Did you know you can automatically identify and sort your pigs without having to lift a finger? That means you don't have to search out the pigs you need in a large sow pen. Rather than wasting your time trying to find that last sow you need to preg-test or vaccinate, just let her come to you!
Equipping your sow pens with electronic sow feeders gives you the option to add sow separation auto-sorters and sow weight monitoring scales to the system. This allows you to have a complete barn management system built into your gestation area. One of the most common arguments against loose sow housing is that you cannot keep track of and organize sows as easily. That is true if you have to search them out in a huge sow pen when you need them; but with sow separation units, keeping track of and treating your animals is easier than in a gestation stall barn.
After the animals take in their daily feed, they head down the exit alley of the ESF. They then enter the sow weight monitoring scale and the separation unit. The auto sorter identifies each pig and sends her back into the group sow pen or into the holding pen based on how you have programmed the system to separate the animals. The separated pigs will sit in the smaller holding pen until you release them back into the group gestation pen.
With the Velos data tracking system, you can separate sows based on a variety of identifiers; many of these identifiers can be automatically set. You can separate sows if they are underweight, need vaccination, need preg-tested, or if you want them separated for any other reason. You simply input what sows you want separated on any given day and let the system do your work for you.
With sow separation units, you are able to treat issues you see before they become bigger problems. For example, if a sow is not eating and gaining weight as quickly as she needs to in order to support herself and her babies, you can pull her out of the pen. You can check her for any illnesses or any other problems. With the tracking system, you can also go back and look at the data to see how often she is eating. This will help you identify the problem. If you were not able to track these patterns and weren't able to sort her out, you may not notice her problem until she is extremely ill or malnourished.
The entire electronic feeder and tracking system is built so you can keep an eye on how every sow is performing. In addition, your barn operations become dramatically more efficient because you are not spending your time chasing problems.
Interested in learning more about hog barn efficiency and sow weight monitoring? Read our latest articles or visit our Swine Solutions page!