It is crucial for farmers who raise finishing pigs to be aware of the various housing options available for their livestock, including the hoop barn structure. While this type of housing is known to serve as a successful alternative to more standard structures, there are various advantages and disadvantages based on each grower’s unique circumstances or overall marketing goals.
A hoop barn is a low-cost, greenhouse-like structure that uses a deep-bedding system. They are Quonset-shaped, can be made with wood sides and posts, and include tubular steel arches. The top of the structures are typically covered with a UV-resistant, polyvinyl canvas material. More durable hoop barn structures are made with concrete stem walls.
When used as livestock housing, especially for pigs, these structures typically have earthen floors with straw bedding and a concrete area for watering and feeding. Hooped shelters are designed to mimic pigs’ natural behavior of segregating areas for feeding, sleeping and dunging, while remaining a cost-effective option for smaller-scale operations.
Finishing animals in hooped shelters can be a wonderful investment with a low-cost start-up. Naturally raised animals raised in hoop structures can often be marketed to high-end customers and earn a faster return on investment. If you’re considering a hoop barn for your livestock, consider the following tips:
Most hooped shelters are accepted in the United States as animal welfare-friendly structures. Some studies have even shown that pigs finished in hoop shelters consistently ate more and grew faster when compared to more conventional shelters.
In addition to improved animal welfare, adding automated feeding and weighing for finishing animals in hoop barns can greatly improve animal management, especially when it comes to marketing animals. That’s where the Osborne Weight Watcher Growth Management System comes in.
The Osborne Weight Watcher™ Growth Management System offers complete growth management for finishing pigs in large pens in both traditional finishing and hoop barn finishing. The system allows farmers to sort pigs by weight to enable target feeding throughout the growth cycle and automatically sort pigs when it comes time to market.
A successful Weight Watcher System is designed on the concrete area designated for feeding and drinking. This area is divided in three parts, separating two feeding pens from a drinking area. Animals freely flow from the watering area to the feeding (and adjacent bedding) area through an automated sorting scale: the Osborne Survey Scale. The Survey Scale weighs each animal as they pass through it, utilizing their natural movement from eating to drinking to resting. Growth rates of the group can be monitored throughout allowing for improved phase feeding and accelerating time to market. Up to 500 animals can be accommodated in a single Weight Watcher System.
The feeding pens are divided into two separate areas, one meant for lighter-weight animals and one for heavier or average-weight animals. Animals sorted into the light-weight pen can be fed a ration that will accelerate gain so they “catch up” to the rest of the group. Pigs sorted to the heavy pen can be fed a ration that maximizes the return on gain. Using two different rations allows farmers to match nutrients to the groups’ growth rate and decrease wasted nutrients.
When it comes time to market, animals meeting the sort criteria can be automatically sorted into one of the feeding pens for easy load-out. By the end of the turn, animals are so accustomed to moving through the scale and from pen-to-pen, that loading them is fast and easy.
Osborne is ready to help you design your finishing plan to get the most out of your hoop structure, with products that increase efficiency and your bottom line. Implementing a Weight Watcher System and no-waste Big Wheel feeders allow for improved management capabilities and cutting time to market. Let us help you get started by requesting a quote today!