Blog posts tagged with 'SowMAX'

Billed as the world’s top event for animal production, EuroTier was held this past week in Hanover, Germany.  Producers from across the world attend EuroTier and for many it was their first exposure to American style production equipment as exhibited by Hog Slat.

We spoke with Hog Slat’s European sales manager, Kirk Brincks and asked about international producers comments concerning the equipment. He replied, “ Their general reaction is Hog Slat builds durable products that represent a good value.  They like the common sense design and how it is incorporated into the overall building layout.”

We asked Kirk what particular item was most popular, “ I would have to say the SowMAX dispensers.  All producers are facing high feed costs and feed saving equipment is important to them.  A customer, with sow farms in the Ukraine and Poland, has installed over 1,000 SowMAX units and is sold on the feed savings.”

He continued, “Another big item of interest is concrete slats.  We had many producers who see them for the first time and immediately comment on the quality.  I think people tend to view concrete slats as all being kind of the same, but we really do build a slat that will last longer.  Experienced producers seemed to recognize it very quickly.”

“And”, he laughed, “they always ask when are we building a slat plant near them”

Kirk finished up with, “The Grower Select line has caught on quickly. We have several production companies that we work with in identifying their high replacement items, providing them easy order forms and stocking those parts for quick delivery.   Grower Select just fits with Hog Slat’s basic philosophy of providing producers with a better value for their money……. in this case it’s excellent quality replacement parts that are priced right.”

Here’s a thought provoking list of 20 factors that effect feed conversion in swine production. We pulled this information 0ut of Jim Long’s Pork Commentary on Dec 17^th which he cited Vern Pearson PhD and Mariela Lachman PhD.   As Jim noted with the cost of feed rising so dramatically, effectively utilization of rations has never been more important. Number one on the list?... feed wastage.

Hog Slat manufacturers feeders that have been proven to save feed for over 25 years.  Hog Slat dry feeders are the industry’s standard in finishing and nurseries barns, our wet/dry and round fiberglass feeder are additional options and we continue to pioneer sow feeding in breeding and farrowing with SowMAX. Choose Hog Slat hog feeders and feed system components for your next replacement, remodel or new construction project.  

Located in McLeansboro, IL, L&L Farms began their hog farming operation in 1994 raising 400 sows. Since then, Jeff and his family along with the help of quality employees have grown their breed to wean operation to 4,000 sows housed in 2 locations.  We spoke with owner, Jeff Lueke:

Jeff, you have purchased several Grow-Disk™ systems, why did you decide to install this feeding system?

I really felt like we were gaining efficiencies in the farrowing department. We saw how it could provide advantages to our employees, allowing them to be more efficient and manage more sows. Within our operation we also set target goals. These goals consisted of narrowing down the wean to first service interval, drive a heavier pig out the door at weaning, and increase lactation length leading to subsequent larger litter sizes for pigs. In our management plan, we felt that these two products, SowMAX and Grow-Disk, would be a big help to reach our target goals by getting more feed to the sows.

How many Grow-Disk™ systems have you installed?

3. All have been installed into our farrowing barns, but I would not hesitate to install them into any application.

How do you use Grow-Disk™ to feed the sows?

We combine the Grow-Disk with the SowMAX. We feel that the combination of these products delivers a very good program. We basically want the sows to have access to full feed. Between these two products we feel that we can deliver that to our sows very efficiently. The system still gives us flexibility to limit feed intake because we include the Sow Drop. The Sow Drop allows us to limit feed intake if we want to, whether it is in early lactation, pre-farrowing, or for the first three days post-farrowing. In post-farrowing we schedule to feed five times throughout the day, in pre-farrowing we schedule to feed twice a day.

How have the Grow-Disk™ systems performed for you? What benefits have you seen?

I have no complaints; I do believe that we are getting more daily feed intake from our sows with the system. The system is hands-off, requiring less labor to feed. With this automatic feeding we are able to keep feed available, and produce less wastage.

Why did you choose Grow-Disk™ instead of a flexible auger system for your project?

My local sales contact, Carl Herrmann, shared with me some of the advantages that Grow-Disk can offer. Knowing that it was a new product, and knowing that I’ve had success with Hog Slat products in the past, it made me anxious to try it. I think its heavy duty, reliable, and I have not been disappointed.

Switching gears, tell us about your routine feeding with SowMAX.

The system that we set up is basically designed to keep feed available for the sow to access at all times, but not have so much feed supply that if there was a malfunction we would have a pit full of feed. The system allows us to make that work. At most any time there’s 12-20 lbs. of feed available to the sow. If that particular sow wants to get up at 6 a.m. and eat 15 pounds of feed, it’s there. If a sow wants to eat five small meals throughout the day she has the opportunity to do that as well. I think that we forget that hogs are somewhat individuals like people, and may all have a little different idea of how they want to eat. In the past when we fed with a scoop and cart, the sows got trained to jump up and eat whenever it was time to feed. Even if a litter of piglets just started nursing, the sow still jumped up to eat. The sows are much more content and apt to eat at their convenience than they are when you decide when it’s time to feed.  For daily management of the SowMAX, we clean and make necessary adjustments to the feeders twice a day. We have been able to keep SowMAX feeders cleaner compared to other systems. The feeders are simple and easy to utilize and maintain.

What advantages have you noticed with SowMAX over how you fed sows in the past?

We have been able to accomplish our management goals by incorporating SowMAX into our operation. I do believe we have raised heavier pigs. We have noticed that SowMAX wastes less feed and requires less maintenance compared to a solid tube. Having the ability to keep fresh feed in front of the sow all day has been a great benefit.

Do you use any other Hog Slat equipment?

We incorporate Hog Slat’s concrete slats, penning, boar carts, Sow Drops, farrowing crates, and Tridek flooring, among others into our operation.  I’ve found this equipment to meet my standards for over 20 years.

Do you have any suggestions for other hog farmers looking into the GrowerSELECT® product line?

It’s a viable program that should be looked at. I think it is cost efficient for the performance. It would be an asset to any building project.

I recently had the opportunity to spend a couple of days at EuroTier 2014 (read more……). I asked the same question to the Hog Slat sales teams and country managers, ” What items are selling in your market?”

The answers varied, but they all had one common factor….SowMAX.

From German Country Manager, Karl-Heinz Wöste, “German producers understand feeding lactating sows as individuals results in heavier pigs at weaning. The SowMAX system accomplishes this task while reducing labor. Producers also like how simple the SowMAX is….no electronic ear tags to lose or motors to fail.”

“Our customers are adding SowMAX feeders to existing units” explained Rafal Bozek, Country Manager of Poland. “They tried a few units and saw the results…heavier pigs at weaning. For our producers, the SowMAX is the most durable unit on the market. 100% stainless steel. No plastic parts like competitive products. Simple to use too. Fill the hopper and sow eats as little or as much as she wants every day without wasting feed.”

To see more on the benefits of SowMAX click here……

In an earlier blog post we reported the interest shown in the SowMax (see more….) at this year’s EuroTier.  Shown is German sales rep Ulf  Maroske as he explains features and benefits to a customer at the show.  We later received this email from Ulf concerning a customer who purchased 20 International farrowing crates and 50 SowMAX dispensers to fit on existing crates this October.

“When visited my customer last week the piglets were 14 days old. He placed the sows with the highest piglet losses in the last farrowing in the Hog Slat International crates. He told me had piglet losses of .6 per sow in the new crates compared to 1 piglet per sow in the old crates. This is nice result.”

“When I asked him how satisfied he is with our SowMAX he gave me the short answer.  Today he regrets that he installed 50 of them…if he had know the SowMAX worked so well he would have equipped all 90 farrowing crates with them.”

“Compared to his other feeding system he has significantly less feed wastage.  Now the sows eat more, the amount is 10kg (22 lbs.), that was not possible before. The sows are much quieter during feeding time”

To see (more…..)

We just released our new SowMAX ebook.

It’s the illustrated manual on feeding sows in lactation with SowMAX. See the section on ordering hardware and brackets to add SowMAX dispensers to your farrowing crates.

Click here to download your free copy.

Go to our web page to watch SowMAX videos .