Weighing up feed use
With feed accounting for the major cost of producing pigs , UK pig farmers are cottoning-on to the benefits of monitoring feed use at source — the feed bin itself .
| Pig & Poultry
T im Miller , environmental specialist with Staffordshirebased ARM Buildings , says load-cells have been installed under feed bins on a number of units . Linked to the Dicam monitoring system – which the company supplies free for the first 12 months with all new buildings — they provide a continuous and accurate check on feed consumption .
The system will also provide a very important early warning of any glitches in the feed supply
“ If the bin is tared when empty , the producer knows exactly the weight of feed within it after a delivery . He can see on the farm ’ s computer how much feed the pigs are eating on a daily basis , so can work out how much a particular batch of pigs has consumed , enabling true feed conversion figures to be worked out ,” said Tim .
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“ Farmers have also found it helpful to use monitoring to plan feed deliveries . The days of frantic phone calls to get a load before a holiday period are long gone as are those of having to go out and hit the side of the feed bins to guess the amount of feed remaining , are typical comments
I ’ ve received from farmers using this system ,” said Tim .
The system will also provide a very important early warning of any glitches in the feed supply , such as bridging in the bin , when no feed is being delivered despite the motor running . In addition , a drop in consumption can indicate a potential health problem with the pigs not eating as they should , he added .
The buildings need standard broadband connection , but if this is not available then a cellular connection can be installed .
St David ’ s branches into antibiotic reduction in pigs
Pig producers could reduce antibiotic usage and improve animal health and productivity by adopting a new approach piloted by the poultry industry .
F ollowing tremendous success helping poultry producers to reduce antibiotic usage , St David ’ s veterinary team is now branching into the pig sector . The initiative , which will be launched at the British Pig & Poultry Fair , is based on improving the animals ’ natural health through a combination of probiotics , organic acids and water sanitation .
“ We have spent many years pulling together the latest research and industry best practice from around the world ,” says partner Richard Turner . “ Working with the large integrators we have put this into place on a number of poultry farms , with considerable success , and are now rolling it out to the pig sector .”
Antibiotic resistance is a huge threat to human health , and livestock farmers are under increasing pressure to stop using antibiotics altogether . “ As a practice we started looking at antibiotic reduction 10 years ago , and now more than 40 % of medicines we use to treat infections are not antibiotics ,” says Mr Turner . “ There will always be situations where we have to treat with antibiotics , but in this country there hasn ’ t been enough time spent looking at alternative approaches .”
Amazingly , animals ’ bodies comprise 90 % bacteria – in effect people are only made up of 10 % human cells . Through its Applied
Bacterial Control ( ABC ) programme , St David ’ s looks closely at all husbandry factors that influence this microbiome , and develops a bespoke strategy to boost natural gut health and reduce the need for routine antibiotic treatments .
Central to the ABC system is clean water and the Seed , Weed and Feed approach , developed by Professor Stephen Collett from the University of Georgia , USA . This involves seeding the gut with beneficial flora , feeding them by creating the right gut environment , and weeding out unfavourable microbes .
“ Bacteria pass down from one generation to the next , so best results involve treating parent stock as well as youngsters on arrival at the farm ,” says Mr Turner . “ In the poultry sector adopting such a proactive approach to bird health has helped our clients to significantly improve production efficiencies , and we are now looking forward to helping pig producers do the same .”
May 2016 | Farming Monthly | 13