The German Agricultural Society (DLG) has once again set up an impartial and international commission of experts to assess the innovations submitted by EuroTier exhibitors up to the beginning of September on the basis of strict criteria. It has awarded three gold and 18 silver medals.

One of the Gold Medals has been awarded to SonoCheck from Big Dutchman Pig Equipment GmbH.

Sonocheck is a completely newly developed, automated system for pregnancy examinations in sow group management in conjunction with Big-Dutchman demand feeding. Ultrasonic measurements are conducted while the sow is at the feeding station by moving an automated arm with a supersonic head to the sow.

The system minimises the work time required for the pregnancy examination and reduces the stress burden for the animals. In addition, the ultrasonic scanner can be removed from the automatic guide to conduct manual ultrasonic examinations of the animals. Furthermore, the system can be changed from station to station, so that it is unnecessary to procure separate equipment for each station. The automatic scanning does away with the need for manual ultrasonic scanning in the group and individual stands, thus contributing to occupational health and safety. It is also possible to save the hitherto necessary selection day for for pregnancy testing of the sows in group management. And finally, the images can be stored in 15-second sequences, be analysed by the herdsman independently of time and be transmitted via the internet to further experts in order to clarify questionable results.

The Big Dutchman Pig Equipment GmbH stand at EuroTier 2010 will be in hall 11, stand D21.

Eurotier 2010 will be held at the Exhibition Grounds in Hanover, Germany, on 16 to 19 November 2010.

Further Reading

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You can find out more about EuroTier 2010 by clicking here.