FARM VISIT ▶▶▶
Inside the feeding station is a V-shaped weighing system, so that only one pig can enter.
Frédéric Baudet confirms the gain in homogeneity. He says, “There is 7% less light pigs at the end of the fattening period compared to traditional feeders.”
Animal welfare Baudet, who had two Selfifeeder GFI stations placed in his pig house in 2020, confirms the improved feed efficiency and also points to animal welfare; he observed the animals got used to the system very quickly and were not stressed by it. He continues, “The software provides interesting data such as the mean and individual live weight and average daily gain of pigs. Those data have a huge interest for the follow-up of the fattening phase, helping the animal caretaker to anticipate some diseases on specific animals but also to identify another source of perturbation such as water flow.” Last but not least, Baudet points to robustness as many pig innovations may look good at a trade show but may not al- ways perform well in the rough environment of a pig farm. The equipment for finisher pigs passes the test, he says. “The cleaning phase is as easy as with traditional feeders, and the equipment is very robust.” All in all, he’s ready to further invest in individual finisher feeding equipment. “That way I will be ready for the big precision feeding transition.”
Once pig 1070016581 is finished with his meal, he looks up. Sometimes there’s more feed coming. Not this time though. After
a while he gives up and walks his way backwards, over the wob- bly floor and through the flapping doors again. As soon as he steps outside, his pen mates are waiting for him. The next sneaks in, heading for the yellow light.
* GTE is short for “Gestion Technique Economique”. This is the French system to evaluate the technical and economical perfor- mance of a farm, in this case dedicated to grow-finisher pigs.
www.pigprogress.net/ worldofpigs
This feeding station is equipped with automatic spraying equipment. ▶ PIG PROGRESS | Volume 37, No. 10, 2021 27
PHOTO: VINCENT TER BEEK
PHOTO: VINCENT TER BEEK
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