Integrated control of air and floor temperature in piglet houses: animal and engineering aspects

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Summary — Despite the application of environmental engineering and control of air temperature within houses for intensively kept pigs, health and behavioural related problems are still observed which reduce the profit of the producer. Since these problems are influenced by the environment within a pen, an examination has been made of the possibilities of controlling floor temperature which must influence the micro-climate of the pig pen. Within these experiments, the object was to stabilize the lying behaviour of pigs, so that they preferred the same area for lying, ie not the dunging area, throughout the growing period. A series of experiments was set up with growing pigs (1030 kg) within climatic rooms, in which air temperature, air velocity and floor temperature were controlled. The air flow pattern was the same for all rooms and for all experiments. The lying behaviour, feed intake and growth rate were studied in relation to the above environmental parameters. The results show that the preferred floor temperature is dependent on pig age and on the nature of the floor itself. In order to stabilise the lying behaviour through the experimental period the temperature of the incoming air must also be taken into account. Parameters with respect to the thermoregulatory behaviour of pigs are put forward to be integrated within environmental control and engineering systems.