Weight Watcher^™ Growth Management System

Purpose

The Weight Watcher Growth Management System provides complete growth management of finishing pigs in large pens. Weight Watcher is more than just an auto sort scale. The Survey Scale sorts by pig weight to enable targeted feeding and automatically sorts market hogs to cut sort loss. Each Weight Watcher System accommodates a maximum of 500 animals.

Weight Watcher System Components

• Osborne Survey Scale - sorts by pig weight and auto sorts market hogs
• Big Wheel Feeders - Optimize feed efficiency by minimizing feed wastage
• Daily Weigh Software - data manager for the WWS

Operation

• Uses the natural movement of pigs from water to feed to automatically sort pigs daily into two feeding groups
• Each Weight Watcher System accommodates a maximum of 500 animals
• Finishing barn is organized into two large pen feeding areas (80% of the building animal space) and a water area (20% of the building animal space)
• Separating the feed from water causes pigs to move in a natural and intuitive manner through the Survey Scale to be sorted into one of the two feeding areas - heavy hogs or light hogs
• A pig in the water area enters the Survey Scale
• The Survey Scale automatically diverts the pig to the appropriate feeding area based on pre-determined weight set point
• The pig can leave feeding area at any time and return to the water area through a one way gate
• The pig can move back and forth between feeding area and water area as many times a day as it chooses

Features

• Easy to retrofit existing finishing facilities
• Mimics natural movement of pigs from feed to water
• Easy to manage - no pushing pigs through the sort scale
• Layout is consistent with pig's natural instincts
• Fewer market sorts are needed

Benefits

• Pigs have easier access to feed and water
• Reduces weight variation by feeding pigs to weight
• Minimize market sort loss
• Increase through-put of market hogs through finishing barn by turning barn quicker

The Economics

• Reduces feed cost through targeted phase feeding
• Cut market sort loss
• Market more pounds of pork by turning barns quicker and controlling growth

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