John Chambers

Over the past 18 months, BPEX has worked with pig unit ventilation specialist, John Chambers, to help demonstrate how simple alterations can often significantly improve a herd’s health and well-being.

More than 300 businesses and farm sites took part in the project, which consisted of a mix of farm visits and workshop discussion sessions. Vets also participated and have subsequently been working with producers to make improvements. The top recurring issues were:

• Incorrect size and position of fans and air inlets
• DraughtsPoor and damaged insulation
• Impact of adjacent buildings, internal fixtures and fittings on air flow
• Incorrect settings of controllers
• Poor maintenance
• Poor operator practice

“There is a genuine thirst for knowledge and interest in ventilation systems,” noted Nigel Penlington, Environment Programme Manager at BPEX. “Producers are very keen to find out what can be achieved and recognise the level of importance.”

He added that the project got the whole industry talking about this important topic, saying: “The benefits are now being witnessed on many of the units, with regular reports of better performance and improved pig health.”

The project examined a variety of buildings - from century-old stone barns, converted sheds and recycled transport bodies to recent builds. It also looked at a range of ventilation systems from the simplest natural methods through automatically controlled natural ventilation (ACNV) to the high tech.

For further information and advice on pig unit ventilation go to: www.bpex.org.uk/environment-hub/pig-housing-development/Ventilation.aspx