The story

Jeremy’s Oxford Sandy and Black sows were losing many of their piglets to crushing by their mothers in the days after farrowing. So, we went along to the farm to talk over the problem and see if some ideas Jeremy was having were workable.

Jeremy had the idea of creating a safety zone around the circular walls of the ark to give the small piglets a place to go, where their mother was not able to squash or trap them.

After discussing a number of options, the idea of a floating steel ring was adopted for further development and the ring concept progressed at speed. And there began, “Clarkson’s Ring”.

Clarkson's Ring - How it works.

Sows are big and piglets are small. This can make life as a piglet very challenging and, if things go wrong, very short. A piglet is born with one thing on its mind, finding a nipple. Which means navigating its way around mum in a strange dark place with no previous experience.

If it chooses the long way round there is a big chance of getting stuck behind mum.  Piglets don't think to stop, turn around or give solid obstacles a wide berth. They just keep pushing and wiggling trying to find a way through.

Clarkson's Ring provides a safe secure corridor between mum and the ark’s wall. So a safe zone is available to the little piglets, helping them get out of harm’s way. This doesn't just benefit them in the first hours of life, it carries on working in the coming weeks as they grow stronger and more adventurous.

You can't put a price on life, but we have on Clarkson's Ring and it's a very affordable way of saving piglets at the start of theirs.

Design specification.

Clarkson’s Ring is a two-piece 340-degree steel hoop made from 40mm mild steel tube.

It is supported by six laser cut steel plate legs that include a ground shoe, this fits securely under the wall of the ark.

The ring is fixed 240 mm above ground level and 150 mm away from the wall of the ark, thus creating the important safe area for piglets.

The whole structure is treated with a 25-year zinc galvanised coating to provide extended life.

Results data to date.

Development of the proposed design started as soon as we returned from our meeting with Jeremy at Diddly Squat. The first prototype was produced within days and pig specialist, Rob McGregor, agreed to start using it at one of the farms he manages, LSB pigs Norfolk.

The trial’s work has continued to provide data every month and performance records have shown that average piglet mortality has been halved from a herd average of nearly 12% to sub 6% for the sows and litters using arks where a Clarkson’s Ring is fitted.

That is a substantial achievement and a major contribution to improving farm animal welfare, breed preservation and overall commercial viability.

To find out how the sows in the Diddly Squat Farm have fared is yet to be announced. All is revealed in the third series of Clarkson’s Farm, available now on Prime Video.

Anyone if not everyone who has been following the series, Clarkson’s Farm, on Prime Video will know that Jeremy has taken a bold leap into the world of outdoor pig farming.

An industry full of challenges, even for seasoned professionals, has thoroughly tested the nerve, determination and resolve of the team at Diddly Squat over the last year.

As suppliers of the Aardvark XL farrowing arks used at the farm, we were called upon to help when piglet mortality figures reach unexpectedly high levels last Spring.