June 5, 2017

 

 
The development of mechanical-flow feeding in the 1980s revolutionised the industry, leading to the creation of the Osborne Big Wheel^® Feeder which eventually became the top selling hog feeder in the US, Osborne Industries, Inc. says.

 

However, as the industry moved toward wean-to-finish, producers often found no commercially-available feeding systems adequate to function in a wean-to-finish environment. The best gravity-flow feeders worked well for newly weaned pigs. But as pigs grew, waste and overloading of the trough became a maintenance nightmare, Osborne points out.

 

Alternatively, mechanical-flow feeders provided never-before-seen feed savings, but sometimes required assistance to help pigs get started on the feeder.

 

Thus, Osborne announces its latest advancement in its signature line of "no-waste" pig feeders. The new FAST Start™ wean-to-finish feeder features all the no-waste, feed saving aspects of the Big Wheel family of mechanical-flow feeders, but operates in gravity-flow mode for newly weaned pigs. The feeder then automatically converts to mechanical-flow as pigs grow. Osborne's new feeder will be introduced at the World Pork Expo (booth V451) on June 7-9, in Des Moines, Iowa, US.

 

Osborne's new Fast Start^™ wean-to-finish feeder allows newly weaned pigs to start with virtually no attention, adjustments, or wasted feed.

 

"The FAST Start Feeder is an answer to the age-old problem of designing a feeder that is capable of feeding very young pigs, and yet, prevents the excessive feed waste that occurs when pigs grow," George Eakin, president and CEO of Osbourne, says.

 

"Traditional gravity-flow feeders start very young pigs easily, but adjusting them to prevent feed waste throughout the growing cycle is a management nightmare.

 

"The FAST Start Feeder combines gravity-flow feed delivery for newly weaned pigs with mechanical feed delivery for finishing pigs, which saves feed and ensures feed freshness. The conversion of the FAST Start Feeder from a gravity-flow feed delivery to the feed-saving mechanical-flow delivery is done automatically by the pigs. This automated feature allows pigs to grow from wean to finish on a single feeder without any adjustments, and yet save feed, ensure feed freshness, and grow animals efficiently," Eakin adds.

 

When weaned pigs are put on the feeder, small slides in the feed hopper bottom are open, allowing feed to freely flow into the trough. As pigs grow, they begin turning the multi-spoke feed wheel in the bottom of the trough, which closes the slides on the feed hopper bottom. A feed sweep, located at the bottom of the feed hopper and attached to the feed wheel, sweeps feed past the cone and out of the hopper to the trough. Feed falls through the center hole into the trough, where the feed wheel dispenses it to the pigs. Feed stops flowing when pigs stop moving the wheel, allowing for the automatic conversion from gravity to mechanical flow.

 

Based on numerous on-farm trials by users, the FAST Start Big Wheel Feeder has been observed to meet all the critical performance standards cited by leading veterinarians for wean-to-finish, but without losing any of the well-known Osborne "no-waste" feeding features during finishing.

 

Made of abrasion and corrosion-resistant RTM-molded plastic - a material Osborne developed and perfected over the past 30 years, the feeder operates with minimal maintenance for years.

 

- Osbourne Industries