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Oak Lane Colony began raising hogs with 500 Babcock sows in 1986. The Colony expanded to 1,000 sows two years later and now produces about 26,000 pigs annually in its farrow-to-finish operation.
Oak Lane also sells about 70,000 turkeys a year, milks 300 cows in a new parlor, and crop farms 8,000 acres.
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| "Since Oak Lane populated in 1988 we have never de-populated, never had a PRRS outbreak and very rarely have any significant death loss," says swine manager Toby Wipf. "Sow mortality is low, under 3%…we hardly ever have a sow go down." |
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"The Babcock closed herd system is by far the best way to maintain herd health and keep animals disease free. Out of 26,000 pigs we sold last year, less than 1%, about 250, had a penicillin shot."
"There are no drugs and animal by-products in the feed --- we've been using that method since 2005. In four years with more than 97,000 pigs sold, we have had only 1% of the animals treated with antibiotics." |
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| "Babcock has absolutely the best finisher pig you've ever seen. I don't care where you go. Average daily gain in the winter months is over 2, and in the summer it's 1.86. This is with Antibiotic Free all natural production. My feed consultant told me the other day if they grow any faster they'll bust their hide." |
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"I really like the durability and leg structure of Babcock sows. They are big, gentle animals that are easy to handle, good milkers that take care of their litters.
We averaged 12.7 total pigs born and last year weaned 25.8 pigs per sow. Our wean to finish mortality rate was 3.05. |
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"I don't think you can make a better choice than Babcock."
"We haven't had to treat one set of pigs in more than four years. The animals are calm, the boars and sows aren't aggressive, there are no stress problems. The finisher pigs grow fast and give us almost $4 a cwt more than other producers." |
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