His Sows Love To Shower

His Sows Love To Shower HOG EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Cleaning and disinfecting a farrowing room doesn’t do much good if you bring in sows that have been in loose housing says John Van Engelen of Hog-Tied Farms in Thedford Ont He solved the problem by adding a sow shower     He renovated an unused hallway that had a gutter underneath by removing the plywood floor and installing concrete slats He mounted a used sprinkler system mister used for cooling cattle on the wall set up an animal-safe soap disinfectant applicator and placed cattle brushes on the wall     “The sows were not scared and there wasn’t a problem with the shower They were walking around scrubbing themselves especially on hot summer days ” Van Engelen says “But I need to take the brushes out and put indoor/outdoor carpet on the walls The brushes were a little too hard for the sows and they started getting scratch marks ”     Harvest season slowed him down but he hopes to add the carpet and a water heater to give the sows lukewarm water for the winter     “I also plan to use the same sprinkler on the wean sows ” he adds     While he doesn’t have a lot of problems with bacteria and health issue in his family’s 250-sow farrow-to-finish operation Van Engelen says he thinks the shower provides extra insurance for the group sow housing setup he converted to a couple of years ago     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup John Van Engelen Hog-Tied Farms 7912 Gordon Rd Thedford Ontario Canada N0M 2N0 ph 519 933-6514; hogtied@execulink com

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