At EuroTier 2012 Big Dutchman presents a new oestrus detection system which was developed especially for group housing of sows with electronic sow feeding stations as well as for sows in free-movement pens. The new SowCheck system analyses and detects the oestrus reflex over a number of sensory perceptions – automatically, stress-free and with a high success rate.
The analysis and automatic selection are carried out by technical and natural means, “along the way” so to speak, while the sow visits the feeding station. Two lateral rolls move along the flanks of the sow and another roll simulates the boar’s breast from above. At the same time the sow has direct optical, acoustic and olfactory contact to the boar through an opening with the boar pen on the other side.
Oestrus detection in sow management
“Up until now there has been no system on the market which analyses the oestrus state over quite as many sensory levels of the sow” explains Big Dutchman product manager Daniel Holling. As a result, the oestrus detection with SowCheck is more precise than the detection with traditional systems. Both sows on heat and sows returning to heat can be identified more reliably and faster than before. “SowCheck is an efficient sow management tool that can help the farm manager to achieve a higher productivity.”SowCheck is a new component in an intelligently-networked set of Big Dutchman technologies designed to assist pig producers with the management of animal-friendly housing methods. In future it will be possible to combine SowCheck with Big Dutchman’s automatic pregnancy checking system SonoCheck and use the two as interchangeable units. This is also made possible thanks to the fact that both systems integrate the future-proof BigFarmNet control technology.
The Big Dutchman innovation was awarded a silver EuroTier Innovation Medal by an international expert commission of the “DLG” (German Agricultural Society) in the forefront of the show.
Hall 11, Stand D21