Pig Sorter

Farms, like every other business, must take advantage of effective technology to provide quality products at competitive prices while maintaining safety benchmarks for both workers and consumers. Sorting and weighing livestock manually to determine which animals are ready for market and which need to go back into the feeding rotation can be dangerous and stressful to both animals and workers, not to mention the margin for error in recording the weights. There is a way to obtain, store, and analyze accurate data while reducing the risk of injuries to animals and personnel. It’s called a Pig Sorter, and it involves a single-file walkway that directs a pig onto the scale. The scale then rapidly and accurately weighs the animal (even if it’s moving around), saves the weight information, and routes the pig by another of several single-file walkways to an appropriate feeding area or holding pen for market. Pigs are no longer forced into tight quarters with other animals where aggressive behavior can cause injuries and sickness can become epidemic. In addition, farmers do not need to manually separate and weigh animals, which is stressful for the pig and potentially dangerous for the farmer. Pigs are sorted daily on their way to feeding areas with no guesswork, which means no costly over- or underfeeding occurs and only market-ready animals are loaded onto trucks. Time and wages formerly spent in visually classifying, sorting, and weighing animals (and training workers to do these things) can now be put to better use. Pigs that are sick can be easily and quickly separated, as can those who require a feed adjustment. Proper feeding leads to a market-ready animal within a precise weight range in a shorter time frame, optimizing food, space, and other resources. An efficient farm is a profitable farm and farmers can then pass on the savings to consumers. The information from the scale can be saved onto a USB memory stick, downloaded to a local computer, or sent to an online database. These options allow farm personnel to analyze each animal’s progress as well as track general trends over time more conveniently instead of making on-the-spot decisions at the scale. Again, accuracy leads to greater efficiency, which leads to a better bottom line. One example of recent innovations in pig sorting technology is the Arlyn Scales automated pig sorter scale. It features ArlynLoad Stainless Steel Load sensors with 500 percent overload capability. The pig sorter is built of heavy-gauge, tubular stainless steel to withstand harsh farm conditions, yet its open frame, comfortable flooring, and safety features help reduce stress and injuries for animals. The sorter can be configured with up to five walkways for precise feed adjustment. It has the capability to read RFID ear tags for more accurate data tracking and a color, menu-driven touch screen for simple operation. Arlyn Scales pig sorters offer more options than the competition to fit more farms. To find more information or to make a purchase, please Contact Arlyn Scales today.