Transportation Machinery and Feeding Systems for Pigs in Multi-Storey Buildings: A Review

Abstract

In recent years, in order to save land resources and ensure biosecurity, multi-storey buildings for pig rearing are replacing traditional flat-floor methods in pig farms domestically and internationally. However, the precision, stability, and adaptability of pig feed transportation in multi-storey buildings have brought certain challenges to the development of large-scale pig raising. The uniqueness of this paper lies in the comprehensive review of recent research advances in various transportation machinery and feeding systems from the perspective of both pig feed transportation and feeding systems compared to other papers that singularly present pigs’ feed transportation machinery or feeding systems. In addition, this paper provides an outlook on the potential for coupling power sources for pig feed transportation and pig transportation, providing insights for future research and development. First, the paper comprehensively reviews feed transportation machinery in multi-storey pig rearing, highlighting their advantages and challenges. Then, it explores the commonly used feeding systems in large-scale pig rearing and their limitations. Finally, the paper summarizes the current issues in pig feed transportation in multi-storey buildings and examines future development trends.