After a renovation period of 1.5 years, Big Dutchman customer Gobarto S.A. recently started operating one of the most modern pig farms in Poland. The complex located in Zalesie, not far from Wrocław, can house 6,000 sows, which are kept in animal-friendly groups for the gestation period. 180,000 piglets are weaned every year; contract farmers continue the finishing process.
The project partners pooled their experience when selecting the pig equipment for their farm: “We decided on simple solutions to ensure that all work can be done quickly and easily. The equipment is controlled and monitored by clever computer systems, which provide valuable support given the size of the farm,” says Artur Balcerowiak, Sales Manager for Big Dutchman Polska, putting the results of the collaborative decision-making process in a nutshell.
Artur Balcerowiak explains the history of the sow farm
Modern and efficient sow management
The video below shows images of the impressive farm, which also includes a biogas plant. “Each compartment is equipped with solutions that help produce pigs in a modern and profitable manner,” adds Balcerowiak. Big Dutchman Polska was responsible for project planning and implementation.
State-of-the-art pig equipment is characteristic of the barns of Gobarto S.A., one of the largest pork producers in Poland.
A selection:
Animal-friendly sow management: group housing of sows with CallBackpro
CallBackpro | The feeding system for group housing of pregnant sows combines the best of two worlds. The pigs are kept in animal-friendly groups, but are protected from aggressive sows when they eat in free-access stalls, which they can enter and leave on their own. Similar to electronic sow feeding (ESF) systems, every sow has an ear tag. Feed rations can therefore easily be adjusted to the sow’s needs.
Both the feeding system and the CallBackpro ESF stations are integrated into the clever BigFarmNet technology and supported by a mobile app.
[Click here to see CallBackpro in the barn live and in full colour!]
EasySlider | The computer-controlled dosing unit guarantees that the sows can decide when and how much they want to eat in the farrowing area. EasySlider is mounted under the volume dispenser; the sows simply actuate a pendulum inside the feed pipe and a portion is dispensed – provided the respective sow is entitled to receive feed.
PigNic feeders
PigNic | The 26,000 piglets in the nursery are supplied with feed by a worldwide Big Dutchman classic: more than 10 million pig places have been equipped with PigNic feeders in the past 20 years. This success did not come about by chance: the feeders are easy to adjust, help the newly weaned piglets get used to their new environment and ensure very good feed conversion.
Pig house management with BigFarmNet
BigFarmNet | All the way back in 2005, Big Dutchman interpreted the signs of the times correctly and began developing smart pig equipment. The starting point was the requirement for farm managers and their employees to be able to keep track of every individual animal, even on large farms.
The result was BigFarmNet, a completely thought-out, reliable management system that informs pig farmers about health, animal welfare and productivity of their pigs at any time and from any place.
The key feature: the BigFarmNet technology puts an end to the confusing number of different computer programs running in parallel. Instead, BigFarmNet unites all applications on the farm in one software and one database. The video linked here shows how this works in practice.