New Weda demand feeding station for group management

25-11-2011 | Home | News

From 2013 onwards, the group management of gestating sows in pig houses will be legally regulated. For this reason, Weda developed Sow-Comp, the new demand feeding station with improved visualization to which up to 25 devices can be connected.

With the new system, the entire agricultural animal management will be created in a more flexible and efficient way. In the future, these instruments will continuously gain importance as they have a positive influence on success in piglet production, especially during the gestation of sows.

Each animal is identified at the control computer by means of an ear tag transponder, which adjusts the feed requirements to the individual animal data. The feed amount is regulated depending on class and gestation and is automatically adapted according to the weight of the sow. Accordingly, the feed amount assigned to the sow is dosificated at the trough. Once the animal has exhausted its contingent, the system switches off the components in order to protect the technology and to save energy.

The Weda demand feeding station is not only employed as a feeding computer but also as an animal house management system. By means of the Sow-Comp, the unit operator has a comprehensive instrument with intelligent control technology at his side, which adapts itself to individual requirements and changed unit sizes. The system is disturbance resistant, easy to operate, and it is especially well suited for the management of larger groups.

The visual presentation of the unit has been considerably improved, presenting the user the status of the demand feeding stations, of the feed preparation and of animal movements. The status lights are attached to the demand feeding station in such a way that they can be easily recognized from any position inside the house.

It is a novelty that now up to 25 demand feeding stations and devices can be connected to a system. Each station can now by request be called up and operated from the computer (if required also manually) in order to obtain detailed information and to carry out settings.

The feeding computer of the Sow-Comp is ISO-AgriNet-capable and compatible with customary feeding, separating, and heat systems. It is easily connected with the Weda Exzellent 4PX computer, which controls and monitors the processes in the feed preparation. In order to prevent surpluses, the computer requests the exact feed amounts at the feeding computer. Each station is able to feed out customary kinds of feed in liquid or dry form or additives. Three kinds of colour can be integrated for marking. The colour dosificators regularly report the filling levels to the control system which in turn signalizes for how many animals the colour still suffices.

A comprehensive documentation provides the farmer with all relevant data for a comprehensive evaluation of the state of the animals. Beside the feed uptake of the past ten days, the number of visits to the station during this period is recorded; furthermore, the paths taken by individual sows and thus their degrees of activity and condition are registered.

In addition, the user can call up the current position of individual animals in the station: in case too many animals flock together in the selection passage, the entry to the demand stations will be blocked for other animals until the passage has become vacant again. This ensures more space and rest and means less stress due to conflicts inside the house and thus, injuries of animals can be prevented.

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