Adoption of Group Housing Varies by Region

A Research Scientist with the Prairie Swine Centre says the adoption of group sow Housing has tended to vary depending on location

by Bruce Cochrane – FarmScape Online

Dr. Jennifer Brown, a research Scientist Ethology with the Prairie Swine Centre, told FarmScape Online she has seen some real differences across the country in the adoption of group housing.

“A Group Sow Housing Seminar is set for September 12 in Winnipeg and September 13 in Strathmore”

 

“I saw initially more group housing being installed in the east where most farms are quite a bit smaller in size,” Brown told FarmScape Online. “Those producers, especially in Quebec, started a number of years ago in doing renovations. Certainly a lot of them are in stalls but we did see more activity in the east earlier on, particularly in Ontario in the last couple of years.”

Canada’s new Pig Code of Practice calls on pork producers to move from stall housing of gestating sows to group housing by 2024.

“Even though we’ve seen quite a lot of renovations done by Maple Leaf in Manitoba, we haven’t seen quite as much renovation in western Canada,” Brown said. “Our barns are, in general, bigger in size and a lot of these buildings haven’t received a lot of upkeep when hog prices were low, so I think western producers have held off and waited to see what the best systems before they make the leap.”

A Group Sow Housing Seminar is set for September 12 in Winnipeg and September 13 in Strathmore will look at research conducted on behalf of Swine Innovation Porc through the National Sow Housing Conversion Project.

“HyLife has done initial renovations while Olymel is in planning stages,” she added. “Among the Hutterite Colonies, that is where we’ve seen the most activity in western Canada with a number of new buildings and renovations for group housing.”

Dr. Brown says we’re seeing some differences across the country but some early adopters are using group housing and have been for years.