Built with AI in Mind

Twenty-five feeding stalls are welded in a row and secured to the 10×60-ft. concrete pad poured on the east side of the hoop barn. Stalls are positioned to allow a 2-ft. walkway at the front and a 12-in. ledge at the back.

A 5-ft. concrete pad was poured at the south end of the building where two heated automatic water fountains are secured. That leaves a 20×55-ft. deep-bedded area for sows.

Three, 2×12-ft. boards make up the east sidewall of the barn, with the top board hinged to provide summer ventilation. “When open, the air passes through the stalls, then rises to the roof vent at the top of the hoop,” says Tom Frantzen, noting this late-construction design change has proven very beneficial.

Originally, space was allocated for a boar pen at the north end of the building, but that plan was scrapped in favor of housing boars nearby, but away from sows.

“We built the barn and the stalls with artificial insemination in mind,” James Frantzen explains.

Controlled Feeding, Heat Detection

The months of planning, experimenting and installation paid off.

The daily chore of feeding the sows is much easier. “I feed all of the sows the same amount going down the row as I lock them into a stall,” Tom Frantzen explains. “Then, as I come back down the aisle, I give the sows with low body scores more feed. Sows nearing their farrowing date are fed a little more, too.”

The beauty of the barn-stall design is it takes the competition for feed out of the mix, Harper says. “Take away the food aggression and the sows are more relaxed. They know they can go and eat and nobody's going to bother them. I've never seen sows fight in this building — ever,” she adds.

Heat detection is made easier, too. In the evening, Frantzen brings the heat- check boar to the area originally set aside for a breeding pen at the north end of the barn. Sows in heat come to the fenceline and are marked. The next day, after sows have eaten, the heat check boar is brought back to confirm sows in standing heat. Sows are AI'ed, then bred again 24 hours later.

Frantzen also welded a set of angle iron tracks to the top of the stalls the full length of the barn. A shallow wooden box on steel wheels carries all AI supplies and is moved along as he inseminates the sows. “I wouldn't even think about doing AI without it,” he says.

Conception rates now consistently run over 90%. “We're raising more pigs from fewer sows,” he says.

Another benefit of the stall configuration — it's very easy to sort sows. If a sow needs to be moved to the farrowing facility, Frantzen simply opens the front stall gate and follows the sow down the aisle.

He also ran all electrical lines through conduit to make repairs or updating easier. “I tried to eliminate all of the little things that have been driving me crazy the last 30 years,” he says.

The tab for the building and equipment ran about $12,000, not including labor. With improved production from the sow herd, he figures the building will pay for itself in four years.

Plans are to hold the sow herd at 75-100 sows. The 380-acre farm is on a fixed, crop rotation program. “I don't sell any grain. It all goes into cattle or hogs — and hogs get the majority of it,” he explains. “It's a sustainable farm. The crops support the livestock and the livestock support the crops.”

Editor's Note: The trend away from housing gestating sows in individual stalls raises many questions. With this issue, we are kicking off a year-long series on various sow gestation housing options, including large and small pen designs, various feeding systems and the strengths and weaknesses associated with each. Some are relatively new. Others are more proven. All will add to the growing knowledge base needed to identify which best serves individual preferences and management styles.