Abstract
Simple SummaryIn the commercial swine industry, farrowing stalls are commonly used as a strategy to reduce piglet pre-weaning mortalities caused by sow over-lay. Farrowing stall dimensions have generally remained the same over the past 50 years in the United States, even though the sizes of both the sows and litters have increased considerably. This extensive field study investigated if sow and piglet productivity would be affected when housed in stalls of traditional layout, additional area for the piglets, or additional area for the sow. All three layouts were also tested with use of one or two supplementary heat lamps in the creep area. Results show that stall layout and number of heat lamps had no statistical impact on production outcomes. However, seasonal differences, sow parity, and number of litter mates did have significant effects. Providing larger stalls or an additional heat lamp costs more for the producer but did not yield production improvements. Most farrowing facilities in the United States use stalls and heat lamps to improve sow and piglet productivity. This study investigated these factors by comparing production outcomes for three different farrowing stall layouts (traditional, expanded creep area, expanded sow area) and use of one or two heat lamps. Data were collected on 427 sows and their litters over one year. Results showed no statistical differences due to experimental treatment for any of the production metrics recorded, excluding percent stillborn. Parity one sows had fewer piglets born alive (p < 0.001), lower percent mortality (p = 0.001) and over-lay (p = 0.003), and a greater number of piglets weaned (p < 0.001) with lower average daily weight gain (ADG) (p < 0.001) and more uniform litters (p = 0.001) as compared to higher parity sows. Farrowing turn, associated with group/seasonal changes, had a significant impact on most of the production metrics measured. Number of piglets born influenced the percent stillborn (p < 0.001). Adjusted litter size had a significant impact on percent mortality (p < 0.001), percent over-lay (p < 0.001), and number of piglets weaned (p < 0.001). As the number of piglets weaned per litter increased, both piglet ADG and litter uniformity decreased (p < 0.001). This information can be used to guide producers in farrowing facility design.
Highlights
The commercial US swine industry transitioned to stall farrowing in the 1960s as an effort to reduce pre-weaning piglet mortality [1]
1.96 m2 of floor area is delineated as piglet creep area, which is within the space recommendations by Wheeler et al [9]
Limited literature is available on the effects of changing the allotted creep floor area on piglet productivity, but it is well documented that the number of piglets born per litter has steadily increased, suggesting that more creep floor area is needed [4,10]
Summary
The commercial US swine industry transitioned to stall farrowing in the 1960s as an effort to reduce pre-weaning piglet mortality [1]. Compared to loose housing systems (pens), farrowing stalls have been shown to lower pre-weaning mortality (PWM) [3]. In grow-finish pigs, space allocation has a significant impact on growth performance and it has been shown that piglets farrowed in pens weigh more at weaning than piglets in farrowing stalls [11,12]. This suggests that expanding piglet creep areas in farrowing stalls may provide production benefits. This study provides a scientific evaluation of this increased piglet creep floor area as compared to traditionally sized farrowing stalls
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