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What Does Temple Grandin Think about FAST?
When FARMWELD first launched FAST™, several
people commented: I wonder what Dr. Temple Grandin would think of a system
like this?
Well, wait no longer. “I think it looks really good,” says
the well-known
guru of livestock handling after reviewing the FAST literature. Grandin,
an associate professor at Colorado State University, went on to say that since FAST teaches
pigs to walk single file, they will be calmer during transport and handling at
the slaughter plant. She explains that pigs are usually required to walk single
file in plant staging areas that lead to the stunning floor. Prior experience
walking single file is “super good” in reducing stress and maintaining
meat quality, according to Grandin.
Grandin also emphasizes
that the amount of time barn workers spend inside of the pigs’ pens greatly impacts
stress levels at slaughter plants. “It is very important
for pigs to experience people walking amongst them long before
they hit the plant,” she says. “Pigs are visual-thinkers.
They can differentiate between people inside the pen or in the
alleyway.” She says she’s noticed different reactions
in pigs from a single integrator with multiple grower sites. “I
could immediately tell which growers walked the pens and which
didn’t,” she says.
FAST buildings are designed with large pens and
minimum gating. Even alleys are optional. This design may entice
workers to spend more time in pens. (See
related article.)
“I want people walking the pens,” says
Grandin. “If the sorting device will enhance that, that’s
excellent.”
Housing pigs in large
groups has other advantages, according to Grandin. “I’ve noticed in packing plants
that when you put 200 pigs in a pen, there’s hardly any fighting.
There may be a few little skirmishes but then they all settle down
and go to sleep. If there are a few pigs that don’t like
each other, they can get away from each other,” she says.
Grandin has one word of
caution regarding feed withdrawal times. Grandin says you must
take into account time
for travel, loading, unloading and waiting at the plant when deciding
when to turn off feeders. Turning feeders off 12 hours before pigs
leave the farm is probably “ideal,” she says. That
allows time for loading, a several hour trip to the plant, time
for unloading at the plant and time for rest at the plant before
processing. Producers should take into account the extra time spent
if they are selling pigs through buying stations.
“If you turn off the feeders 24 hours before
you ship, you may end up with pigs off feed for 30 hours or more,” says
Grandin, who recommends pigs be off feed for a total of 16 hours – and
definitely no more than 24 hours – prior to stunning. “You
don’t want them to fast so long that they get carcass shrink,” she
says.
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here to request more FAST II information.
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