Adding feed additives to water: benefits, challenges

Feed additives could do more than a dip in the sea to help reduce heat stress on sows during the hot summer months.

The trick consists in selecting the appropriate foster sows and marking them on the back with the maximum number of pigs that they can take care of.

We need to know, at all moments, which amount of feed are the sows eating, so we will weigh the feed at least once per week.

There are different systems for carrying out this water delivery. Probably, the most common one is with a hose, but sometimes, the sows' troughs are not facing

Using the year the sows enter in production for the sow's identification number.

The strategy involves synchronizing the gilts so they come into heat at the same time, in order to properly manage the number of inseminations targeted for each

Improve the piglets' comfort in the fattening rooms without compromising ventilation by placing an insulating material over the pens.

Build a fence to keep the weaned piglets in a farrowing pen. This trick expects to find an accommodation for the early weaned piglets leaving them

Mating the stimulated sows eases the sperm transport to the oviduct, where they meet the ova. Get to mate the sows, stimulated as much as possible by massaging

This trick consists in using a spring for holding the semen bag during the insemination. Using springs for the sows' self-insemination.

This behaviour avoids the submissive animals from having access to water with enough frequency.

Correct assessment of health status leads to timely disease prevention and better nutritional programs that maximize profitability.

Having a correct lighting is basic for the productivity of the sow and the farm workers. The recommended minimum is 250 lux for 16 hours per day

The week of birth is tattooed on the animals`ears to know their age at all times.

This method works especially well in farms where pens are wide or have unusual dimensions.

This trick consists in creating a nest using the crates back corridor.

Save time, work and water when cleaning the buildings.

Finding alternatives to reduce the number of nurse sows by maximising the number of suckling piglets per sow.

Improving piglets' comfort in the farrowing pens by offering them more surface for resting.