Recent developments in the handling and weighing of farm animals

A semi-automatic unit for handling pigs through a weigher is described. Two crates are used in series, the first being a handling crate where identification is done before the pigs are loaded one at a time into the weigh crate. The latter has pneumatically operated gates and a floor which senses the presence of a pig. Using electronic weight averaging, the unit enables one man to weigh about 100 pigs/h without assistance. With a second man, throughputs of about 200 pigs/h are possible. Similar principles are applied to sheep and cattle weighing. Possible future developments are discussed.