Part One – Spray Cooling
Australian summers aren’t what you would call ideal for pigs. Even with the massive variation across the 7.692 million square kilometres of our country, most places are too hot for comfort in the height of summer.
Worse than that, the temperature severely inhibits pigs’ performance. The optimal temperature for Grower pigs (and larger classes such as Finishers, Sows and Boars) is between 16 and 26 degrees Celsius. Every degree above this upper number several impacts their appetite, FCR, growth rate and fertility.
When was the last time you had a summer day below 26 degrees on your farm?
This is nothing new to talk about. Farmers use all kinds of methods to cool their pigs throughout the hotter months, hoping to avoid the dreaded effects of the Aussie summer.
I’m just writing about the one that Think Livestock can help you with.
Spray Cooling
Spray cooling has been used in Australia for more than thirty years. It is a very effective method for keeping your pigs cool and happy. It’s not suitable for every situation though. It’s perfect for the following circumstances:
- Spray Cooling is suitable for Grower, Finisher and Dry Sow accommodations.
- It works best in Naturally Ventilated sheds, where the blinds can be raised or lowered.
- It works best when set to operate on intervals.
This last part is the real key to spray cooling. You see, it’s not the wetting of the pigs that cools them down, but the evaporation of the water off their skin. They use this same process to cool themselves instinctively in the wild and it can easily be achieved in a pig farm using sprays and a control system.
In our experience, one of the easiest systems to use for controlling spray cooling on farm is the COOLGRO. It’s dead simple to install and use, inexpensive and is even made right here in Australia.
If you’re ready to step up your spray cooling, give us a call on (03) 5448 8942 and we’ll help you get the optimal results for your herd!