May 27, 2021

 
Osborne announces new pig performance testing system for nursery-sized pigs

US pig farming equipment developer Osborne Industries has announced the release of an automated pig performance testing system for nursery-sized pigs in small groups.

SaFIRE (Small Animal Feed Intake Recording Equipment) automatically monitors individual feed intake and growth of pigs from 6kg to 23kg. This automated testing in a group environment accurately simulates commercial production, providing data on individual animal performance for genetic, feed and pharmaceutical testing.

SaFIRE leverages the technology of Osborne's FIRE (Feed Intake Recording Equipment) system, a recognised standard for performance testing of finishing animals. Completely automated data collection eliminates manual testing methods and provides access to real world, commercially-simulated data, Osborne explained.

With SaFIRE, geneticists and researchers now have the ability to reliably and accurately identify the effects of various factors on the performance of small animals. Testing genetics, nutrition and diets, non-traditional feedstuffs and the effects of various management protocols can be done reliably with SaFIRE.

RFID (radio frequency identification) technology identifies individual animals at the single-space feeding station and automatically collects valuable data including feed intake, time and duration of eating events, body weight and feed conversion.

Data collected with SaFIRE is available instantly for sound genetic research and management decisions with the WinFIRE RT software application. Changes in health status or growth can quickly be identified with the application's real-time monitoring capabilities.

Having been tested at several US universities, the accuracy of the SaFIRE feed intake recording system has been confirmed, giving researchers confidence in making genetic selections and management decisions for individual or groups of animals, Osborne said.

SaFIRE will be unveiled at the 2021 World Pork Expo in Des Moines, Iowa, the United States on June 9-11.

- Osborne