Kalaw Farms goes down the
natural path
A little over a decade ago,
Pedrito R. Kalaw decided that
changes were needed to increase
the efficiency of his farm. At the
time the farm was already at its
full capacity of 300 sows.
“Although we [were at ull
capacity], our sows weren't
performing well,” related
Mr Kalaw. “So basically about half
of them were not performing, but
were eating, so we were losing
a lot of money because of feed
consumption.”
To solve the problem, the farm
decided to depopulate, bringing
down sow population to 180.
at the same time implementing
changes in farm management and
practices.
Assisting Mr Kalaw was his
farm consultant, Dr Jaime Yate
who interestingly enough, has a
somewhat different attitude about
pi
“There are those who say that,
we are good at raising pigs, but I
look at it the other way around,”
he explained. “Really, the credit
shouldn't go to us. Rather we
should think that the pig is very
good because despite the conditions
and situations that we raise them
in — we box them in where they
can't move properly, they live in
houses where temperatures can
be hot and ventilation isn’t very
good - somehow, they manage to
survive and thrive.”
‘The pig, he said, is a smart
mal and left alone, like the
With so many diseases threatening pig production
in the Philippines, it isn’t surprising that most
farms rely on medication and vaccination to keep
their businesses in the pink of health. One farm is
taking a different approach however, placing its
trust in sound management and the use of natural
pigs
that roam
around freely,
will be able to
care for itsell. Ina
manner of speaking, they
had to see things the pig’s way.
How would a pig act and react
naturally? What does the pig want?
Like most farms in the Philippines,
Kalaw Farm has conventional op
houses. Dr Yatco pointed out that
buildings need not be high tech,
what is important is to satisfy the
natural needs of the pigs.
‘Yo provide comfort to the
animals, pens were installed with
wallowing pools, building roots
| were covered with nets to serve as
| additional installation, and fans
were
placed
in the
buildings to
improve air ventilation.
by nature, wallow,
ly when it’s hot,” said Dr
That's why we put the
allowing ponds inside the pens.
‘The nets that we put on the rools,
they decrease the temperature in
the houses by about 10-15%, and
the fans help keep the air moving
inside the hous
Minimised drug use
In addition to the changes in the
houses, there were other changes
in management, all of which were
geared toward minimising,
the use of antibiotics and
‘other medications
“Lhave worked in farms
before, this included, where
there is so much use of
antibioties, injectables and
other medications, and y
the pigs’ performance didn’t
and organic products to keep their herd healthy
improve,” said Dr Yatco.
and performing, reports ISA Q. TAN.
“And we were using the best
2” ASIAN PORK MAGAZINE ~ August/September 2009,and
most
expensive
drugs, and yet
these didn’t really solve
the problems, So started having
1s about using these
However, he does not discount,
the importance of medication
and vaceination in animal raising
‘operations, but the key is to
minimise usage.
foday, the farm only vaccinates
against hog cholera, and uses
antibiotics only for treatment, and
during weather transition periods,
when the extreme changes in
weather condition could affect
the animals and lead to seasonal
diseases.
“During the year, we flush with
antibiotics twice in anticipation of
the possibility of the pigs getting
sick," explained Dr Yatco. “These
are during the transition periods
from summer to rainy season, and
then from rainy season to the cold
season, During these times, there
can be extreme changes in weather
ASIN Poni MAGAZINE August/September 2008
| for five days,
Return on investment (per sow per year)
costs
Boplex Sowa consumed kg |
Cost of Sowrek per so (USD 10, x 1.1ke) so 11.00
BENET |
(063 pigs/sow/yearexra x USD 40/3 Uso 2500 |
ig otra weiht at seughter |
(@hgUS0 1.80/kg waht 15 pigs/son/year sold) USD 58.00
‘TOTAL BENEFITS so 79.00
Net retur/som/year usp 68.00
Ro. ma
that the
pigs would
feel. Perhaps in
month's time I will give
the herd a flush dose of antibiotics
and that's it until the
next transition period.”
He admitted though that there
are unpredictable instances
when the animals will get sick,
sometimes with respiratory or
enteric problems, In these cases,
only the animals in the affected
bulidings are treated with
antibiotics and not the entire
herd. If one dose fails to solve the
problem, then another antibiotic
would be used.
“Our animals do get sick every
now and then, but itis always
manageable,” said Dr Yatco.
hat’s the advantage of using
antibiotics just at the right time
and not abusing them. Because
we use antibiotics minimally and
only for treatment, when we do
tase them, the pigs often recover
right away. Unlike if you use it as
aa growth promotant and is always
part of the feeding program; when
conditions |
the animals get sick, the only thing
you can do is bring up the dosage,
and eventually that could lead to
resistance.”
Going natural
Because of the minimised use
of antibiotics and other drugs,
Kalaw Farm was able to shift gear
and turn to herbal products and.
probiotics about eight years ago,
when these products were stil
relatively new in the market.
“For many years now, we
have not been using antibiotics
as growth promotants,” said
Mr Kalaw. “Our philosophy is
to move away from antibiotics
and synthetics and move toward
natural and organic production.
Because the way I see it if
you continue using synthetic
supplements, like AGPS, you
only get a superficial advantage.
While initially your performance
‘would go up, your operations
‘would become too dependent,
and again there is that problem
with developing resistance. Later
there will come resistant strains
of bacteria and the only thing,
you can do is up the dose and
so on, then eventually the farm
performance would go down. And
remember that antibiotics are very
expensive.”
While many pig producers in
the country are still skeptics when
it comes to probiotics, Kalaw
Fa already proven their
effectiveness. ‘The farm's production
parameters, compared to national
statisties, are at par, if not better. >
aReducing incidence of
small piglets at birth and at weaning
using SowPak
Low piglet birth weight is a major issue in pig farming (less than
1kg) is a major issue in pig farming, Informal surveys done on
Southeast Asian farms show small piglets at birth may be from
3-15% of the total born live. These piglets tend to fight other
piglets in search of a better teat position, which results in.
reduced suckling time, higher mortalities and lower weaning
‘weights. Low weight in piglets at weaning (less than 6kg at
28 days) is also a problem since these piglets are the ones
that lag behind in the nursery and the grow-finish stages.
From July 2008-January 2009, Alltech conducted a
trial at Kalaw Farm to look at how the supplementing of
Bioplex SowPak in gestating and lactating sows will affect
the incidence of small piglets at birth and at weaning.
Sixty three Large White x Landrace sows, were grouped
Into two parity groups: those less than 3 and parities 3-6.
In both cases, the control group was fed diets containing
inorganic minerals, and another group fed with dicts
supplemented by SowPak (Ikg/tonne in gestation and
1.5kg/tonne in lactation). fhe diets were fed starting day 1
of gestation up to weaning of the piglets at 30 days old.
Results
+ Percentage of mum fas significantly lower in sows fed with
SowPak :
Birth weight coefficient of variation (CV%) was significantly lower ~~ Small pigs at birth
in the sows fed with SowPak. (et kg)
Fewer smaller pigs (less than 1kg body weight) were born by sows fed ont ome
with SowPak.
‘There tended to be fewer small piglets at weaning with SowPak
treatment. The number of piglets less than 6kg at weaning was 34%
ower in the sows fed with SowPak.
‘These results show that:
‘The incidence of small pigs at birth and birth weight uniformity can
be improved by supplementing diets of gestating sows with Bioplex
SowPak.
+ Litter size improvement may be attained through reduction of the ‘Small pigs at weaning
mummies. (<6 kg)
+ Weaning weight uniformity and the incidence of small pigs at ere
‘weaning may be improved by supplementing SowPak.
+ Younger sows seemed to benefit more from the treatment as evidenced
by the interactions.
As a next step, 400 of the pigs were followed up to slaughter, with
the average weights and ages recorded. Results show that the average
slaughter weights were up 2kg with the pigs from sows fed SowPak
Likewise, more heavier pigs and lesser light weight pigs were observed in
pigs from sows fed SowPak, while light weight pigs were 32% lower in
the group of pigs from sows fed SowPak.
Based on these results, a cost analysis show that using SowPak give a
net return/sow/yr of USD 68, or a return on investment of 7 to 1 (See et
separate panel ~ page 31).
22 ASIAN PORK MAGAZINE ~ August Septemer 2009,