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Moving animals! Without a doubt, this is one of the tasks that test the physical and "mental" endurance of farm workers. It's true that those working on the farm every day are in constant motion: taking the sows to the different areas (farrowing, mating, gestation), taking the piglets to be weaned, moving them to the nursery, loading them onto the truck for sale, moving them to the finishing barn... it's endless! And often, in addition to the physical effort, there is mental effort: animals turn around in the aisle, others squeal and scare the rest, others refuse to go to their destination and insist, stubbornly, on trying to get back to where they came from, and the more experienced the pigs are, the more you notice it!
But what really pushes patience to the limit is when, just as the animals are about to reach their destination, the poorly fixed panel falls down and everyone (people and pigs) go on a mad dash through the aisles.
This very simple but functional panel is used to move the pigs in the finishing barn.
At a bargain price, the farmer bought some old truck side panels made of aluminum, which are light and resistant to even the strongest pigs. He measured the height of the walls and the width of the aisle and built panels that are 30 cm higher than the walls and slightly narrower than the aisles; on the top, he fixed two hooks the width of the aisle walls and, on one of the two sides, he added two more hooks to store the panels when not in use.
When installed near the entrance of the pen where the animals must enter or exit, they are fastened with the upper hooks to the walls of the aisle, at an incline (because it is 30 cm taller than the walls of the aisle). In this way, the pigs cannot move it or pull it with their snouts. When animals are done being moved, it is hung via the hooks on one of the sides of the aisle wall, always available without being in the way.
