Your Feeding Stations Know More Than You Think

Your Feeding Stations Know More Than You Think

Managing farrowings well is critical for piglet survival and sow welfare. CDPQ researchers have found that data already collected by electronic feeding stations could predict the start of farrowing up to eight hours in advance.

By analyzing over 1,900 farrowing events using artificial intelligence, the algorithm correctly predicted whether farrowing was imminent in 87% of cases — with no additional sensors required.

For producers, the practical applications are real: better staff scheduling, avoiding unnecessary farrowing injections, and automatically activating piglet comfort equipment at the right time. Commercial farm trials are planned for the near future.