Agricultural Lighting in a Pig Barn

There are many aspects of smart pig farming that deliver results every farmer wants to see. However, light happens to be one of the most important aspects that come into play.  Agricultural lighting is a crucial environmental factor that influences and controls physiological changes in pigs. This is why optimal levels of lighting are of significant importance in a pig barn.  With over thirty years of experience partnering with top agricultural manufacturing companies, we know exactly what your farming needs are. At Can-Neth, we’ve come up with products that will provide you with more control over your farming outcomes. Just like poultry lighting needs differ from humans, pigs view light differently as well. The light climate in pig barns needs to be adapted to meet the animals’ needs. With our HATO lighting systems, your pigs will be able to see better, thereby allowing them to feel better and improve their production performance. By directly stimulating pig welfare and performance, you will get the farming results you’ve always wanted. 

Pig Lighting Needs in the Production Cycle

  Lighting affects pigs/hogs differently during different stages of their production cycle, that is, farrowing, service area, gestation, nursery, finishers, and rearing gilts. In order to understand how to optimize lighting to meet their needs, let’s have a look at the different production stages in detail. 

Farrowing in Pigs

In the farrowing stage, it is crucial to get the lighting right in your pig/hog barn. In this stage, light stimulates the biological clock and biorhythm to ensure your pigs feel better. This not only optimizes their performance but also improves fertility for the gestation period.  Good lighting during farrowing:

Stimulates the biological clock and biorhythm

By vitalizing the biological rhythm and internal clock of your pigs, you’re allowing them to feel well-adjusted to their surroundings in the pig/hog barn. This makes them feel at ease and improves their energy levels. 

Makes the pigs/hogs feel better

By stimulating their biological clock, we’re automatically stimulating animal mood. If your pigs/hogs feel better, they’re more likely to perform better. It is important to ensure you’re creating an environment that is conducive to good health in the farrowing house. 

Optimizes performance

Optimizing the light climate in your farrowing house leads to improved production performance. This means that as a pig farmer, you are bound to get the farming results you want to see. 

Improves fertility for the gestation period

Improve fertility, get better results. It’s as simple as that. Take advantage of our FERAX 230VAC lights from our HATO collection and optimize your pig barn for better farming outcomes. 

Service Area Pigs

Pigs/hogs in the service area need the right amount of light to stimulate sow fertility. This helps to reduce the wean-to-serve interval, the time that passes between the weaning of a sow and the first service after this weaning. When the sows are stimulated with optimal lighting, the pigs will see an increase in their performance and production results.  Correct lighting in service area pigs/hogs:

Increase sow fertility

By increasing sow fertility, you’re increasing production performance levels. Our HATO lights are easy to install, are designed with flame-retardant materials, and provide optimal biosecurity. Start producing the results you want to see in a responsible way.

Reduce wean-to-serve intervals

The shorter the wean-to-serve interval, the better. Enhance production performance with our energy-saving lights. Energy-efficient lighting makes a major difference, especially when looking at your energy bill at the end of the year. Start investing in your farm and yourself, and get great farming outcomes. 

Optimize performance and production results

Using the correct form of lighting in your pig/hog barn not only improves animal welfare but also enhances farmer productivity. Our high-quality lighting is specially designed to withstand the harsh environments in pig houses and last a lot longer than normal lighting. This reduces replacement costs and workload for you. Improve your animal performance, while seeing better production results and farm profitability.

Gestation Stage

Gestation is probably one of the more crucial stages when it comes to pig well-being and performance. In this stage, pigs/hogs need good sight to adapt to their environment properly. The sows see better, and thereby recognize their environment better. This makes it easier for them to find feed and water, and remain calm during this important production phase.  Correct lighting in the gestation stage:

Improves sow sight

HATO lighting helps improve sow sight so that they can see better. By seeing better, they feel more comfortable in their surroundings. This leads to a calmer demeanor as the sows feel more at home.

Allows for environmental adaption and recognition

When sows see better, they’re more adaptive to their environment, and to sows around them. This creates a healthy atmosphere in the pig barn and allows the sows to carry out their tasks more efficiently.

Makes it easier for sows to find feed and water 

Sows need to find feed and water during the gestation stage of their cycle. It is crucial for them to do so in a calm manner when surrounded by fellow sows in the pig/hog barn. Since the sows are happier and healthier, they’re more likely to continue to maintain that kind of atmosphere in the barn. This is why optimal lighting is so important in this stage.

Nursery Stage

The nursery stage is as equally important as the gestation stage in a pig/hog’s production cycle. Early feed intake during the gestation period helps prevent weaning dips during the nursery period. A good lighting climate allows piglets to explore their environment better, so they can find their feed and water more easily. This helps contribute to healthy growing pigs and an optimal Feed Conversion Rate (FCR).  An optimal light climate in the nursery stage:

Enables easy environmental exploration

Since lighting can help reduce weaning dips during this stage, it is important to ensure you have your lighting system optimized. With over 45 years of experience in creating good barn lighting, HATO lighting systems are proven to yield the best long-term results for pig barns. 

Stimulates a faster feed intake post-weaning

A good lighting climate makes it easier for your pigs/hogs to find their feed and water quickly. This not only makes the production cycle go by smoothly but also contributes to better animal health. Therefore, finding the right lighting system is imperative for optimizing production. 

Contributes to healthy growers and an optimal Feed Conversion Rate

The healthier your animals, the more likely they are to deliver quicker and better results. With our HATO lighting systems, you will notice a jump in your production outcomes and profits. 

Finishers

Correct lighting, as we know, improves pig sight. When finishers have better vision, they’re more likely to perform better. Lighting helps stimulate feed intake and prevents undesirable behaviour. Better sight also makes the finishers feel more comfortable in their pens and with their pen-mates.  Correct lighting during the finishing stage:

Stimulates feed intake

Better feed intake leads to a healthier production cycle. It is important to note the right amount and type of light required to help your pigs/hogs perform better at each production stage. If you have any questions about how much light you should be exposing your finishers to, feel free to contact us at Can-Neth, and we’ll be happy to assist you. 

Prevents undesirable behaviour

When your finishers are happy, they’re less likely to become aggressive or frantic in their pig/hog barns. An optimal light climate will help calm the animals down and prevent them from portraying any undesirable behaviours. 

Makes the finishers feel more comfortable

Your finishers will automatically feel more comfortable in their surrounding environment and recognize their pen-mates in a calmer manner if they have been exposed to the right type of lighting. Ease the pressure on yourself and your animals by ensuring you have our HATO lighting system installed in your pig barns. 

Rearing Gilts

The rearing stage is one of the most important stages in a sow’s life. All environmental factors have to be just right. Light is a very important stimulator of young gilts. Therefore, it is important to ensure that you have set up your lighting systems appropriately to meet the rearing gilts’ needs.  An optimal light climate in the rearing phase:

Is a very important stimulator of the young gilts

Since this is another crucial stage in a pig’s production cycle, it is important to make sure you have everything under control. By using our HATO lighting system, gain more control over your production results, and help optimize your pig barns. Agricultural lighting plays a major role in stimulating the young gilts. 

Is important for proper and uniform sexual maturation and correct socialization

Stimulating gilts through light is important for proper and uniform sexual maturation and correct socialization. Ensure that everything is set up correctly to allow all of your pigs to reap the benefits of good lighting. 

Prevents the gilts from being startled

Good lighting improves the gilts’ vision which prevents them from being startled. This is very important during the gestation and farrowing stages in particular.  Now that you know how crucial it is to get the lighting right for your pigs at each stage of the production cycle, take a look at the HATO lighting systems available for you to take your farm to a higher standard.  Request a free quote now and let’s get you in control of your farming outcomes.