Gilt/Dry Sow/Service Accommodation

• Home reared gilts are kept in a pen in the finishing house until they are 28 weeks of age.
• They are then moved in small batches into a loose pen in the dry sow house.
• At 95 kg they are changed onto a dry sow ration. This slows growth and allows the gilts to be hardened off.
• Gilts are served on their second heat at about 135-140 kg.
• The gilts are wet fed in a raised stainless steel trough

• The dry sows are housed in voluntary cubicles in batches of 4.
• Total area/sow is 2.9 sq m (31sq ft) - 1.4sqm (15 sq ft) lying area and 1.5 sq m (16 sq ft) roaming/dunging area.

• The voluntary cubicles are positioned across the house with batches of four cubicles on either side of a 1.5 m (5’) wide central passage.

• Sows are wet fed twice/day.
• One valve feeds 8 sows.
• Feeding is manually controlled to allow for sows to be checked for heat at feeding time.

• A gate at the back of each row of cubicles opens onto a passage to allow sows to be moved in and out of the pens.

• In the service section weaned sows are housed in cubicles opposite the boars.

• To ensure good sow/boar contact a boar is closed in the passage between the row of cubicles and boar pens.
• All sows and gilts are artificially inseminated. Two services are given 24 hours apart.
• The served sows remain in this area for 5 days after they are served before being moved to the dry sow section.