East Yorkshire designers help transform pig welfare

For years there have been toys for intensively reared pigs housed indoors that provide activity and recreation during their daily lives but very few have ticked all the boxes required for today’s farm assurance schemes.

Step forward the Porcichew, designed by pig innovation specialist Richard Smith of East Riding Farm Services based at Kelleythorpe near Driffield.

“Assurance schemes require farmers to add variation to the enrichment of animals through sufficient quantities of materials. This means giving pigs something that provides entertainment and a sense of investigation, which in turn adds to their welfare.

“I designed the Porcichew in 2011 and we won an award for it at the Pig & Poultry Fair in 2012. It’s essentially a plastic toy that because of its shape, manufacture and variety of scents and colours offers a number of benefits.

“The Porcichew is suspended on a chain at just above head height. It is made from brand new virgin malleable plastic and comes in eight different colours with eight different scents. These include aniseed, truffle, vanilla, apple, liquorice, chocolate, toffee and malt, all scents that pigs find appealing. Each toy is impregnated with one of the scents. The more the pig bites on and plays with the toy the more scent it releases. This gives the pigs variety as several of these toys of differing colour and scent will be located within the herd’s accommodation. The uniquely designed chain also plays its part as pigs enjoy different sounds.”

It’s not all about pigs having a good time chewing, biting and playing.

“An antibacterial agent runs through the plastic and the more the pig bites on the toy the more it comes out. It has been proven to stop cross contamination in the pig herd and is certified to kill 99.99 per cent of E-coli. Recently we have also found that it has reduced the amount of tail biting in pig herds too.”

The success of Richard’s product extends to new markets abroad.

“We’ve sold over 40,000 Porcichew toys in the UK and we’ve also sold in Europe. It’s taken nearly four years to get the product into North America, but we’ve now got the design and the new name Porciplay that we’ve adopted for the US market.”

East Riding Farm Services Ltd is owned by Richard and his father David Smith. They specialise in the pig sector and have 3,000 different items in stock at their base and 6,000 on their books with a next day service for what is already in store. They can supply anything not in store within two days.

The company was formed in 1996. David, who was born on a farm near Huddersfield, had been involved with animal supplies for many years with companies such as Feedex and Wallace Clark in Beverley. Richard is a food scientist by profession and has worked in management jobs with large food companies including Hull-based Northern Foods.

In 2012 East Riding Farm Services was awarded the Royal Warrant having supplied The Queen for a number of years.

Richard and David’s enthusiasm remains as bright as when they started 20 years ago in Brandesburton.

“We’re always on the lookout for new innovative products. East Riding Farm Services is our retail arm, but we also have a wholesale operation called Nutra Pet that we started in 2007. This allows us to hold wholesale licences for medicines such as the iron injection medicine Ferro Feron.

“Other popular products from our own branded Porci range are the Porci Scan Transponder that has a telescopic arm allowing you to read the information contained in the transponder on the pigs’ ear without having to get too close.

“Porci LED creates better welfare and can ensure each shed’s lighting is controlled independently and the optimum amount of brightness is applied.

“The Porci Warmer is a jacket for weak piglets that has a pocket where a similar chemical agent to what the public know as a hand warmer is placed to assist the piglet. The chemicals used are uniquely blended to achieve 42 degrees, just five degrees above normal body temperature.”