Sow Herd Productivity Under Group Housing Similar to Stall Housing

Jun 15, 2018

Research conducted on behalf of Swine Innovation Porc has found the change from stall housing of gestating sow to group housing has not negatively affected sow productivity or increased the amount of labour involved in handling the sows.

To help pork producers plan for converting from stall housing of gestating sows to group housing researchers working on behalf of Swine Innovation Porc tracked and documented barn conversions across Canada.

Dr. Jennifer Brown, a research Scientist Ethology with the Prairie Swine Centre, says producers who have made the change have been pleased.

Dr. Jennifer Brown-Prairie Swine Centre:

In terms of sow production levels people saw some transitional reductions.

In many cases they had to reduce the herd size in order to do the actual work but once they were up and running and had their numbers back up productivity has been really good.

We've gotten very good feedback.

Producers are liking working with the system, liking that the sows seem very relaxed and easy to work with in these systems and also finding it's interesting to work with sows in groups because you can see more of their individual differences and behaviors.

Source : Farmscape

Video: Swine Industry Advances: Biodigesters Lower Emissions and Increase Profits

Analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions) in the Canadian swine sector found that CH4 emissions from manure were the largest contributor to the overall emissions, followed by emissions from energy use and crop production.

This innovative project, "Improving Swine Manure-Digestate Management Practices Towards Carbon Neutrality With Net Zero Emission Concepts," from Dr. Rajinikanth Rajagopal, under Swine Cluster 4, seeks to develop strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

While the management of manure can be very demanding and expensive for swine operations, it can also be viewed as an opportunity for GHG mitigation, as manure storage is an emission source built and managed by swine producers. Moreover, the majority of CH4 emissions from manure occur during a short period of time in the summer, which can potentially be mitigated with targeted intervention.

In tandem with understanding baseline emissions, Dr. Rajagopal's work focuses on evaluating emission mitigation options. Manure additives have the potential of reducing manure methane emissions. Additives can be deployed relatively quickly, enabling near-term emission reductions while biodigesters are being built. Furthermore, additives can be a long-term solution at farms where biogas is not feasible (e.g., when it’s too far from a central digester). Similarly, after biodigestion, additives can also be used to further reduce emissions from storage to minimize the carbon intensity of the bioenergy.