Media library

Latest podcast: 5 m² per sow – experiences with the new mating centre

How can the mating centre be designed to meet the required 5 m² per sow in a way that benefits animal welfare, work efficiency and fertility in equal measure?

In the 16th podcast from the Focus on Animal Welfare network, Susanne Gäckler, DLG, and Dr Christian Lambertz, FiBL, explore this question in depth together with their interview partners: Dr Veronika Drexl from the Schleswig-Holstein Pig Advisory Service and farm manager Michael Ostkotte, who rebuilt his mating centre a few years ago and adapted it to the new requirements.

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Virtual tour of the stables: The stables of the future

In 2024, the ‘Stable of the Future’ training and demonstration facility was opened at the VBZL Haus Düsse. The ‘Stable of the Future’ incorporates two different housing systems, corresponding to the ‘open-air housing’ and ‘outdoor access/grazing’ systems.

The aim is to develop and test alternative housing systems, taking into account the aspects of ‘improving animal welfare’, ‘reducing negative environmental impacts’ and ‘increasing consumer acceptance’. The housing systems offer increased space, structured functional areas, technical processes for separating manure and urine, and organic enrichment materials.

A tour of the barn of the future is available at any time via the visitor platform at Haus Düsse. In addition, the housing systems can be explored in a virtual barn tour accompanied by explanatory texts.

Go to the virtual barn tour

A virtual look inside a laying hen house – a typical floor-rearing system

The laying hen house at the VBZL Haus Düsse is divided into four sections. One of these was completely modernised in 2025. This demonstration section was fitted with a floor-rearing system commonly used in practice. This is a modern, single-storey system divided into two sections by a service corridor. In both areas, the hens are reared on the floor, with the right-hand section additionally having access to an outdoor climate area.

Since June 2025, visitors have been able to use a viewing corridor to gain insights into the hens’ daily lives through large windows at varying heights without disturbing the birds. The house thus serves not only for feeding trials and training, but also makes modern animal husbandry transparent and understandable to outsiders.

Take a virtual tour of the henhouse