Temperature and body weight affect fouling of pig pens1

Abstract

Fouling of the solid lying area in pig housing is undesirable for reasons of animal welfare, animal health, environmental pollution, and labor costs. In this study the influence of temperature on the excreting and lying behavior of growing-finishing pigs of different BW (25, 45, 65, 85, or 105 kg) was studied. Ten groups of 5 pigs were placed in partially slatted pens (60% solid concrete, 40% metal-slatted) in climate respiration chambers. After an adaptation period, temperatures were raised daily for 9 d. Results showed that above certain inflection temperatures (IT; mean 22.6 degrees C, SE = 0.78) the number of excretions (relative to the total number of excretions) on the solid floor increased with temperature (mean increase 9.7%/ degrees C, SE = 1.41). Below the IT, the number of excretions on the solid floor was low and not influenced by temperature (mean 13.2%, SE = 3.5). On average, the IT for excretion on the solid floor decreased with increasing BW, from approximately 25 degrees C at 25 kg to 20 degrees C at 100 kg of BW (P< 0.05). Increasing temperature also affected the pattern and postural lying. The temperature at which a maximum number of pigs lay on the slatted floor (i.e., the IT for lying) decreased from approximately 27 degrees C at 25 kg to 23 degrees C at 100 kg of BW (P < 0.001). At increasing temperatures, pigs lay more on their sides and less against other pigs (P < 0.001). Temperature affects lying and excreting behavior of growing-finishing pigs in partially slatted pens. Above certain IT, pen fouling increases linearly with temperature. Inflection temperatures decrease at increasing BW.

Does group size have an impact on welfare indicators in fattening pigs?

“…Similar to bursitis, pig dirtiness increased during the fattening period, which can be mainly explained by the fact that the effective stocking density increases. Furthermore, older pigs spend more time lying compared to younger animals in order to dissipate metabolic heat (Aarnink et al, 2006). This was supported by the current finding that older pigs were found less often investigating the pen compared with younger animals.…”

Quantitative assessment of the effects of space allowance, group size and floor characteristics on the lying behaviour of growing-finishing pigs

“…Furthermore, the regressions suggest the existence of a threshold for space allowance value below which a further reduction in the space provided to pigs would affect the behavioural repertoire of pigs, reducing, in this case, the time devoted to the lying behaviour. In this sense, the use of broken-line regression analysis has proven to be a valuable tool in the determination of critical values when studying the effect of different characteristics of pig-housing environment on their physiology and behaviour (Huynh et al, 2005a and2005b;Aarnink et al, 2006). Broken-line analysis has been also successfully used in the determination of the critical floor space allowance for pigs' performance (Gonyou et al, 2006), suggesting that it might also be helpful in attempting to determine a critical space allowance value affecting the average time growing-finishing pigs spend lying.…”

Efeito do resfriamento evaporativo e do balanço eletrolítico sobre a lactação de porcas em condições de verão tropical

“…Um dos métodos usados para restabelecer a homeostase (equilíbrio interno) é a manipulação do balanço eletrolítico da dieta (Patience, 1990). Outra medida para minimizar as perdas decorrentes do estresse calórico é a utilização de ventilação forçada (Teixeira et al, 2004), resfriamento do piso (Silva et al, 2006;Lima et al, 2011) ou resfriamento evaporativo localizado na região dorsal, sobre a cabeça da porca, com o objetivo de aumentar a perda de calor para o ambiente e reduzir a temperatura superficial da pele (Aarnink et al, 2006;Panagakis e Axaopoulos, 2006;Martin, 2012).…”