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A new version of PigCom, the popular electronic pig recording and herd management system, is available from ACMC.
It offers several innovative and potentially money-saving capabilities including highlighting prolific sows and those to cull, together with the week they fall into; recording of gilt heats to predict dates of service, and a location editor to simplify recording the whereabouts of animals on the farm.
PigCom, introduced in 2004 as a novel recording system based on Microsoft technologies, is one of the easiest systems to use both in terms of data entry and getting useful information out. It is highly thought of by farm consultants as it is efficient in highlighting trends.
“It can be run directly on the newer 64-bit PCs and we’ve found that people who have no previous experience of using computers can easily master the system,” said Ed Sutcliffe, ACMC’s geneticist and technical director.
He points out the financial benefits from better management of non-productive sows. The cost of 15 per cent of served sows returning at three weeks equates to seven lost days for every sow in the herd, worth £16.80 per sow a year, while detecting just five per cent of sows not in pig when arriving at the farrowing house would save up to £31 per sow yearly.
PigCom, available on free trial, is open to all producers and not limited to ACMC genetics customers. It is used extensively throughout the world as well as the UK and can be branded under other company’s names. Technical back-up is available for a yearly fee.
December 18, 2013 - ACMC
