Alternative batch farrowing systems on large farms

Introduction

Batch management systems (BMS) longer than one week are usually associated with small to medium-sized farms, where grouped tasks and increased batch size are clear advantages. On large farms these advantages become less relevant. With a large staff and the ability to establish shifts, excessive task grouping can even be a disadvantage.

However, with the reduction of antibiotic use, the improved health management provided by BMS is gaining interest. In this article we will look at a BMS option that allows tasks to be distributed evenly, with the aim being able to adapt this to farms of any size.

BMS every 2.5 weeks with weaning at 28 days (2.5-wk BMS)

The 2.5-wk BMS is the same as 3/2 wk BMS, the only thing different is that with 3/2 wk BMS we always wean on the same day (e.g. Thursday), while with 2.5-wk BMS we alternate days (e.g. Monday and Thursday) to achieve a period of 2.5 weeks between batches.

The 3/2 wk BMS creates one and a half weeks of low workload every 5 weeks (weeks 3, 8, and 13).

Task distribution for 3/2 wk BMS

Task distribution by week in 3/2 wk BMS. W = Wean; B = Breed; F = Farrowing

However, with 2.5-wk BMS a more uniform distribution is achieved because the interval between batches is consistent, which may be of greater interest.

Task distribution for 2.5-wk BMS

Task distribution by week in 2.5-wk BMS. W = Wean; B = Breed; F = Farrowing

Farrowing room rotations would continue to be the same as with the 3/2 wk BMS, the only change being that the next batch's farrowings are half a week earlier, weaning alternately on Mondays and Thursdays.

Farrowing room rotations. E: Sows enter; L: Lactation; X: Sows exit (¹Weaning on Thursday; ²Weaning on Monday)

Advantages of 2.5-wk BMS over 3/2 wk BMS

1. The workload is distributed more evenly.
2. By alternating weaning on Mondays and Thursdays, peak matings and farrowings alternate every other weekend. This allows work days on the weekends to be evenly split between the breeding and the farrowing teams.
3. Returns at 21 days are only 0.5 weeks away from the ideal time.
4. When we have space for 3 batches, the nursery rotation is 7.5 weeks, so that the piglets are always leaving at the same age.

How to adapt this for large farms?

Imagine a farm with 2,700 sows in production, with a target of 120 farrowings per week (600 maternity pens), weaning about 1,500 piglets/week (78,000 per year) at 28 days.

By moving to a 2.5-wk BMS the farrowing target would be 300 every 2.5 weeks. Can you imagine weaning 300 sows and almost 4,000 piglets on the same day? Or monitoring their farrowing? Or breeding them? Or processing these piglets? It is possible that this option may fit some scenarios, but others will find that excessive grouping will be a problem. One option to reduce this accumulation of work would be to wean several times a week (e.g. 3 times) during the weaning week:

2.5-wk BMS with weaning on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday / Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

Now in this situation, we have practically no weeks of low activity and the distribution of tasks is more even:

• Week 1:
  • Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday: Weaning 100 sows daily.
  • Thursday and Friday: Sows enter farrowing room.
  • Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: Matings until the beginning of the following week.
• Week 2: Farrowings in the first half of the week and during the weekend prior; fostering and processing of piglets during the rest of the week.
• Week 3: Emptying and cleaning of the nurseries at the beginning of the week and weaning from Thursday on, with sows entering farrowing at the end of the work week.
• Weeks 4 and 5: Combine breedings at the beginning of the week and farrowings at the end of the week, bringing us to the beginning of week 5, with litters still to be processed. Emptying of nurseries and moving sows from the middle to end of the work week.

Task distribution by week for the first five weeks of 2.5-wk BMS. W = Wean; B = Breed; F = Farrowing; EN = Empty and clean nursery; MS = Move sows to group house system; SF = Sows enter farrowing

This 5-week sequence will be repeated twice more. Then, as with the 3/2 wk BMS, the schedule moves to 3-week BMS with 2 batches, with weeks 17 and 21 being less active. These weeks can be used to extend the downtime in the farrowing rooms and to offer vacation days.

Task distribution by week for 2.5-wk BMS. W = Weaning; B = Breeding; F = Farrowing; EN = Empty and clean nursery; MS = Move sows to group housing ; SF = Sows enter farrowing

What advantages have we gained?

1. Greater sanitary stability
2. Batch size (about 4,000 piglets) that offers many possibilities:
   • Segregation of gilt litters.
   • Separation of small piglets out from the rest at weaning or upon exiting the nursery. These animals may follow a different finishing schedule than their large and medium-sized siblings, increasing finishing performance, which is key today.
   • Separation of males and females.
   • Greater ability to fill nurseries and fattening barns with the same-aged pigs from a single source.
3. Highly appealing task distribution:
   • Tasks well-distributed and lower number of busy weekends.
   • Weaning never overlaps with farrowing, something always of interest.
   • The 300 farrowings grouped in 5-6 days offer many possibilities, including setting up night shifts to supervise farrowing.

Conclusions

3/2 wk BMS and 2.5-wk BMS allow 5-week rotations in farrowing which makes them good options for those desiring to wean at 28 days, without grouping as much as 5-wk BMS and without penalizing the rotation like 3-wk BMS does.

The possibility of carrying out several daily weanings opens up a range of possibilities, allowing BMS to be implemented on practically any sized farm covering different needs.

It is likely that in the future we will see more and more farms operating in this way, even large ones, because of the clear advantage they offer in terms of health management and batch size.