Facilities

The experimental facilities are described below:

  • Gestating sows: There are 4 stations provided with electronic sow feeding equipment of 60 sows each, which allows up to 4 experimental treatments at the same time, even during several parities, for the correct evaluation of effects in the medium and long term. Each station has a separate silo. Each station also allows the administration of treatments in water independently.
  • Lactating sows: There are 12 rooms with 12 sows each. Up to 4 experimental treatments in feed and two treatments in water can be administered inside each room.
  • Nursery: Seven rooms with 24 pens of 5-8 piglets each, depending on the final weight. The feeding is individual per pen and can be combined with up to 4 treatments in water per room.
  • Fattening: There are 48 pens (4 rooms x 12 pens) of 10 pigs each with individual feeding. A wean-to finish room for 4 treatments with real-time control of animal weight, intake, growth and feed conversion rate. Metabolic cages room for studies of digestibility-pharmacokinetics and a room of surgery / necropsies.

Depending on the needs of the test, a network of cooperating farms in the same area is available.