In 2013, the company Börde Porc GmbH & Co. KG set up a modern sow management farm in one of the most fertile plains of Germany, the so-called 'Magdeburg Börde'. The new houses provide space for around 2,400 productive sows and 600 gilts. Once again, Big Dutchman was allowed to prove its capability by providing the required sow equipment.

To date, Börde Porc's location Hadmersleben and the region west of Magdeburg were mainly known for successfully growing field crops. Börde Porc now focuses on something new by making use of locally grown crops and the low number of pigs in the area. These two factors were the ideal basis for producing healthy piglets.

Electronic sow feeding (ESF) with Call-Inn pro

Pigs are weaned every week. The sows stay in the service area. When they are pregnant, they are moved to the spacious and light-flooded gestation area. Börde Porc decided on group housing sows and using the electronic sow feeding system Call-Inn pro. Five farrowing compartments were installed, each designed for a three-week lactation period.

After weaning, the piglets are moved to specific partner rearing farms located nearby. These farms have between 1,000 and 2,100 rearing spaces for piglets. 2,000 to 4,000 places for finishers mean that every eight weeks, one group of Börde Porc piglets can be moved to the finishing house. If you would like to know what the new home of the piglets looks like, we recommend reading the next edition of the Big Dutchman newsletter, which will introduce one of Börde Porc's partners.

Successful sow management

Planning, constructing and equipping a farm in which more than 2,000 happy sows are to give birth to their piglets requires much attention to detail and extensive know-how. The sow equipment and the sow feeding systems are, of course, an extremely important factor for successful pig production.

This means that requirements are very high: The equipment must meet the individual requests of the pig breeders. It also has to be cost-efficient and furthermore animal-friendly during each stage of production. Big Dutchman therefore started to support its partner and actively worked on practical solutions very early on.

A very fine example from the world market leader's product range is the electronic sow feeding (ESF) system Call-Inn pro; its design meets the demands of Börde Porc to 100 per cent. Call-Inn pro allows pig breeders to combine the advantages of housing pregnant sows in groups with a feeding system perfectly adjusted to each individual animal's needs. Big Dutchman has installed a total of 24 ESF stations in the gestation area. Three more stations in the area for the gilts can be used for training. Each Call-Inn pro station provides one stable group of 60 sows with feed. The system is completely integrated into the state-of-the-art BigFarmNet control software.

Dry feeding in all houses

A worldwide Big Dutchman classic is used in all houses to feed the animals: the dry feeding system DR1500. Börde Porc purchases its feed from a mixed feed plant in the Börde region.

Eight Börde Porc employees ensure that the animals want for nothing. Piglet production started half a year ago and is in full swing.

For further information on Big Dutchman's sow management product range, click here.