What is Cubricer?
The Cubricer device is a saddle for artificial insemination developed at one of our Duroc sows integrated farms: the Alfredo Galindo farm.
It is a tool created and patented by Mr. Daniel Galindo, and it has entailed the nomination of this farm to the Special Zoetis Porc d’Or Award for Innovation 2020.
Mr. Daniel Galindo is a second-generation farmer, and he follows the path initiated by his father 25 years ago at ACH. They are a family that is faithful to their roots and that is committed to animal welfare.
The desire to innovate and to make the insemination work easier, quicker and more efficient made him produce a design that imitated the old saddlebags. The saddlebags were uncomfortable, heavy and their service life was short. All this made him design a tool (the Cubricer device) with a resistant material that made the insemination task easier, giving priority to the fact that the sow should feel comfortable while wearing the device and that the farmer should carry out he insemination in an easier, quicker and more efficient way.
Features of the Cubricer device
Currently, sow insemination is post-cervical, but this kind of insemination is difficult to carry out in gilts, in which the introduction of the catheter as close as possible to the uterus is very difficult or is not possible. It is in these situations where the Cubricer device shows its great usefulness and ease of use.
It is composed of a metallic ironwork in the shape of a bridge, and a tape that holds the catheter and the semen dose, whether in a blister of tube format, in place: its coupling system allows the use of both formats.
Features
- It simulates the mounting of the sow by the boar.
- It allows a single worker to inseminate many sows simultaneously.
- It shows quickly if a sow is in heat or not.
- The semen is introduced on the sow’s demand.
- It has three options for placing it on the sow depending on the size of the animal.
- All its pieces are joined together. It is produced manually.
- As it is made of metal it is easy to repair.
Differences between the Cubricer device and other insemination saddles
- The material with which the Cubricer device is made is an iron tape, and therefore it is much more resistant, durable and easy to repair.
- All the pieces of the saddle are joined together. It is not necessary to pick several pieces to place the semen dose in the correct position, and therefore the placing of the device is much quicker and the semen dose will never fall.
- The Cubricer device allows the use of semen doses in a blister or tube format without the need to use additional pieces.
- It can be placed in three different ways, depending on the sow’s size.
The Cubricer device is an excellent investment for a farm, because due to the resistant material with which it is made, it lasts for years and, above all, it helps the workers to save time.
The traditional insemination of a gilt requires that a worker spends 3-8 minutes. The Cubricer device saves time during the daily work routine, because the semen dose remains in its position without help, and this allows the sow to absorb the semen on its own and at the pace of its contractions (self-insemination), allowing the worker to inseminate several sows at the same time.
At ACH we wish all the luck in the world to Mr. Alfredo Galindo’s farm in the Premios Porc d’Or. They deserve it.
