Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
prevent large differences in feed intake. Using relatively small static groups (6-15 sows)
and sorting on parity and body condition is a must.
The solid floor needs to be sloped slightly (1-2%) to allow for urine to drain to the slatted
area. Common pen dimensions are a width of 50 cm per sow in the pen, and a depth of
the solid floor of 2.5 m. The slatted floor behind that is approximately 2.0 m deep. Water
is freely available in a drinker on one of the side partitions in the slatted floor area.
3.3.4
Long trough
A long trough system generally provides liquid feed to sows kept in small groups of 6 to
15. Individual feeding is not possible, so sorting on parity and weight is necessary. One
meal per day guarantees that none of the sows is overeating. An equal distribution of
the feed in the trough is of utmost importance, so that all animals can access the same
amount and fighting is not increased due to the presence of favourite feeding positions.
Drinking water is available from a nipple drinker in the trough or a bowl in the slatted
area. Providing some environmental enrichment to improve the welfare of sows is difficult
in these small pens. The pen design looks very much as the pen design of floor feeding
systems described in the previous paragraph. As in floor feeding systems, a slope of at
least 2% is important in these pens to remove liquids from the solid floor.
3.3.5
Trickle feed
Trickle feeding (also called Biofix feeding) is similar to long trough feeding, but the
feed is dispensed slowly and continuously in the trough at one eating place per sow.
The dispensing speed is equal to the eating speed of the slowest eating sow. When the
feed is dropped continuously, sows do not disturb other eating sows. In trickle feeding
systems sorting on parity and body condition is crucial to reduce differences in eating
speed, thus limiting the frequency of sows aggressively changing places, and minimising
variation in feed intake and weight development. The pen design is similar to that of
floor feeding systems.
3.3.6
Fitmix
Fitmix is a feeding system comparable to ESF, but without any protection during feeding.
After electronic identification of a sow close to the feeder, an auger starts to turn and feed
and water are mixed and dispensed through a tube. Sows put their mouth around the
tube and the emulsion is directly pushed into the mouth by the auger, and immediately
sucked and swallowed by the sow. Stealing of feed is impossible because the system stops
distributing immediately when the sow moves her head away from the dispenser, and
walks away or is chased away from the feeder. The system is typically suitable for static
groups of 20 sows and one feeder. A variety of pen designs are being used in commercial
practice. The software behind the feeding system is similar to ESF systems software,
so sows can be fed individually and automated data collection can be an aid in daily
supervision. Just like an ESF system, Fitmix requires more sow training than other
feeding systems and is a competitive feeding system (Chapinal
et al.
, 2010).
