Whether you are converting an existing herd or populating a barn utilizing electronic sow feeding systems (ESF) with new gilts, it can be a long road to get the herd comfortable with the new system.
It requires patience and consistency. Tanner McCulley, a regional sow manager for TriOak Foods in southeast Iowa, says it typically takes about 28 to 30 weeks to get a group of animals to understand what’s going on.
“Just keep encouraging people to be patient as well throughout those pens,” McCulley said during a recent Gestal Swine Summit virtual webinar. “Working with animals in group pens is a lot different than back alleys and crates.”
However, he’s quick to point out that as TriOak Foods has established herds with ESF, and even more importantly, established staff, they wouldn’t have a single person go back to their old feeding systems.
“It’s a better environment for our people. They appreciate how it’s unbelievably brighter and quieter in our barns now,” he said.
He offers a few tips for producers to consider when training animals to use ESF.
1. Mirror the new environment before you make the move.
Prior to conducting heat checks on gilts, McCulley said he gives the gilts at least two weeks, maybe upwards to 30 days, in a mirrored environment like they will experience post preg-check.
“Waters are all in the same place, we use the same ESF station just with an ad lib feed, and we give them ample time to explore and observe,” he said. It’s been a night-and-day difference, he added, going from 70% to 75% of gilts self-training to upwards of 90+% now.
2. Be very proactive.
Starting on day one, get gilts up and start training them to use the feeding station. “If you wait two or three days to look at that action list, you’re going to be having an uphill climb,” he says. “Gilt training has been paramount for us, getting that gilt exposure to the system.”
3. Interact. Interact. Interact.
Within the group pens, get gilts comfortable with people interaction, McCulley said.
The hidden bonus of taking these extra steps to acclimate gilts or sows to this new environment is that it seems to alleviate the stress around that first crate introduction when they move a gilt from post-heat check to a breeding area, McCulley said.
“In the past, we would have seen off-feed events and gilts clearly showing signs of stress. This seems to have alleviated quite a bit of that – just getting exposure to a crate and getting them associated with the feed and water systems,” he said.
More from Farm Journal’s PORK:
Why Training Your Employees is Crucial to Electronic Sow Feeding Success
Precision Feeding: What’s Best for the Sow?
