Getting Employees to Care

SwineCast 1124, The Squeal on Day One Pig Care, Part 2: Pre-Farrowing Preparation, Personnel, And Colostrum Management

This is part two of a multi part series on day one pig care. Steve Horton (Sow Farm Supervisor for Thomas Livestock), Kendall Weger (PIC Global Technical Services ), and Pedro Mosqueira (PIC Technical Services) talk about the preparation required to get personnel ready for pre-farrowing activities and colostrum management.

Dr. Gabriela Bucini - The Role of Human Behavior in Biosecurity Adoption: Interactive Tools For Intervention Strategies

The Role of Human Behavior in Biosecurity Adoption: Interactive Tools For Intervention Strategies - Dr. Gabriela Bucini, from the 2018 Allen D. Leman Swine Conference, September 15-18, 2018, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA.

Dr. Maynard Hogberg - University Perspective: Developing Human Capital for the U.S. Swine Genetics Field

University Perspective: Developing Human Capital for the U.S. Swine Genetics Field - Dr. Maynard Hogberg, Iowa State University, from the 2017 North American PRRS/National Swine Improvement Federation Joint Meeting, December 1‐3, 2017, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Getting Employees to "Care" more

During a recent visit with a client in Iowa, the owners talked about a challenge that they had in getting their employees to “care more about the pigs.” They had discussed ventilation issues, appropriate watering and feeding, watching for sows that didn’t eat, etc.—all the important stockmanship training issues—but it seemed that it was not getting through to their people.

Instead of reviewing their training process and regular monitoring, I asked them about what areas the employees did seem to care about. “Well,” the wife said, “they really like to see the pigs ‘happy.’ They can tell when they walk into a building if the pigs are ‘happy’ and they seem to like seeing the pigs behave that way.”