Swine Management News maintenance now pays IN ENERGY SAVINGS LATER Dr. Richard Barczewski Extension County Agricutlural Agent University of Delaware During the winter months, the hog business is more dependent on energy than some other animal enterprises. Maintaining higher environ mental temperatures in farrowing houses and nurseries means grea ter financial output. But paying attention to details in your opera tion to reduce energy use can be money in the bank. Many farms rely on a heating unit either to space-heat or zone heat their bams. After purchase, many of these heat units are never looked at again as long as they are working, that is. Regular maintenance, however, can result in big energy savings. The Delaware Department of Energy recently sent out a flier describing how routine tune-up procedures can improve the effi ciency of home furnaces. With a little effort, 5, 10 or even 15 per cent improvement in efficiency rating of a furnace are possible. These tune-up procuedures are as simple as changing a filter or adjusting the thermostat. On many farms, the over-the year buildup of dust and dirt can result in inefficiencies as a result of extra weight on the blower and ventilation fans alone. With the recent surge in energy costs, atten tion to these little details can mean big savings to your operation. When was the last time you had Applications For: Repower - Shops - Sawmills - Equipment & More 4B 3.9-C (76 H P @ 2500 RPM) EXCELLENT FEATURES INCLUDE: • Customized Assurance Plans • Extended Warranties (up to 5 yrs.) • Recon Exchange Engines (means less downtime) • Made in U.S.A AUTHORIZED DEALER the heating units in your facility tuned up? Are they firing proper ly? Are room temperatures set within the desired ranges at pig level? If you are trying to attain an 80 degree Fahrenheit nursery, make sure that the temperature is 80 degrees at pig level. Tempera tures need to be measured where they will benefit you the most. Ventilation is another way you can save energy costs. You know the importance of proper ventila tion in a confinement operation. When functioning at the proper level, animal health is optimized because of adequate air changes and moisture removal. Poor venti lation can result in higher-than desired humidity, stale air build up, and eventually respiratory problems in the herd. Winter ventilation problems arise if air is changed too rapidly, because a lot of already heated air is removed, resulting in wasted energy,. The key to proper ventila tion is to adjust ventilation rates in relation to the size of your build ings and the number of animals housed in the unit. Just as dust and dirt can build up on heating units and contribute to wasted energy, these same fac tors can cause fans to operate with less-than-desired efficiency and reduce performance. Since the size of ventilation fans is selected based on the number of animal units in the bam and their air moving capacity, and since most farms buy the right size for purely economical reasons, any reduction in efficiency will be the result of a fan that does not work properly. d DOWER lESELtSupply INDUSTRIAL DIESEL ENGINES - POWER UNITS 415 Peters Rd - Gordonville, PA 17529 Sales - Service - Installations Cummins A-B-C Series Engines Range from 21 to 250 H.P. and are found in a wide Variety of applications (Higher H.P. Engines are also Available) For more Information Call (717) 354-4801 or 354-2185 6 BT 5.9 Gl (135 HP. @ 1800 R.P.M.) Cummins products & Services are known throughout the world for QUALITY, DURABILITY & ECONOMY. DEPEND ON IT! Livestock Notes Improving Animal Welfare We have read and heard about stress management in humans. In the future we will undoubtedly read more about reducing stress in animals. With the animal rights/animal welfare issues confronting us today, the ’9os will certainly be a lime to reflect on how we cared for animals in the past, how we care for them in the present, and how we’ll be caring for them in the future. Animals are better cared for, are kept in better facilities, are geneti cally improved, and are receiving more nutritional diets than 20 or 30 years ago, but improvement will continue. Improved manage ment practices in processing baby pigs has reduced stress. Sows that are first sent to a weaning pen can be less stressed if they are placed in a gestation pen with feeders designed with divid ers that allow sows of all sizes an equal chance to eat their fill before they are moved into a pen without special feeders. They tend to re establish their pecking order in the new pen. A new development in farrow ing building design which minim izes the sows lime in crates and reduces sow and pig stress is called the SS system. Pigs leave the nursery at a weight of 78 pounds at nine weeks. The system is a 7x7 pen system with a 5x7 crate. A 2-foot wide creep is to one side with a crate in the middle and a 3x7 pen on the other side. The 3x7 pen becomes a 5x7 pen when the side of the crate is opened up. The sows are initially brought into the 5x7 pen and are placed in the crate when the water breaks just prior to farrowing. Three days after farrowing, the side is opened, and she has a 5x7 pen in which she remains in the 7x7 pen (including creep) for nine additional days before being moved into the nursery. Two litters are generally combined in the nursery. In the SS system, sows have less problems witn breeding back again, teats being pulled off, being constipated, losing weight with large litters, and almost all udder sections are used because of the extra pigs nursing. The sows tend to eat more feed (about 4 pounds/ day), which helps them milk heavier. The creeps are hovered so the room temperature can be lowered to increase sow appetite and keep pigs in the creep. In cool weather, curtains can be hung around the hover to trap more heat. The floor ing material should be metal and not plastic so pigs are attracted to the creep. Almost any creep can be modified to open one side. The crates are run parallel to the alley so the manager can look at the two most important things - the feed trough and the sow’s rear end tc check for discharges. With the animal rights views we have around, this SS system will eliminate many of their con cerns. It also appears to perform belter than just the crate. The building is about 40% larger because of the 7-foot width versus the 5-foot width. Note: feeders do slick out up 6 inches beyond a crate but “future” crates should keep the feeder inside, since sows arc only in there three days. AlMn/AII-Out Systems “Pork ’9O” magazine has run T APP’S TURN EQUIPMENT 5935 OLD PHILADELPHIA PIKE, GAP, PA 17527 PHONE: 717-442-8134 gjpßSgS WE SERVICE WHAT WE SELL — Radio Dispatched Trucks CONTACT THE DEALER NEAREST YOU ZIMMERMAN FARM ROVENDALE WALNUT BARN & SERVICE SUPPLY DAIRY SALES RD #1 Box 1008 RD 2 Box 211 RD 2 Box 737 School Hood Bathol, PA 19507 Walaomown, RD 17777 Port Royal, PA 17082 (717) 933-4114 (717) 538-5521 (717) 436-9429 Lancaster Fannins Saturday, January, 26,1991-D9 several articles on all-in/all-out systems. Producers who are implementing this production sys tem point to her health as the main reason behind the change. Resulting production gains and competitiveness are among other reasons for making the switch. To justify the investment in making the change, you need to be committed to stay in the business for the long term to be able to afford the new technology. Advances in flooring, feeding equipment ventilation systems, and building design make it a good time to convert your farrow ing house and nursery units. Remodeling is often more cost effective than building new if you have the fundamentals in line. Production gains will influence how fast the building pays for itself. If you have a chronic herd health problem or constantly push facilities to their limit, you will see the most gain from all-in/all out. Before you make any decision, you need 10 examine your current records. Check efficiencies and use the records to establish pig flow. A pig flow will tell you what your facilities and your manage ment can handle and what changes you will need to make. Mycotoxins A common symptom which causes a producer to suspect 'lycotoxin contamination is the animals refusal to eat the feed. Diarrhea may also be an asso ciated symptom. In one case, the sows rejected the feed but the feeder pigs con sumed it. The sows consumed the unground, whole kernel. Testing is reasonable in price and produc ers should send a sample to a laboratory for interpretation and diagnosis. The plant disease clin ic, 218 Buckout Lab., Penn Slate, University Park, PA 16802 and (Turn to Page DIO)
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