Innovative farrowing box Balance Floor to decrease piglet mortality

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The farrowing pen with Balance Floor is an innovative design that has been on the market for several years. The idea behind this concept is a movable floor, which to a large extent prevents piglets from being crushed by the mother.

As soon as the sow stands up, she hits three sensors and the movable floor, on which the sow stands, is raised approximately 20 cm (using cylinders). The piglets cannot climb on this plateau during the first week of life, which is the most critical phase. As soon as the sow lies down the floor gradually descends. In the moment the sow lies down, the risk of crushing injuring/killing the piglets is reduced.

Animal welfare is significantly increased, because the number of piglets that are lost due to crushing is reduced by 80%. The risk of piglets partially trapped or crushed by the mother is also lower. For example, piglets’ claws remain better intact. Any pathogens present do not have a ‘porte d’entrée’ via a wound. This results in better animal health and less need for antibiotics.

As more piglets survive, production data, such as the weaned piglets per sow per year, also rise.

There are also advantages for the farmer. Because there is less risk of crushing, the farmer can keep the piglets with the sow with a more comfortable feeling. There is also time savings, because fewer, if any, inured piglets have to be monitored continuously.

Feeding stations for group housed sows 

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Generally speaking, there are two ways of feeding pigs: in groups or individually. Examples of group feeding are trough and floor feeding; for individual feeding these are feeding (lying) cubicles and feeding stations.

A major advantage of feeding stations for sows is that each animal can get the amount of feed required (based on Body Condition Score, fat thickness and/or body weight) because there are multiple feeding curves. This is possible for both stable and dynamic groups. Furthermore, a daily report can be made of sows that do not come to eat.

Decisive for success are barn design and set-up of equipment in the barn. For example, functional areas for defecating, resting and eating should be separated and the maximum number of sows per feeding station must not be exceeded. The feeding stations ideally have a long return run, so the feeling of satiety can occur during the return to the group and sows will go straight into the resting area, instead of moving back to the feeding station and disturbing other sows. Placing the drinking facility at the end of the return run also provides extra time for the sow, which improves a relaxed environment for the sows.

An option that can further increase ease of work is the separation box for separating sows for vaccination, pregnancy control, moving to the farrowing pen, heat-detection, etc. And last but not least, don’t forget the gilts training station!

When using feeding stations there are fewer return-to-estrus sows and there are more piglets raised per sow per year.

Handling of dead animals: Hydrolysis

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One of the problems that can break the biosecurity of a farm is the system for collecting dead animals. There is a great risk of spreading disease on the farm via carcass collection vehicles which travel from one farm to another. In addition, because they are fresh carcasses, the risk of being potential disease carriers is high.

A very effective alternative is the hydrolysis of carcasses on the farm. The carcass hydrolysis system provides temporary storage of carcasses and byproducts where the spontaneous phenomena of self-hydrolysis occur. The hydrolysis that takes place in carcass is similar to that which occurs in other organic materials that are susceptible to self-destruction.

With these systems, authorized by the EU (Regulation 749/2011 of 29 July 2011), a specific container is required to perform hydrolysis and store the dead animals for 6 months.

With this system the following is achieved:

  • Limits the microbiological load to inside the hydrolyser on the farm, reducing the potential contamination that this product has to other farms.
  • Decrease the number of collections per year. Going from 100-150 times to 4-6 times.
  • Direct transport is made from the farm to the authorized processing plant. The truck arrives at the farm clean from the processing plant and returns without passing through any other farm.
  • The same hydrolyser container is returned empty, clean and disinfected to the farm of origin, reducing the risk of spreading pathogens.

Environmental control in the farrowing unit

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The piglet phase is one of the most critical for two reasons: the piglet’s immune system is developing and it is starting to be exposed to pathogens. Because of this, it is necessary to establish correct environmental control to reduce the presence of diseases and produce a stronger and more robust piglet at weaning.

The different temperature needs of the piglet (28-33ºC) and the sow (18-22ºC) make it necessary to design systems that allow these 2 “environments” in the same room.

To ensure correct environmental control in the farrowing unit, three factors must be taken into account:

1.Ventilation

The design of the ventilation of a maternity depends on multiple variables (length, and width of the building, etc.). In a practical way, it can be summarized as follows:

Ventilation must be forced and ideally part of automatic environmental control by means of probes, regulators and curves.

Ideally, the air should enter through a false ceiling with the aim of distributing all the new air evenly throughout the room. This ventilation method also allows the air to be preheated before reaching the area where the animals are.

2. Heating

In the case of the piglets, the most highly recommended heating method is a nest with an electric plate and a self-adjusting light source. With this system the optimum temperature for the piglets is achieved without increasing the electrical expenditure. In addition, the sow area will remain at the correct temperature.

3. Type of floor

Plastic is recommended for ease of cleaning and comfort of the animals. It is important that the floor drains correctly, to have a dry and clean floor available for the piglets.

Real-time health monitoring in pigs

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In order to improve sanitary control on a farm, the ideal would be, on the one hand, to prevent diseases (biosecurity and vaccination) and, on the other hand, to anticipate diseases. Work is currently underway on monitoring systems for early detection of diseases. By detecting them early, rapid, accurate and individualized treatment can be put in place, thus reducing the impact of the disease and reducing the consumption of antibiotics.

A monitoring system can obtain information from images and bisosensors every second and, through a computer system with predefined patterns, this information can be processed in real time to provide useful information to stockpersons.

This technology makes it possible to monitor the animal’s movement over several consecutive days through the use of accelerometers and artificial vision systems and establishes alerts when these reach relatively low levels.

After four to seven days of infection, an animal begins to make changes in its routines such as reducing movement or reducing playing and/or feeding time. With a real time monitoring system, pigs are monitored by video surveillance and movement patterns are established. When those patterns are altered, the computer system issues an alert of a possible case of animal with fever. The suspect animal is then individually tested to determine whether it does indeed have fever and needs to be treated with an antipyretic, or whether it does not have fever but moves to an individual surveillance system over the next few days.

Purchasing policy and quarantine of breeding gilts

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What measures can you take to mitigate the risk of disease introduction to your farm when purchasing live breeding stock?

First, try to avoid the purchase of live breeding stock to minimise the risk of introducing diseases through live animals. If you do purchase breeding animals, take the following measures into account:

  • Always buy from the same supplier, to avoid contamination from multiple farm disease profiles. This helps to prevent new diseases being brought in, against which there may not yet be immunity on your farm.
  • Ensure that your supplier has the same or a higher sanitary status than your own farm for the diseases for which (official) control programs exist.
  • Limit the purchasing frequency. The more often animals are purchased and delivered, the higher the chance of disease transmission.
  • Ensure that the vehicles which deliver the animals are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between each delivery so that they do not bring any germs from a previous company onto your farm.
  • Make sure that the gilts are always first housed in a quarantine. If done correctly, the purchased animals can be thoroughly evaluated for disease symptoms, and the necessary vaccinations can be carried out.

A good quarantine:

  • Is an entirely separate air volume (i.e. separated from other stables, both above and below ground).
  • Has a distinct hygiene lock in which you can change footwear and clothing and wash your hands when entering and leaving the stable.
  • Is only refilled after it is completely empty and has been cleaned and disinfected.
  • Should be long enough (at least 28 days recommended). Bear in mind that for some infectious diseases (ex. M. hyopneumoniae) a longer quarantine is necessary. A 40-day quarantine is undoubtedly not a superfluous luxury.

Weaning piglets

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Weaning is a difficult time for both piglets and sows. To reduce the negative effects of weaning, the sow and piglets must be prepared for this critical event. In Romania, on large farms weaning is done at the age of 35 days when the piglets weigh on average 6-8 kg, and in small subsistence farms, it is done at the age of 8 weeks when they weigh 12-14 kg. The rules of weaning refer mainly to the gradual transition of piglets from the infant regime to the regime of weaned piglets, namely: providing additional fodder to piglets from 7-8 days of age so they can gradually increase intakes and become accustomed to solid feed, and reducing the number of milk feeds 4-5 days before weaning. Reducing access to suckling leads the piglets to consume additional feed in larger quantities.

This action is recommended as follows:
-5 days before weaning, 4-5 suckling opportunities;
-4 days before weaning, 3-4 suckling opportunities;
-3 days before weaning, 2-3 suckling opportunities;
-2 days before weaning, 1-2 suckling opportunities;
– one suckling allowed on the day of weaning.

The sow leaves but the piglets remain in the maternity ward for 5-10 days, depending on the technology that is applied. 2-3 days before weaning, the amount of feed administered to the sows is reduced, and on the day of weaning the sow does not receive feed, but only water ad libitum.

Cleaning and disinfecting on poultry, pig and dairy farms

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Calving, lambing and farrowing are stressful events and potential risks for contaminating the environment livestock are kept in. Bacteria thrive in contaminated environments and can remain protected from routine cleaning under layers of grease and dirt found in sheds, stables and barns.

An animal’s pen should receive a deep, thorough clean AND disinfection regularly. In order to reach and remove all bacteria, it is necessary to clean (e.g. with a detergent) before the disinfection process (i.e. with an antibacterial) takes place. A bacterium under a layer of dirt is not possible to reach otherwise. By using foaming detergents, the protective layer of dirt or organic matter is ‘lifted’, which allows the bacteria to be reached improving the effect of the clean. Selecting a cleaning product for the conditions it is to be used in and allowing it to work for at least half an hour is good practice. A period of drying after cleaning also helps maximize the clean. Refer to the product instructions to ensure the disinfectant is applied at the correct concentration. Leave it on surfaces for the instructed time and then rinse to remove.

This cleaning and disinfection protocol keeps the environment that livestock are kept in as clean as possible. Germs such as bacteria are kept at low levels that do not pose a risk of infection and the use of antibiotics can be reduced.

How to use a hygiene lock

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In order to achieve a high production result, the disease pressure must be kept as low as possible. A strategy is to opt for a Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) farm, which means that both the pathogens that are introduced from the outside and the pathogen spread inside the farm is kept as low as possible. A SPF farm is free of certain germs.

To reduce the introduction of disease from outside, a hygiene lock can be used. Entering people and materials can carry many pathogens with them. An example of the process of a hygiene lock at a pig farm is as follows:

  • A visitor is received in a room where the air is filtered.
  • Here the coat and shoes have to be taken off and hands must be disinfected. If applicable, material that must be taken inside must be placed in the UV cabinet.
  • Then access is granted to the changing room. Here you have to shower, where it is mandatory to wash the hair and body. Further access to the company is determined by means of a time switch: the shower must have been on long enough.
  • Then company clothes and clogs can be put on. If necessary, material can be taken from the UV cabinet.
  • Finally, the clogs have to go through the disinfection bin.

In this way, the introduction of pathogens is minimalized. The hygiene lock contributes to reducing disease pressure and thus also to reducing the use of antibiotics.​

Coating surfaces in poultry, pig and dairy farms

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When dirt, urine and manure build up in hard to reach places, adequate cleaning and disinfection can be a challenge. Pathogens like bacteria and viruses can remain on surfaces protected by a layer of dirt or within a ‘biofilm’. This can be a source of repeated infection for livestock.

MS Schippers, in cooperation with Mesacoatings, offers a solution by coating floors and walls of livestock housing as part of an integrated HyCare method. A few hours after the coating has been applied, the stable/shed/housing can be put into use.

HyCare Coating creates a seam-less and pore-free environment. Pathogens no longer get a chance to build up in the cracks and holes on surfaces. Good hygiene can thus be guaranteed. The coating is easier and faster to clean than concrete and saves water. No dirt is left behind and it dries very quickly.

HyCare coating of surfaces improves the effectiveness of cleaning by reducing the ability of pathogens to build up over time, this lowers the risk of disease and thereby the use of antibiotics.