The Rural Voice, 2003-04, Page 22• Smooth surface and raised ribs provide
excellent traction and support for your sows.
• Keeps sow cool in warm farrowing room.
• Non -slip profile reduces injuries.
• Increased average wean weights.
• Significantly decreases pre -wean death rates.
• Easily combines with Nursery Toplock for a
superb farrowing floor.
For more information contact
ATWOOD
LENCO
SUPPLY LTD.
(519) 356-2282
TARA
H. NICHOLSON
& SON
(519) 934-2343
GRANTON
AVONBANK
FARM EQUIPMENT
(519) 225-2507
LUCKNOW
MAITLAND VALLEY
AGRI SYSTEMS LTD.
(519) 529-3820
AtagE
CAST IRON
FLOORING
your local BSM Dealer:
MILDMAY
MIDWAY FARM
SYSTEMS
(519) 367-5358
WELLESLEY
PROGRESSIVE
FARMING
(519) 656-2709
BSM Agri Ltd. R R #4 Arthur, ON, Canada NOG 1A0
Tel (519) 848-3910 Fax (519) 848-3948
DRAYTON
CONESTOGO
AGRI SYSTEMS INC.
(519) 638-3022
WALTON
KEITH SIEMON
FARM SYSTEMS LTD.
(519) 345-2734
KMM
F
A
R
M
D
R
A
1
N
A
G
E
Walton
TILE DRAINAGE PAYS!
Let a good drainage system
work for you to help improve:
• Soil erosion • Aeration
• Crop yields • Soil warm up
• Crop rotation • Harvest length
• Land values • Soil conditions
• Plant growth • Fertilizer efficiency
CALL THE EXPERTS!
Shop 887-6428
Ron McCallum 887-6428 Paul McCallum 527-1633
"We install
drainage tubing."
18 THE RURAL VOICE
worked but it was too labour-
intensive totrain the sows how to use
it, he says.
That's the big delight of the new
group -housing set-up. The
feeding system has a simple
mechanical system with little that can
go wrong. If it does, they can fix it
themselves (they installed the feeding
system themselves so they'd know it
inside and out). The hog industry is a
seven -day -a -week business and if
something breaks down on a
weekend in a complicated
computerized system, getting it
repaired could be a headache, he
says.
One added burden Wilson thought
he might encounter with the pens was
scraping but there hasn't been an
need to scrape.
5' stub -
walls
feed
drop
area
-1
floor --
slopes
a .1 5%
10'
—i
10' 32'
— 4
12'
— 20'— - —
The layout of the pens is simplicity
itself.
"I haven't scraped a pen in there
yet," he told farmers attending the
Centralia Swine Research Update in
Kirkton in January. "There's less
labour by a long shot"
The one task there has been is
pressure -washing down the hallway
and washing off the tops of the pen
walls in order to keep dust to a
minimum. The whole barn will be
washed out this summer. The job is
made easy by vinyl panels lining the
walls and ceiling.
When the family populated the
new pens last May, they started with
gilts because they felt there would be
the least chance of fighting with
younger pigs. Since then they've
discovered that sows won't fight if
they're put into the pens soon after
they've been bred. This goes against