Custom Hog Feeding (Video)
The feed requirements of growing piglets varies from animal to animal. Dr. Candido Pomar of the Sherbrooke Dairy and Swine Research and Development Centre has designed a machine that permits custom feeding.
Video Transcript
[An image and a maple leaf appear on screen. This is the title graphic for the video.]
[Light, electronic music fades in.]
Text on screen: Custom Feeding for Pigs
[The video opens with a series of shots of enclosures containing pigs.]
Narrator: Feeding costs account for a major portion of the costs of a pig farm.
[The shot changes to show the exterior of the Dairy and Swine Research and Development Centre in Sherbrooke, Quebec.]
[Light, electronic music continues.]
Dr. Candido Pomar, of the Dairy and Swine Research and Development Centre in Sherbrooke,...
[The shot changes to show the signage outside of the research centre.]
...noticed that pigs are just like humans, in that every pig has a unique appetite and unique nutrient requirements.
[Light, electronic music continues.]
[The shot changes to show several pigs in an indoor pen. They are excited and trying to get at the camera.]
So he developed a feeding strategy that meets...
[The shot changes to show a high-angle view of the pig feeding machines.]
...each pig's nutritional needs based on both its growth and its appetite.
[The shot changes to show a medium shot of Dr. Candido Pomar.]
Text on screen: Dr. Candido Pomar, Research Scientist, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
[Light, electronic music continues.]
Dr. Pomar: One day, I was with my brother, who is an engineer and a big fan of automation. I said to him, why don't we make a machine that can feed every pig individually?
[The shot changes to show a close-up of a pig chewing his food.]
And so we two brothers began with that dream.
[The shot changes to show one of the feeding areas at the research centre.]
[Light, electronic music continues.]
My brother made the machine...
[The shot changes back to a medium shot of Dr. Pomar.]
...and I developed the feeding concepts.
[The shot changes to show a pig sitting in a pen looking at the camera.]
[Light, electronic music continues.]
And bit by bit we did it.
[The shot changes back to a medium shot of Dr. Pomar.]
Every pig changes every day, and every pig is different. But my big problem was the fact that I had only one feed to provide to pigs that were very different from each other.
[The shot changes to show one of the feeding areas at the research centre. There are numerous pigs moving around the pen.]
[Light, electronic music continues.]
[The shot changes to show a pig farmer putting a young pig back with its mother to feed. We see several close-up shots of the young pigs feeding.]
What farmers do is provide nutrient-dense feed to support the growth of the pigs with the highest demands.
[The shot changes to show a pen containing older pigs playing with a ball suspended from the ceiling.]
[Light, electronic music continues.]
If a farmer provides feed based on the needs of the pigs with the lowest demands, many pigs will not be able to reach their growth potential.
[The shot changes back to show a medium shot of Dr. Pomar.]
Basically, I don't have a specific feed for each individual pig. There are just two feeds.
[The shot changes to show a large orange container filled with pig feed. A graphic appears on screen pointing at the pellets of food. Text also appears on screen.]
Text on screen: Nutrient-dense feed
One feed that is very nutrient-dense...
[The shot changes to show a large white container filled with pig feed. A graphic appears on screen pointing at the pellets of food. Text also appears on screen.]
[Light, electronic music continues.]
Text on screen: Nutrient-poor feed
...and another feed that is nutrient-poor.
[The shot changes back to a medium shot of Dr. Pomar.]
Then, I can mix the feeds to meet the needs of all the pigs.
[The shot changes to show a control panel on the outside of one of the automatic pig feeders. As the shot continues we can see information changing on the screen, indicating that a pig has triggered the system.]
[Light, electronic music continues.]
I create a recipe for each pig each day. But the recipe is mathematically calculated. It's automatic.
[The shot changes to show the automatic pig feeders in the feeding room with the pigs. There are several pigs eating from the machines.]
Each time a pig pushes against the feeder, the machine gives the pig...
[The shot changes to a close-up of one of the pigs eating from the machine. He retracts his head from the machine and looks at the camera.]
[Light, electronic music continues.]
...the feed mix that we think it needs to get.
[The shot changes to show Dr. Pomar and one of his assistants working in an office. They are looking at a piece of paper.]
Narrator: Dr. Pomar and his team have shown that the concept works very well.
[The shot changes back to a medium shot of Dr. Pomar.]
Dr. Pomar: Now, with 25% fewer nutrients, I can enable all pigs to reach their full growth potential.
[The shot changes to show a worker bringing more pig food into the feeding area. We can then see him loading the food pellets into the automatic feeding machines.]
[Light, electronic music continues.]
Narrator: The research team has developed several feeder prototypes and is now at the business validation stage. It is essential to ensure that farmers have machines that are reliable and affordable.
[The shot changes to show us what the automatic pig feeders look like.]
[The shot changes to show numerous pigs in a pen excitedly trying to get at the camera.]
[The shot changes back to a medium shot of Dr. Pomar.]
[Light, electronic music continues.]
Dr. Pomar: As a nutritionist, I never would have imagined that it would be possible to feed each pig individually.
[The shot changes to show one of Dr. Pomar's assistants holding a young pig. She's looking to camera and smiling. The shot ends with a close-up of the pig in her hands.]
This completely changes how things are done. We've shown that the concepts work.
[Fade to black.]
[Fade up from black.]
Text on screen: 100th anniversary. Dairy and Swine Research and Development Centre, Sherbrooke, Quebec, 1914-2014
[Cross dissolve.]
Text on screen: Modern. Innovative. Growing. Discover other agricultural innovations at www.agr.gc.ca.
[Light, electronic music fades out.]
Text on screen: Canada, Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (2014).
[Fade to black.]
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