Pig producers should be better prepared to identify where mistakes are being made on their farrowing units if they want to drive efficiencies and produce healthier piglets.
Simple errors around piglet hygiene, vaccination and handling can all impact on how animals perform in later life, potentially causing losses in incomes, according to pig adviser Anders Peter Andersen of Danish consultants LMO.
To counter the risk, every worker should identify five mistakes they are making, and think about how they could be better using that time to help make efficiencies somewhere else on the farm.
Speaking at the Herning Pig Congress in Denmark last month, Mr Andersen said taking time to identify where mistakes are being made allows time savings to be made elsewhere.
“If you save two minutes on each pig, over 50,000 pigs a year that is one man’s job,” he said. “That’s giving you the time to go and look more closely at the pigs and potentially save their lives by spotting when they are ill.”
Mr Andersen said he always advises farm staff to look at each other to find areas where they could make improvements.
“Take videos on your phones: film your vaccination and watch it back in slow motion to see where you are making mistakes,” he said. “Only when you see yourself doing something do you realise that you’re doing it wrong.”
Mr Andersen said one of the most common areas for mistake was around vaccinating piglets. Many farm workers used the same needle to vaccinate large numbers of animals, which presented a significant hygiene risk as needles lose their sharpness, can catch on skin and risk spreading infection around a herd.
“Needles are only designed for a single use, yet people use them repeatedly and say they haven’t got time to keep changing them,” he said.
“You actually save time further down the line by changing the needle regularly, preferably after each litter. Hygiene is vitally important for piglets and by reducing the risk of spreading infection you are going to increase your chances of high-quality animals leaving your farrowing unit.”
When errors are identified, it is important staff are able to talk about them without fear of being criticised or getting into trouble, Mr Andersen added.
“It’s human to make mistakes – the stupid thing is to make them again. When you make a mistake, make sure you share it with your colleagues so they don’t do the same thing,” he said.
“You should always be prepared to listen to each other and make changes too. Have regular meetings on your farm where you share ideas and make plans, and realise that not everything will work on your farm – things have to be specific to your operation.”