"I developed my own housing systems, which I would like to demonstrate live afterwards."

Christoph Becker begins his presentation with the statement: "You can make many changes in the barn if you have a functioning pen structure." In his opinion, you can leave many decisions up to the animal and do not need to control anything from the outside. "If the animal has the opportunity to seek out its own areas, it will do so. For me, draughts are not a problem. They are a clear structural element. However, this can only be the case if you create an area where the animals can easily retreat."

 "The animals are incredibly sensitive to draughts, but that gives me the chance to use them as a structuring element." He also points out that a pen must be at least 20–25 m^² in size in order to create a reasonable pen structure. Using sketches of a typical standard barn, he explained the fresh air supply to the compartments. He explains that there must be a clear air flow for pen structuring. "Fresh air normally comes in through the feeding passage and falls into the compartment over the pen partitions." Becker initially built partition walls parallel to the feeding passage in his compartments to give the pigs the opportunity to avoid draughts. This created a feeding, activity and lying area. He also installed straw dispensers and mesh screens to create a defined manure area. "My conversion measures were noticeably better up to this point, but it was still not optimal. So something had to be changed again." Becker decided to remove the mesh screens to create a large pen with 45 animals. Straw and feed dispensers were installed in the rear lying area.

Becker explains with reference to the picture: "Here you can clearly see that the two aisles are free for the animals; it's like a kind of walkway. The animals lie in the feeding and lying pens, regardless of whether it is summer or winter. The pigs can structure the space themselves, which is the only reason this system works." Becker has not heated his fattening barn for five years. Based on his experience with the outdoor climate barn, he sometimes runs his indoor barns at temperatures of 8 °C. The pig farmer has no problems with coughs or similar illnesses, so there is no need to use antibiotics.

Becker's interim conclusion is: "Draughts are not generally bad, only when the pigs cannot avoid them. Draughts or air flow are THE design element in the barn."

Becker goes on to discuss the second design element, the feed supply. The animals like it when the feed dispenser is located close to the lying area. Many of his colleagues believe that there should be no disturbance in the lying area. Becker sees things differently. The pig farmer adds that pigs are diurnal animals. They sleep and eat together. He also sees an additional benefit in the fact that a relatively clean zone is created around the feeding area. "It is a good combination to link the feeding area with the lying area. In my opinion, the lying, feeding and activity areas can be completely combined; the pigs will regulate this themselves." It is important to separate the faeces area.

Becker explains that the last element in pen structuring is lighting. Where permitted and possible, the feeding and resting areas should be darkened and the manure area completely illuminated. In Becker's barn, an LED lamp shines 24 hours a day in the faeces area, whereas the light tube for the lying and feeding areas is covered with a board. However, this is only possible if legal and structural requirements are met. Becker briefly describes design flaws that have not worked so well in his barn system. These included the straw dispenser in a pen partition. "The animals literally defecated all over it." He also had corrugated slats made to prevent the animals from lying down there. "Changing the floor structure so that the animals didn't like it didn't work." While Becker moves from his office to the barn during the online event, he answers questions from participants.

Once in the barn, Becker first shows the manure area and then discusses the curtains between the outdoor and indoor areas. For this purpose, he uses conveyor belts arranged side by side, which the pigs can easily walk through. "We deliberately decided against doors. Firstly, for cost reasons and secondly because of the noise caused by opening and closing them. Of course, this creates a bit of draught, but there is also the option of installing an additional curtain from the inside." Becker shows the pigs' outdoor area. At least 50% of the animals lie there when fresh litter has been spread. Depending on the size of the animals, Becker muck out his stables once a week. 

Becker's basic idea is that pigs can be left to make many decisions for themselves. Pigs know when they are too hot or too cold. So Becker's approach was to let the animals decide for themselves when they want to cool down. The animals can turn on the shower by pressing the pig buzzer. "I also installed a buzzer for drinking, which was activated 80,000 times in one year. The shower, on the other hand, was only activated 4,000 times." Becker also shows the huge hole in the wall live. The key here is to create a draught-free zone for the animals. He then goes into more detail about the arrangement of the pen walls. The pig farmer also shows a system for underfloor heating and cooling directly from his barn. After the initial phase of fattening, cooling is often the only thing that matters for pigs. They start to wallow at temperatures above 15 °C. This is an indication that the animals are already too warm at this temperature. Christoph Becker ends the tour of the barn for now and answers questions from the chat.

Author: Viola Erfkämper, North Rhine-Westphalia Chamber of Agriculture