ration to produce less total fat and more high-value lean tissue.
According to Elanco, the feed supplement improves daily gain and feed conversion efficiency by an average of 10 percent.
The target feeding period is the final 28 days before market, with no withdrawal period required.
“However, the Paylean is a significant cost, and it continues for 28 days,” Sierens said.
“If you add it generally to the feed ration on a whole herd basis, there will be a lot of wasted money. But if you can precisely administer it to each weight group of animals, it can be a very profitable input.”
He said an operator doesn’t always need to be that specific in managing the feeding program.
“You might decide to sort for a certain time period, say 8 a.m. to noon. Then you can run open feeding in the afternoon. The system will automatically run the gates the way you want them at each time of day.”
To make the most of existing software and data collecting systems, Sierens said the Gen II is compatible with radio frequency identification ear tags and computer systems.
“RFID isn’t economical for a commercial herd. It’s just too expensive.
“But for a farrow-grow or a gilt-grow operation, it can be a powerful management tool. You can pick out animal No. 100, for instance, from a specific mother and specific genetic line. You can monitor performance data on that animal every day. All the data, all the reports, are compatible with whatever system you already use.”
Sierens said that in operations with an identity preservation requirement, the IP addresses on each animal let Gen II provide full tracking data on each animal.
The system can also sort hogs destined to market by segregating each weight group.
“You adjust the system to the size of your market pen and the weight range you want to ship,” he said.
“The scale will stop sorting and close the gate once it reaches the pre-set number of pigs. No need to stand there and watch. It all happens automatically.”
Sierens said every effort was made to ensure the system is animal friendly. All doors have rollers instead of solid bars, which allow pigs to slide through without getting their ribs caught.
“Solid bars act like a reverse barb. They catch the pig and cause bruising.”
Each time the scale exit gate opens, a small blast of air encourages the animal to move forward. If a pig goes halfway through and then stops, the gate will bump three times before closing to push it on through.
If anything should malfunction, all gates automatically default to the open position so animals have full access to the food courts.
The alarm system is programmed to call the barn manager’s cell phone and provide an exact report on what has happened.
“If it’s 10 p.m. and you get an alarm that a gate is stuck open, it’s no big deal. You can deal with it the next morning. If it’s important, then you know you have to deal with it immediately. The report on your cell phone gives you the information you need. The remote monitoring software lets you manage the system from any place your cell phone works.”
The equipment is built with nylon bushings at all wear points to resist corrosion. Depending on the client’s preference, it is constructed of either stainless steel or powder coated steel.
The safety release system is a second gate or pathway out of the food court. It opens automatically to let animals out of the food court in the event of an electrical or compressed air failure.
If an animal should fall asleep on the scale, entry and exit gates default to the open positions so all other animals have full access to the food court.
The double gate option on the entry end of the system prevents animals waiting in the alley from interfering with the animal on the scale.
For more information, contact Dan Sierens at 204-836-2243 or visit www.sierensequip.com.
