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PRACTICAL LOOSE SOW MANAGEMENT
Posted in: Pork Insight Articles, Production by admin on May 12, 2017
You have static group and dynamic groups with sows. It seems that dynamic groups is becoming the favourite one, especially if sows are introduced in the group housing directly after insemination.
The decision to use dynamic groups is based on the size of the farm. With 500 sows in 20 week groups you end up with 25 sows per group and that number does not fully utilize your feed stations. One other consideration used in the decision to use dynamic groups is that the space requirement is 10 percent lower in large groups than it is in groups less than 40 sows.
The four feeding stations in the large group sit next to each other which is a standard configuration used in dynamic groups by Nedap. All activities are concentrated in small areas and the remainder of the barn is very quiet. There is very little competition at the entrance to the stations as there is always an alternate station within a short walk away. There are 50-55 sows per feed station which Druijff considers the maximum number to be effective. This situation also contributes to the peace and quiet in the pen and allows the lesser sows to have sufficient time to eat as well.
One advantage to feed stations sitting in a row is that share a joint exit leading to a separation unit. This is more efficient than each station having its own separation unit.