Boar Exposure

In stalls, a vasectomized boar simply strolls down the hall providing fenceline contact with sows.

However, for the large pens, 2-3 trained boars provide daily heat checking in the pens. Staff is always in the pens to manage this process. Fenceline contact was attempted for sows in pens, but Ehinger says often the sows in heat wouldn't even bother to come up to the gate to see the boar.

Fighting, Feeding

Fighting occurs the first three days after sows are mixed in gestation pens. Extra feed is provided on arrival to reduce aggression. “If they have a full stomach, they are not so worried about fighting,” she says.

But fighting is a fact of life and does increase sow death loss. Under consideration are copper sulfate mats in hallways for sows to walk on to help heal their hooves, which sometimes get caught in the slots during an altercation with a penmate.

Sows get 5 lb. of feed/day in gestation. The feeding protocol varies between sows in stalls and sows in pens. Sows in stalls are provided dry feed in troughs once a day in the morning, followed by liquid whey and water.

Sows in pens are floor fed. Tubes from the feed boxes extend down to within 4-5 in. of the floor where feed is dropped in a pile on a raised concrete pad around the edge of the pens. Sows get half their dry feed in the morning and half in the afternoon. After each feeding, sows get liquid whey followed by water in a trough located along a back wall, she says.

“We feed them two times a day in pens so that sows have two chances to get up to eat their feed. Since we are dropping feed on the floor, we don't want to drop too much at one time and have it wasted because it could end up in the pit,” Ehinger notes.

“If one of the sows gets pushed away in the pens and doesn't get dry feed because she can't compete, she gets another chance to eat with the whey,” Ehinger says. About 4 gal. of liquid whey/sow is piped into the troughs daily, which is equivalent to 2 lb. of dry feed, she explains.