How collecting weight data helps improve pig unit efficiency

Routinely weighing a batch of pigs helps improve farm efficiency and creates a business that is attractive to staff, ultimately leading to better pig welfare and more profit.

Northants pig farmer Charlie Thompson has more than five years’ experience of weighing pigs from birth through to sale as breeding stock, or finishing.

He believes it is a crucial part of his business and therefore has a key place in the routine.

“Our business revolves around data,” he says.

See also: How pig data management can lead to small but crucial gains

Charlie Thompson © Tim Scrivener

Farm facts

• Bridge House Farm, Northants
• Nucleus breeding unit with 900 sows
• Every pig weighed at birth, given an electronic identification tag, and performance recorded throughout life
• Supplying breeding stock for Rattlerow Farms
• Pigs not sold for breeding are finished at 120kg
• 300ha of owned arable; contract farming 300ha
• 12 full-time staff

By analysing pig weight records, feed intakes, and performance gathered by smart technology, Charlie has been able to identify and track efficient animals that are able to grow 1kg/day from weaning to finish.

Alongside pig genetics company Rattlerow, his goal is to breed more stock like this, tailoring feed inputs accordingly.

His data have already been used to change management, cutting 14 days off the time it takes to get pigs to the same weight, giving him a sound return on his investment.

Informed decision making

Some recent challenges with feed led to further assessment of weight data because pigs were growing differently.

Charlie soon realised that growth rates had started to drop: pigs were finishing at 800g/day, not the target 1kg/day.

Using the farm’s data and working with the Rattlerow team and nutritionists helped them adapt the feed regime, refine the feed curve, and introduce an early-stage finisher ration after the grower stage.

This continues to improve growth rates and feed efficiency, he says.

However, while his business model revolves around data as evidence to sell genetics, he thinks any commercial farm could benefit from weighing their animals.

It just requires some time spent thinking about how it might be done easily, efficiently, and to suit the workflow on-farm, he says.

“Small data collected regularly is more valuable to the business than one big, stressful event,” he points out.

Rebecca Marshall © Charlie Thompson

Improved accuracy

Returning home to farm in 2018 (after a career as a vet), Charlie says that while they had always weighed pigs, it was time-consuming and inaccurate.

It involved shouting out information to be scribbled down on paper, for later transferring to the office computer.

“It was a high-pressure environment with 500 pigs born a week – which is a lot to weigh individually at birth and weaning – and we were getting it wrong.

“We were having to put a pig into a weigh crate or bucket, read its tag, write the tag number and weight on paper, type it into a computer – for every pig.

“This leads to multiple errors from nearly every stage, all of which take time to fix,” he explains.

As a result, Charlie was an early adopter of “technology that does it all for you” – that is, identify, weigh and feed pigs individually in pens depending on sex and size.

Since then, he has spent more time and money on making it an efficient data capture and analysis system, driven by removing errors from the information recorded, as it is used to inform decision making.

As an employer of 12 staff under the age of 30, he also wants to make the working environment easier and enjoyable and says investing in touch-screen technology makes for an attractive workplace.

“Staff retention is important, so we have to invest in a safe and efficient system at work – and get the right equipment for the job.”

Maddie Cox and Rebecca Marshall moving pigs on to the weigh bridge © Charlie Thompson

Weight data

For pig units unable to invest in smart technology, Charlie says one option is to just weigh batches of pigs: a pen at the start and finish of a month keeps it simple.

Depending on the system, it might be possible to measure feed delivered by pen or building.

Start and end weights of livestock and feed can then be used to calculate average daily gain and feed intakes, and feed conversion efficiency.

“If you weigh a few pens a week, you soon know how pigs are growing and how feed is performing.

“Whether changing diets or changing rooms, you can monitor and actually see if there is a slowdown in growth rates, not just do things on a feeling,” he says.

He uses a 2m-wide weighbridge (costing about £3,000), sited in a corridor. It holds 30-40 pigs at once, taking an average weight “in seconds”.

To reduce stress on pigs and people, as well as ensure safety, Charlie says weighing needs to be part of the flow.

“The pigs run in, run out and are back to their pen. Getting an individual pig to go into, then reverse out of, a weight crate and mark it is hard work.

“Think of flow of movement for people and animals to make it easy.

“At loading, for example, make it a continuous flow without pigs running back on themselves. And you don’t have to tag every pig, just some, so that you know their age,” he says.

Maddie Cox © Charlie Thompson

Weighing routines

“We move pigs five abreast using a movement board for safety. But pigs are clever and once they have done it, we find they know what to do and run for the platform when we let them out.

“They stand waiting for us to shut the gate before having a great time sprinting back to their pen.

“The first time you do it, it might take 10 minutes, the next time it’s only five minutes and you get into the rhythm.”

Pigs are weighed after mucking out in the morning, as part of the weekly routine.

It is important to set a day to weigh, then stick to it to make sure the job is done, he points out.

“Fit it around you to make it easy, but it has to become a part of your routine – don’t see it as an extra task.

“It’s amazing what you can pick up when you monitor weights and can keep on top of feed quality and deliveries and management, and then take action if regimes are not right.”

Data analysis

Collecting data is only part of the story. Figures are analysed every week by Charlie – though not to make “snap decisions”.

Instead, he monitors them on a monthly basis, then discusses progress or problems every three months with the farm team.

As well as giving staff individual feedback on pig performance, he runs staff meetings to discuss the weighing results.

“People make the business work, so they have to be onside and see a value in what you are doing, and why.

“It’s important, therefore, to give them feedback on the results and any changes you make,” he says.