PHOTO: GALAMA MEDIA


THE BIGGER PICTURE ▶▶▶


Sow massage


For animal welfare purposes, it’s not uncommon these days to see rotating cow scrubbers at dairy farms. To have them at pig farms, however, is a relative novelty. Dutch company Comfy Solutions, marketing the scrubbers at dairy farms in Europe and Canada, recently introduced tailored versions for pigs and goats as well. The pig scrubbers have been installed in about 15 pig farms throughout the Netherlands, mostly for group-housed sows during gestation. The scene at the picture was shot at a pig farm in Marum, Groningen province. For dairy cows, several studies have examined the potential effects of cows scrubbers beyond enrichment. In one study in 2009 they were associated with higher milk production and lower occurrence of mastitis. Obviously, demonstrable effects in pigs have yet to be studied, explains Erik Pel, commercial director at Comfy. He says, “We see, however, that the pigs do use it. That to us is a sign that it meets a demand.”


6 ▶PIG PROGRESS | Volume 36, No. 10, 2020


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