Beek, V., ter

Soede, N.M.

English

Wageningen Yield 

18     pig progress Volume 27, No. 3  2011
Farm visit
www.pigprogress.net
Mixing sows into groups only   days after AI 
Within less than two years, all breeding farms 
in the European Union have to keep their 
gestating sows in group housing as from a 
month after insemination. Some producers, 
experiment further. Smeenk Farms in Haarle, 
the Netherlands, keeps sows in crates for only 
a couple of days – and with success.
By Vincent ter Beek
Much has been written and said about it – as from 1 January 2013, all sow breeding farms in 
the Eureopan Union should keep their 
sows in group housing as from four weeks 
after insemination until one week before 
farrowing. In the Netherlands, however, 
legislation laid down for breeding farms is 
even stricter than the EU directive. Not 
after four weeks, but four days post- 
insemination, sows ought to be sent into 
group housing.
Ever since 1998, when the 2013 dead-
line was introduced in the Netherlands, 
producers have gradually started moving 
to group housing systems. At Smeenk 
Farm in Haarle, Overijssel, the 
Netherlands, this was done when the 
farm expanded big time in 2008. 
Prior to 2008, owner Hennie Smeenk, 
50, and his wife Yvonne had been con-
sidering to move to Canada instead of 
expanding. After a Foot-and-Mouth 
Disease outbreak in the Netherlands 
had kept the farm quarantined for 14 
weeks, it was tempting to move away 
from the country, where apart from dis-
ease pressure, a climate of increasingly 
strict environmental and welfare legis-
lation makes pig farming a challenging 
business. Eventually, personal reasons 
made the couple decide to stay, 
expand strongly (see photo 1) – and 
become a test farm for De Heus Feeds.
The farm grew from 250 to 1,000 
sows – and the new facilities were 
equipped with group housing systems 
for stable groups of approximately 50 
sows each. Pen design was laid out 
with Electronic Sow Feeding (ESF) 
stations, supplied by Nedap Velos 
(photo 2); and he uses Topigs 20 gilts, 
served with a Piétrain sire line. The 
number of crates can be minimal as 
the sows only stay in there for a very 
short while. “Mostly they are sent back 
into group housing after two to three 
days already,” Smeenk indicates. 
“They will only stay in the AI section 
for two insemination rounds.”
One month
The early phase of gestation is consid-
ered essential for achieving large litter 
sizes, hence the allowance in EU direc-
tives to keep sows in gestation crates 
for the first four weeks, to assure a 
stress-free environment for sows. 
Recent research at Wageningen 
University and Research Centre (WUR) 
seems to indicate, however, that the 
housing system does not seem to influ-
ence litter size and litter vitality. 
1
3
Hennie 
Smeenk:  
“Most of our  
sows are sent 
back into  
group housing 
two to three 
days after 
insemination.”
   18 6-4-2011   10:48:09
pig progress Volume 27, No. 3  2011     19
Farm visit
www.pigprogress.net
Mixing sows into groups only   days after AI 
Important factors were found to be 
related to management, both in gilts 
and gestating sows – also see Box: 
‘Success factors for group housing’.
In a presentation in 2010, reproduc-
tion researcher Dr Nicoline Soede, 
Wageningen University, dived deeper 
into the theme of gestating sow physi-
ology, saying that pig embryos will be 
moving towards the sow’s uterus as 
from day four after insemination, most 
probably at day 6-7. They divide 
themselves over the uterine horns 
between days 7-11 and start attach-
ment or placentation at day 11. She 
said that in the first month, pig embryo 
death is most likely – but there are 
many conditions that determine that 
outcome, like the quality of the eggs, 
the quality of the uterus; the eggs’ 
homogeneity; the space available in 
the uterus; sow weight loss; stress;  
and nutrition in early gestation. 
She quoted research by Kirkwood and 
Zanella, in which the mixing of sows in 
groups at day 14 post-insemination led 
to lower weaning rates. Soede said: 
“Mixing them at day two post-insemi-
nation is not a problem, but between 
days 5 and 25 we should leave them 
alone.” She concluded, saying: “Mixing 
the sows leads to stress, but this does 
not necessarily have to lead to repro-
ductive problems, provided that there 
are no other stress factors, like lack of 
space or aggression.”
Farm results
Providing an environment that is as 
stress-free as possible, Smeenk Farm 
appears to be the living proof of this 
theory. Smeenk reaches impressive fig-
ures with numbers of liveborn piglets/ 
sow/ year amounting to 35.8 – and 
31.2 weaned piglets/ sow/ year 
(photo 3). Average litter size is 14.4; 
pre-weaning mortality is 12.3%, with 
an aim to bring it down to 10%. In 
total, sows farrow 2.48 litters per year.
The backbone of the system, of 
course, is a learning pen (photo 4), 
where young incoming gilts are being 
trained to get used to group housing – 
and how to use the ESF stations. 
Smeenk calls it ‘the most important 
pen of the farm’, as without it, the mix-
ing and keeping of group housing 
would not be possible.
Sending the sows back only days 
after inseminating is a money-saving 
strategy, Smeenk comments. “When 
keeping them in boxes for another 
four weeks after insemination, one 
needs a lot of extra gestation stalls.” 
Many pig farmers and other agricultur-
al visitors have made their way to 
Smeenk, as to find out more, he says 
– but not everybody, is convinced to 
let the sows go back into groups so 
soon. Smeenk says, “Unfortunately, 
many producers are still enormously 
fearful.” PP
For more pictures of this farm,  
please visit: | 
www.pigprogress.net/photo-gallery/
Making the best of the novel legislation in 2013, a lot depends 
on correct and careful management, researchers of 
Wageningen University and Research Centre, the Netherlands, 
concluded. in a recent study, called ‘group housing of sows in 
early gestation’, the researching team concluded that housing 
systems were not the determining factor. important was:
Management
•  it is important that entrepreneurs have good management 
(work plan, working accurately, measuring is knowing) and 
attention to farm optimisation (farm objective, work plan, 
evaluation).
•  Farms with animal-directed management (attention to the 
needs of the individual animal) have fewer skin lesions and 
claw problems and better reproduction in sows.
rearing gilts
•  On farms with more living space for gilts, the removal rate of 
cycle 1+2 sows is lower and sows have fewer skin lesions dur-
ing gestation.
•  Farms feeding gilts restricted feed and/or give them dry feed 
have a higher farrowing rate, a lower removal rate and a higher 
number of weaned piglets. 
•  Familiarising gilts with the feeding system during gestation 
(particularly familiarisation prior to service) is positively relat-
ed to reproduction and body condition of the sows.
gestation
•  Too low a feed intake during early gestation can affect repro-
duction results negatively; detection is important. Moreover, 
sows on farms with a lower feed ration during the entire ges-
tation have a lower body condition when placed in the far-
rowing pen.
•  On farms with more living space/sow, farrowing rates is higher 
and the removal rate of cycle 1+2 sows lower. More living 
space can possibly result in a higher profit.  
•  For farms using feeding stalls, farms that had a wider indoor 
exercise area had a higher farrowing rate, lower sow removal 
rate and a better body condition of sows when placed in the far-
rowing pen. Farms where sows are locked up during eating have 
a higher farrowing rate in cycle 1 and fewer claw problems.
•  in pens with feeding stations, sows should not be able to go 
back to the entrance of the feeding station immediately after 
eating. The short ‘passage’ seems related to more skin lesions. 
•  Using straw can positively affect welfare, because it can 
reduce claw disorders in situations of aggression. Moreover, 
straw offers animals the possibility of exerting explorative 
behaviour. Straw-based units should renew straw more than 
once a year. Farms with wider and/or deeper straw bedding 
experienced fewer claw problems.
Success factors for 
group housing 
2
4
   19 6-4-2011   10:48:10


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