Farmweld Jumbo Feeders are recognized for excellent feed conversion.

After seeing excellent results in one finishing room equipped with Farmweld Jumbo Feeders, Kirkwood Community College made the decision to replace older nursery and finishing feeders at its Swine Education Center with Farmweld feeders last summer.

According to Assistant Professor Arlin Karsten, DVM, the results at Kirkwood’s Swine Center have been amazing. "We’ve seen about a 12 percent improvement in feed conversion overall," says Dr. Karsten. Before the conversion, the college was showing an overall feed:gain ratio of 2.73 for the 2,300 pigs produced per year. For the 690 pigs that have gone through the facilities since the change to the new feeders, feed:gain has dropped to 2.41.

Dr. Karsten says he thinks less feed waste is the main factor behind the improvement. "We’ve done a few other things as far as nutrition goes – we are feeding a little higher energy diet and using Paylean® in some groups – but reducing feed waste has been a big part of the improvement," he says.

Keeping feeders adjusted properly was a problem with many of the other models of feeders that were used at the unit, according to Dr. Karsten. "The thing that stands out with Farmweld feeders is that you can adjust them accurately once and they stay adjusted," he says. Accurate feeder adjustment is a big advantage throughout the feeding period, and especially noticeable at the end of the nursery phase. "Our pigs go into the nurseries at 14 pounds (6.35 kg) and come out at about 85–90 pounds (38.55–40.82 kg). The older feeders couldn’t handle this wide range of pig sizes. We’d have to leave the feed slot pretty open just so the larger pigs could operate the agitator to get feed. That meant they wasted a lot of it," Dr. Karsten says.

			Flip-to-Clean System

Students at the college are very enthused about how easy it is to clean the new Farmweld feeders, equipped with the Flip-to-Clean System. Older feeders at the facilities were attached to the fences. "Cleaning meant manually flipping the feeders several times during power-washing to completely remove all feed and debris," says Dr. Karsten. "The Flip-to-Clean eliminates all of that." Dr. Karsten says the feeders are easy to handle by individual students regardless of their personal strength or size.

Furthermore, Dr. Karsten thinks the Flip-to-Clean System will protect the feeders from damage during cleaning. "When feeders were being moved for cleaning, that’s when they’d get dropped or the adjustment cranks would get bent in the slats. Preventing this damage will extend the life of a feeder," says Dr. Karsten.

Email Dr. Karsten at akarste@kirkwood.cc.ia.us

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