The Rural Voice, 1998-04, Page 42Insure Wit ft
Confidence
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Offering
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Ayton, Ont. NOG 1CO 519-665-7715 - 1-800-265-3433
SEED & GRAIN
CLEANING SERVICES
• Custom seed cleaning and treating of your own seed
. Commercial seed brands available from
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. Custom grain cleaning for feed
• Truck available for pick-up and delivery
. Bags, totes and bulk available for
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See us at the Midwestern Agri- Fair Seean
April 7 & 8, Chesley — Booth #93 ) the Seeds of a Su" e>sfut Future
BRANT SEEDS
Cty. Rd. 10 N. of Hanover
Phone: 519-364-1525 Fax: 519-364-3835
38 THE RURAL VOICE
His farm has moved from solid -sided
pens to open -sided pens to allow pigs
to look through the bars, visit and
scrap with each other rather than turn
on their pen -mates. To let the pigs
take out their aggression his farm has
begun hanging up a toy in each pen
made from a quarter tire.
"As pigs have grown faster
they've become more aggressive to
farmers and themselves," he
observed. To lower incidence of
these vices, put similar pigs in a pen,
sorting by sex and size.
Record keeping is a report card on
your stockmanship, he said. Set
targets for each batch then analyse
them to see how you've done on such
things as average daily gain, feed
conversion and mortality. "The big
guys are beating us on records," he
said. "That's the one thing they beat
us on."
Linda
Baxter of Springfield
discussed the experience she
and her husband had after
building a new farrowing barn.
"Better barns make better pigs," she
said.
The new barn made a huge
difference in the attitude they had
toward going to work, she said.
Because it is bright and clean and has
good air quality, it's also healthier for
the pigs. They're able to wean their
pigs in 13 days instead of 15
allowing them to turn their crates
over more often.
As well, because the barn was
well designed, they're more likely to
treat a sick pig immediately because
centrally located work stations and
wide alleys make everything more
convenient.
The time savings have allowed
them to spend more time farrowing
sows and helping the weaker piglets,
sorting to create less competition and
stress, giving early treatment for
injuries or sow health and keeping
records, including comprehensive
sow histories.
"With better buildings, better
systems and better swine, maybe we
will find more young people
interested in a lucrative career in
animal husbandry," she said, echoing
Peter English's advice that more
ways must be found to attract young
stock people and reward them so they
stay in the industry as they gain
experience.°
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