|
Kinder, gentler sow disposition a must in
loose sow housing
What What kind of “pig personalities” would
you rather have in your loose sow housing
operation: lovers or fighters?
In group sow housing,
pigs will have more room, and more contact
with each other. This means
disposition and aggression in sows become
important traits to consider. (To make
things more interesting, pigs that were bred
for leanness as a single trait—as many have
been in the past—tend to be more
aggressive.)
Personality matters a lot in loose
sow housing. You don’t want a
sociopathic pig in a herd where the animals
have frequent and open contact with each
other. You don’t want to propagate their
genetic influence. You don’t want the other
animals to suffer from the added stress—or
the potential physical injuries—from a mean
animal, either.
You need people-friendly genetics,
too. Loose sow housing means
greater freedom for animals, and so greater
risk for employees and producers. That being
said, see the sows nuzzling up to one of our
Babcock Genomics Center employees in the
photo just above? Those animals have
been bred for generations to be--well,
mellow. Babcock pigs are bred to be
lovers, not fighters.
The answer for sow disposition is
sound genetics. From the beginning
in 1969, Babcock’s nucleus farm has culled
any sow showing aggression toward her pigs
or toward people. We have never wavered from
that rule, even as we bred toward more
leanness. The result today is even-tempered
animals with a host of other desirable
traits.
Our animals are already proving themselves
more than ready for the social climate of
loose sow housing.
Loose sow housing mobility means sows also
have to be more durable. Find out more:
read more
 |
|
View
Videos
