Insights

Sourced research on running a pig, broiler or layer operation - the kind of detail we bring to every DeepLoop build.

Pig Water: The Nutrient Nobody Meters Per Pen

2026-09-07

Pig Water: The Nutrient Nobody Meters Per Pen

Get the water wrong and feed intake follows it down. The daily requirement doubles across the barn and drinker flow-rate targets split across five breeders - set once at housing and it's wrong at both ends.

Broiler Lighting: The Dark Hours Are Doing the Work

2026-08-31

Broiler Lighting: The Dark Hours Are Doing the Work

The oldest instinct is to keep the lights on. Both breed manuals say the opposite - darkness lets the bird lay down late growth, leg strength and breast yield. And Ross and Cobb set the dark to different depths.

Layer Feeding: A Hen Eats Grams, Not a Percentage

2026-08-24

Layer Feeding: A Hen Eats Grams, Not a Percentage

The percentage on the feed label is a requirement divided by how much the hen actually eats - and she doesn't eat the same every day. Phase feeding is two dials turned against each other, not one turned down.

Pig Heating: The Set Point Is Not the Answer

2026-08-17

Pig Heating: The Set Point Is Not the Answer

Two pigs, same weight, same building - and their correct temperature is 5 °C apart. The only difference is that one is eating and the other is not. Why the controller can hold set point while the pigs are nowhere near it.

Broiler Brooding: Decided Before the Chicks Arrive

2026-08-10

Broiler Brooding: Decided Before the Chicks Arrive

A day-old chick loses heat into the floor it stands on - which makes preheating a floor job, not an air job. The targets both breeders agree on, and why one reading at placement tells you almost nothing.

Layer Lighting: Why White and Brown Birds Run Different Programmes

2026-08-03

Layer Lighting: Why White and Brown Birds Run Different Programmes

Light is the switch that starts lay. Two rules sit above everything - and the white bird and the brown bird are not run the same way, even from the same breeder.

Pig-House Air Quality: The One Limit Five Sources Agree On

2026-07-27

Pig-House Air Quality: The One Limit Five Sources Agree On

A Danish advisory body, two Dutch genetics companies, an American breeder and a Danish one - all working from different research - land on the same ammonia limit. Most farms still measure it in the wrong place.

Cold-Weather Ventilation: What Ross, Cobb and the Data Actually Say

2026-07-13

Cold-Weather Ventilation: What Ross, Cobb and the Data Actually Say

Sealing a broiler house tight for winter feels right on the thermometer. The breed guides, a published camera study and a university airflow dataset all say otherwise.