Robotic Sow

In swine farming 15 to 25 percent of piglets die before weaning, and that poses a serious economic problem for hog producers. Sometimes a sow will accidentally crush her piglets or she will reject or abuse a piglet. Frequently a litter is oversized and the sow cannot accommodate all her piglets for nursing or is just unable to lactate due to physical disorders. Farmatic Inc.'s mechanical mother pig comes in two models, one with eight artificial nipples and another with 16. Shortly before feeding time the automated sow releases a prescribed amount of formula from a refrigerated compartment into a warming chamber, where milk is heated to the desired temperature. At feeding time a heat lamp simulating a sow's body warmth is automatically turned on and the machine emits rhythmic grunts like a mother pig summoning her piglets. As piglets scamper to their mechanical mother, a panel across the front opens to expose the row of nipples.