Canada - Training Videos Teach Swine Handling Skills

A new series of videos is helping new swine barn workers learn the skills they'll require to properly care for pigs. 'Staff Training for Pig Skills' is a series of video productions which run anywhere from three to six minutes. The videos are being produced by DNL Farms, a White Fox, Saskatchewan based consulting company which focuses on skills, management and animal handling and husbandry training for the swine industry. Don Lidster says the videos are intended as a tool for teaching new staff members, that may never have been in a swine barn, the skills they'll need. "It generally follows the skills that are laid out in the 'Pig Production Training Manual'. This is a set of training manuals that we have franchised to and sell. We go through a given skill, say for instance, castrating pigs. We'll go through that skill, pick out the key points that you will have to cover when you are doing that skill, talk about it and then show the skill. We can add graphics to help demonstrate it and then we review what we've learned. We go through every section of the barn. As you can imagine, not every skill can be taught with this method but we go through things like clipping teeth, clipping tails, teaching the piglet how to suck, stomach tubing, feeding with a bottle, anything that can be shown on video and demonstrated that way." 22 skills videos were completed last year and another 23 will be completed this year.