A new HyLife weaning ramp has the potential to improve animal care across the industry. The in-house invention has even captured the interest of renowned animal behavioralist, Dr. Temple Grandin.
"This innovative system should be in every sow farm for vaccinating weaned piglets… I can't say enough good things about it. It should go industry-wide. I was amazed how well those little pigs used the ramp; that's the kind of stuff that makes handling easier," shared Dr. Temple Grandin.
Grandin is a leading expert in her field, and as part of HyLife's ongoing commitment to animal welfare, the company recently engaged the professor of animal science and distinguished author. She traveled to Canada to extensively tour operations, including HyLife farms and a processing plant in Neepawa, Manitoba. During her evaluation, Grandin paid close attention to animal handling practices and was extremely impressed with the uniqueness of a recently invented HyLife ramp.
"It gets rid of the back-breaking work. It's also going to improve good treatment of the pigs as the job is so much easier. And you make a job easier, and people are going to like it a whole lot better. That is something the whole industry should have," said Grandin.
The ramp was created by HyLife's Continuous Improvement Team (CI), a group of engineers dedicated to solving challenges while improving animal welfare. After listening to farm employees, it was discovered that picking up piglets and bringing them to the employee performing the vaccination placed a strain on both the staff and animals.
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