Experimental stables
Experimental stables with opportunities for co-creative research in dairy cattle, poultry, rabbits and pig farming. These facilities are equipped with an extensive array of sensors and cutting-edge technologies to support advanced agricultural testing, experimenting and validation.
Pig Farming
- The modern Pig Campus (research and educational pig stable of ILVO, Ghent University, and HOGENT) has space for 105 sows, 576 piglets, and 768 fattening pigs
- ILVO’s experimental farm with space for 140 sows, 576 piglets, and 180 fattening pigs
- Precision livestock farm with space for 120 fattening pigs
- Low-ammonia emission systems with sloping pit walls and an air scrubber
- Multiple water and feed circuits
- Various scales/measuring equipment for individual and group weighing of pigs
![pig](https://ilvo.vlaanderen.be/uploads/images/_900x600_crop_center-center_none/341971/IMG_8508.jpg)
![Pig Tracking](https://ilvo.vlaanderen.be/uploads/images/AgrifoodTEF/_900x600_crop_center-center_none/Pig-Tracking.png)
Dairy Cattle
- Modern experimental dairy barn (built in 2014) with space for 140 lactating cows, calves and heifers.
- 74 RIC feeders for registration of individual feed uptake.
- 6 rooms to measure gas exchange and 2 Greenfeed devices to study (greenhouse) gas emissions (methane, nitrous oxide, CO2, and ammonia).
- Mobile Greenfeeds for emissions research at pasture.
- Devices in the barn to measure ammonia emissions under natural ventilation.
- Research barn to measure ammonia emissions under conditions with straw bedding.
![Melkvee in de ILVO stal](https://ilvo.vlaanderen.be/uploads/images/_900x600_crop_center-center_none/137397/Melkvee-in-de-ILVO-stal_2021-04-29-134459.jpg)
![Livestock monitoring clawcare](https://ilvo.vlaanderen.be/uploads/images/AgrifoodTEF/_900x600_crop_center-center_none/Livestock-monitoring-clawcare.jpg)
![Clawcare](https://ilvo.vlaanderen.be/uploads/images/_900x600_crop_center-center_none/20231123_132454.jpg)
Poultry and Rabbits
- Several houses for broiler chicks, with enough room for a total of 7,200 broiler chicks.
- Laying hen house with room for approximately 1,100 layers (in enriched cages).
- A broiler house that can be adapted to house 720 turkeys.
- 2 mobile chicken houses large enough for 220 (organic) layers or (organic) broilers.
- 120 units for digestion studies
- Group housing for rabbits: 112 does and weaner kits
- On-site feed mill to manufacture trial feeds (including pelleting
![Een groep jonge, gele kuikens zitten op strooisel dichtbij de voederbak van een professionele pluimveestal](https://ilvo.vlaanderen.be/uploads/images/_900x600_crop_center-center_none/36241/Themabeeld-pluimveehouderij2.jpg)
![Konijnen in een pvc buis](https://ilvo.vlaanderen.be/uploads/images/Agenda/_900x600_crop_center-center_none/Groepshuisvesting-konijnen-PVC-buizen.jpg)
Digital Infrastructure
Datasets
- Thermal camera: Thermal and RGB image datasets labelled with segmentations
- Gaitwise: Data collected from a sensor mat for collecting the gait of lame and non-lame cows
- PigWise: Dat collected with an IT based tool that can be used to monitor performance, growth and welfare of pigs at the individual level
- Security camera: RGB images collected in pens, stables and pastures.
- Behavioural datasets: Pigs, sow and piglets
AI models
- Dairy cow Claw detection models
- Callte and Pig detection and segmentation models
- Cattle, Pig, sow and piglet behavior classification models.