Working time data for pig husbandry - Keeping pigs with undocked tails and pens for movement in the farrowing area
Contact: Dipl.-Ing. agr. Marianne Zenk
Duration: 2022-2022
Funding: Kuratorium für Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft e.V. (KTBL)
Abstract:
Working time data for pig farming - keeping pigs with undocked tails
The Kuratorium für Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft e.V. (KTBL) offers many practitioners, business economists, veterinarians and scientists an opportunity to network and gain access to scientifically sound data and facts on agricultural topics. In recent years, the focus in pig farming has been placed on, among other things, the elimination of docking and thus on keeping pigs with undocked tails. This has also led to changes in husbandry methods and management. The aim of the study is therefore to answer the question of which additional labour processes and which additional working hours are required compared to the keeping of pigs with docked tails.
For this purpose, work processes and working time data in piglet rearing in housing system 2 (closed barn, pens with paved, lightly littered area) and in fattening pig housing in housing system 4 (outdoor climate barn with paved, lightly littered lying area) are to be collected at the FBN. In addition to routine tasks such as bedding and cleaning and the management of feeding, watering and climate, the working times for immediate measures (e.g. additional enrichment material, separation of individual animals, etc.) should also be recorded. The work processes are described in detail in advance (work sequence, process technology, frequency of the work process, factors influencing the work process, supplemented by sketches/pictures) and the working time required for each process is then documented.
Working time data for pig farming - Movement pens in the farrowing area
Due to the changes in the TierSchNutztV, sows in the farrowing area will be kept in exercise pens in future. At FBN, we can look back on over 20 years of experience with exercise pens. With the addition of the organic pig housing area in 2021, it will now also be possible to carry out studies on labour requirements there. For this purpose, the work processes in the farrowing area, especially those that deviate from current practice or are added, are described and measured in both husbandry environments. In addition to the daily inspection of animals and technology, it also includes cleaning and disinfection work, piglet handling and measures on the sow (e.g. birth assistance). Here, too, key factors influencing the workflow and important parameters of the production process are determined and documented.