EV ILVO
Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
General Information
- Country:
- Belgium
- Funding type:
- Public & Private
- Type of organization:
- Research Institute
- Address:
- Burgemeester Van Gansberghelaan 92
- Website:
- https://ilvo.vlaanderen.be/en/
- Contact:
- livinglabveehouderij@ilvo.vlaanderen.be
- Additional Comments:
- The pig research infrastructure at ILVO is used in the context of local grants, PhD or European projects and by companies for product development, marketing or registration (EFSA). ILVO conducts trials with measurements of performance, fecal consistency, digestibility, animal behavior, nutrient balances, carcass and meat quality, indoor climate, ventilation rates and emissions. Services are tailored to the clients' request. Based on clients' needs, we design trials, conduct trials in our facilities, collect data and samples for further analysis (by us, by the client or by third parties), analyze and report the data. If relevant, ILVO helps with interpretation of the data and publication in conferences or scientific journals. ILVO has in-house specialists in experimental design, data analysis, modeling and statistical processing.
Expertise
Behaviour & Welfare
Animal Health
Body Composition
Carcass & Meat Quality
Environment Impact
Feed & Feed Tehnologies
Housing & System Trials
Performance Trials
Physiological Studies
Type of facility and capacity
Feed mill
500 tone(s) per year
Gestating sows
172 no of sows
Growing-finishing pigs
1784 no of pigs
Lactating sows and piglets
72 no of sows
Weaning pigs
1365 no of pigs
Additional information
- ILVO’s pig research barn houses two sow herds (one of 105 and one of 140 sows) in a 3-week system, and a nursery. The gestating sow barn is unique in that it is divided into 4 compartments (each 20 sows) with a feeding station in each. Four types of feed can be mixed. The barn is equipped with “SOWSIS” instruments. The other sow barn is equipped with stalls and also a free range area in straw. The nursery consists of 12 compartments for 48 piglets (8 pens x 6 piglets), with a double drinking water circuit and 2 drinking nipples per pen. Piglets can thus receive either one of two types of water, or both, so they can choose. The growing-finishing barn is equipped with different ammonia emission reduction systems. It consists of 16 fully separated compartments (also the manure pits). Eight consist of fully slatted floors (connected to air scrubber) and 8 have half slatted and half concrete floor with slanted manure pit walls (2 options: connected to air scrubber or direct outlet). Each compartment houses up to 48 pigs (8 pens of 6 pigs). The barn is also equipped with a modularly built air scrubber system containing biological and chemical air cleaning stages. Advanced emission measuring systems are available to monitor gas (ammonia, GHG, odour) and particle (PM) emissions both at compartment and air scrubber level. We also have another barn for growing-finishing pigs, consisting of eight pens of 15 animals that are equipped with RFID drinking water and feeding sensors. Four pens have electronic feeding stations. ILVO has the equipment and expertise to conduct digestibility trials with piglets and growing-finishing pigs. A large grinder and autoclave to accurately determine body composition of pigs is available. Autofom III measurements can be collected at the individual level in a commercial slaughterhouse and muscle samples can be taken for further analyses such as meat quality measurements, sensory and boar taint analysis. ILVO also has its own experimental feed mill to produce experimental feeds. Feed and other samples can be analyzed in our in-house laboratory (ANIMALAB).