“ Continuous Farrowing: Does It have a Place?”
( By Paul Walker Thompson
July 13, 2013 )
I recently read an old article on “Continuous Farrowing”.
Having been exposed only “All-In/All-Out “ in both the Pork Industry and the Turkey Industry, I never considered that “Continuous Farrowing “ may be a viable alternative to farrowing “All-I/All-Out”. To say the least, this article blew my mind. I decided to do a little research on the topic. The bottom line is that every system has its advantages and disadvantages.
The article titled ”All-In/All-Out Not For Everyone” was written by Karen Brown-McMahon, and was published in Hogs Today on March of 1992. (1) It showed that for the small hog producer (say a one or two person operation) that “Continuous Farrowing” can be better in both Pig Production and Labor Management. (1) It is believed that Disease Prevention is not near as good in the “Continuous Farrowing Operation” as compared to the “All-In/All-Out Farrowing Operation” (2+3), but much can be gained by power-washing and disinfecting crates, washing sows, and using vaccinations to alleviate disease problems. (4)
The real impetus behind using “Continuous Farrowing” lies in the way that labor is spread out. Then U.S. Feeds swine manager George Francis stated that under “All-In/All-Out Production”, the hog producer with 114 sows has to do the work ( Breeding, Farrowing, Vaccinating, Processing, Moving, and Cleaning) of a 600 sow unit, ten times a year. (1) This overload of labor required is what makes “All-In/All-Out Farrowing “ unmanageable for some small producers.
On the subject of Disease Control, it is widely accepted that “All-In/All-Out Production” prevents and minimizes may diseases (2+3), however the Disease Control Advantages of “Continuous Farrowing” have been ignored. I believe that the High-Health/Low-Immunity status of many “All-In/All-Out Piglets” can be a double edged sword. These “High-Health/Low-Immunity Piglets” can be greatly affected by a disease challenge; whereas the “Continuous Farrowing Piglet” may already have some built up immunity to a disease once a disease outbreak occurs. Passive Immunity from the sow, until the piglet can develop some immunity on its own, and vaccines are the major tools to getting some immunity into young piglets.
All said and done, there may be a real use for “Continuous Farrowing” by the very small hog producer. I am going to guess that a well run “Continuous Farrowing System” may be able to experience less disease problems than a poorly run “All-In/All-Out System”.
I would like to write a Part-2 to this article, but I need the help and input of those who use a “Continuous Farrowing System” or have used one in the past. Please share with me your experiences, and your comments. Post them here, or e-mail me. Thanks so much! I look forward to your comments!
Sincerely,
Paul Walker Thompson
( Written on July 13, 2013)
References:
(1) Brown-McMahon, Karen “All-In/All-Out Not For Everyone” Hogs Today March 1992
(2) Boonyawatan, Suraphan and A.A.S. Eggen
“Continuous Throughput Compared to ‘All-in, All-out’ in the Management of a Farrowing Unit in Thailand”
The Pig Site July 01, 2010
http://www.thepigsite.com/articles/3177/continuous-throughput-compared-with-allin-allou...
Downloaded from the Internet on July 12, 2013
(3) Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food
“Batch Farrowing Alternatives”
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/swine/facts/batch.htm
(4) British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries
“One –Room Continuous Farrowing System-50 Sows, Front Creeps” Plan 362-31
(5) Loula, Tim and Jerry Torrison
“Benefits and Challenges of Early Weaned Pigs”
National Hog Farmer Oct. 15, 2000
http://nationalhogfarmer.com/print/mag/farming_benefits_challenges_early
Downloaded from the Internet on Jan. 01, 2013
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