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Swine Housing

Swine Housing. The majority of pigs today are raised in total confinement. Confinement Production. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of raising swine in confinement?. Advantages. Less labor per cwt of pork produced A more stable environment Fewer parasites

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Swine Housing

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  1. Swine Housing The majority of pigs today are raised in total confinement

  2. Confinement Production • What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of raising swine in confinement?

  3. Advantages • Less labor per cwt of pork produced • A more stable environment • Fewer parasites • Less disease problems • Increased productivity

  4. Disadvantages • Buildings and equipment are very expensive • Energy costs • Reproductive problems • Waste disposal

  5. Waste Handling • Manure disposal is a critical part of raising pigs in total confinement (3-4 T/200 lb hog/yr. • Typical methods of handling waste in confinement buildings include: • Gutter flush to a lagoon • Manure pit • Mechanical scraper

  6. Floors in Swine Buildings • Solid concrete • Partially slotted • Total slotted • Expanded metal • Plastic coated expanded metal • Plastic

  7. Farrowing Facilities • In the past individual farrowing houses were quite common when sows and pigs were raised on pasture • Today most farrowing houses are ‘central’ in design. • Central farrowing houses consist of one or more rooms that accommodate groups of sows

  8. Farrowing House Continued • Most producers use farrowing crates • Years ago the majority of sows were kept in individual pens prior to and after farrowing • Crates are preferred today because they result in more pigs weaned per litter

  9. Nursery Facilities • Nursery barns often contain several rooms with each room designed to accommodate the number of pigs from an individual farrowing room • Small pens designed to handle 6 to 8 pigs are very common although some pens may be large enough to handle 16 to 25 pigs

  10. Nursery Building Continued • The facilities are designed to provide a fairly stable environment • These facilities may be designed to accommodate 3 week old pigs or perhaps 10 d old pigs • Supplemental heat is provided via heat lamps, radiant heaters or perhaps heat in the floor

  11. Grow-Finish Facilities • Environmentally enclosed (totally enclosed) buildings are the most popular today • Open-front buildings popular in the 60s • Modified open front (MOF) buildings were popular in the 80s • Hoop buildings are the most recent • Space requirements of 8-10 sq.ft./hd for G-F

  12. Waterers • Nipple waterers are very popular in confinement • Water cups are also popular • Some buildings (particularly gestation buildings) may use a concrete feed trough as a place to provide water after feeding • Rule-of-thumb = provide one waterer/15 pigs

  13. Feeding Equipment • Self feeders are generally used for nursery and grow-finish pigs • Breeding stock are generally limit fed via floor feeding or in self feeders • Pigs per feeder space range from 2 for nursery pigs to 4-5 for finishing pigs.

  14. Terms you should know • Segregated early weaning (SEW) • Split-sex feeding • Phase feeding • Multiple-site systems • All-in-all-out (AIAO)

  15. Terms defined • SEW = refers to weaning the pigs at 10-14 days of age when they are still protected from diseases via passive immunity from the mother’s milk. These pigs are removed from the sow and placed in a separate building.

  16. Terms continued • Split-sex feeding = refers to feeding gilts and barrows separate since gilts are normally leaner than barrows and as a result have a higher protein requirement. • Phase Feeding = refers to frequent changes in the diet to more closely meet the specific nutrient requirements for various weight groups.

  17. Terms continued • Multiple-site systems = generally refers to having a different location for breeding-gestation-farrowing versus nursery versus grower-finishing. • AIAO = refers to a management system where all animals from a particular building or room are moved in and out on the same day.

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