The Pig Hill gilt development unit (GDU) was built in Lester, IA, and is in its second year of operation. As we take you on a tour through the facility, notice how it was built to supply an Electronic Sow Feeding barn. In this GDU, the young sows are able to learn about the new equipment on their own time.
In the video, you will see inside a functioning BOLD Systems sorting scale that is used both to collect animal data as well as acclimate the gilts to the concept of entering an enclosed feeding system. We employ scale sorting systems to, in a fashion, emulate the look and process the gilts will see in the ESF barn. You will notice that the gilts can choose when they want to enter the gates. Their natural curiosity will eventually lead them through, so we don't have to cause the girls stress by forcing them into new systems. Learn more about preparing gilts for an ESF Barn by clicking the link below:
4 Rules to Remember When Preparing Gilts for an ESF Barn
By the time the pigs are old enough to enter the final stage of development, where they will encounter some pre-training gates (typically built on the ESF swine side and next to the ESF training pen), they should be comfortable with all the equipment they will encounter. The training hog pens and mock ESF gates are key to a successful transition. While your training process will still take some time, it will be much smoother and less stressful on you and the pigs if you allow the gilts to become used to the equipment. We carefully design our gilt development units with this idea in mind. If you are interested in learning more about how we set up penning and gating in the training hog pens, check out the article we recently wrote on the subject.
Hog Penning & Gating in a Training Group Gestation Pen
At New Standard, we always welcome conversation on swine barn designs and the hog industry in general. If you are interested in talking with us about a new barn or the industry in general, give us a call or click the button below to set up a free consulation.