An innovative Norfolk farm manager has helped celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson to save the lives of piglets on his hit TV show.
Rob McGregor, an award-wining farmer who looks after a 1,000-sow outdoor pig herd near Fakenham, has made a valuable contribution to the latest series of Clarkson’s Farm.
Viewers of the popular Prime Video show will have witnessed the challenges of caring for new-born piglets at Diddly Squat Farm, and the difficulties in preventing sows from lying on their young.
The ‘Clarkson Ring’ is helping improve piglet welfare by reducing the risk of overlays (Image: Rob McGregor)
They will have also seen ideas to improve piglet survival being discussed with Mr McGregor and Jamie Macdonald of Techneat Engineering – the firm, based near Ely, which manufactures the insulated plastic Aardvark XL farrowing huts used at Clarkson’s Farm.
Together, the trio devised the Clarkson Ring, a steel hoop that fits inside the hut to provide piglets with a safe corridor around the internal circumference.
It prevents the sow from lying with her back against the wall, thus reducing the chances of piglets becoming trapped and crushed.
Rob McGregor, of LSB Pigs in East Rudham, near Fakenham (Image: Denise Bradley)
Mr McGregor, a key member of Techneat’s development team, tested a prototype ring on one of his farms. The initial findings showed it had the potential to reduce piglet mortality by 50pc.
Recent results from ongoing trials have revealed that some sows can rear all their young, from birth to weaning at five weeks of age, without any fatalities.
“It’s a simple solution to a common problem and our data certainly indicates that sows and litters housed in Aardvark XLs with a Clarkson Ring lose fewer piglets,” he said.
“Our mortality has been around 6pc in huts with a ring, whereas the herd average is usually between 10pc and 12pc.”
Jeremy Clarkson and Kaleb Cooper during filming for hit Prime Video show Clarkson’s Farm (Image: PA Photo / Amazon Studios)
Jamie Macdonald, design engineer at Techneat, said the rare-breed Oxford Sandy and Black pigs at Diddly Squat Farm were losing many of their piglets during the first few days after farrowing.
“Viewers of the of the TV show can see that the Clarkson Ring has proved to be a beneficial addition as fewer piglets are now being lost and we’ll be monitoring activities to see how it is helping to improve herd productivity,” he added.
The ‘Clarkson Ring’ creates a safe corridor for piglets around the inside wall of their hut (Image: Rob McGregor)
