The Rural Voice, 1998-04, Page 353
r
f
completely every 28 days. "The little
people can compete with the big
people because they pay more
attention to detail," he said. "Don't
be worried about the big guys. Pay
attention to yourself and pay
attention to detail."
The details of good stockmanship
bring the potential for profit, he said,
if mortality rates can be cut and feed
usage can be improved.
The practical side of stock-
manship in a variety of Ontario
operations was outlined by a
number of speakers. Andy Davis,
who, with his wife Cheryl, operates a
breeding and gestation operation for
NPD at Orange Hill, dealt with
stockmanship in a breeding
operation.
After weaning, he said, house
your sows next to a boar "to have
sight, sound, smell and touch and that
all important ingredient,
pheromones". For added stimulation
different boars can be used.
He uses a hands-on approach, he
said, literally — getting into the pen
and talking to the sows and using his
hands to help determine when a sow
is coming into heat.
If the sows are in heat he breeds
immediately. But breeding requires a
good environment, he said. If a sow
and boar don't have good footing, the
mating won't be successful. He
scrapes the dry sow stalls daily and
uses crushed limestone to provide
good footing. Match the boar size to
the sow size, he advised.
Keep lights and windows clean,
he said because pigs need maximum
light. He also washes fans to keep
them clean.
He advocated writing down
breeding information as soon as the
boar has bred. He keeps a clipboard
with the sow the whole four months
so all the information on that sow
will be right there. He also moves
sows to the gestation stalls in the
order they were bred, easing the
record keeping.
When moving pigs, he cautioned a
gentle touch, always talking to the
pigs and using boards to guide them
to where they're supposed to go.
Gilbert Vanden Heuvel from Kase
Vanden Heuvel Farms, R.R.2,
Goderich, who operates a 1300 -sow
farrow -to -finish operation discussed
the operation of the farrowing room
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APRIL 1998 31