Preferred Environmental Temperature of Group-Housed Sows Fed with High Heat-Increment Diets
As the pig industry shifts from stalls towards group housing system for sows, there is a need to re-consider the current lower critical temperature (LCT) values being used in setting temperatures in sow barns considering that sows housed in groups have the potential to exhibit thermoregulatory behavior to maintain comfort even when the temperature in the barn is lowered.In addition, high heat-increment diet increases heat production in sows without increasing digestible energy and can be a means of reducing activity and limiting aggression in group-housed sows under reduced barn temperature.This study aimed to determine the preferred temperature of sows housed in groups and fed with high heat-increment diets.An operant mechanism that allowed the sows to demonstrate their preferred environmental temperature by enabling them to control the operation of the heating and ventilation equipment in the room was designed and developed.Three replicate trials were carried out in two fully controlled-environment chambers.Sows in one chamber were fed with standard gestation diet(Control) while sows in the other chamber were fed with high heat-increment diet (Treatment).Results showed that sows fed with high heat-increment diet could tolerate exposure to lower temperatures better than those fed with a standard gestation diet.Moreover, performance of sows fed with high heat-increment diet seemed to have been less affected by the exposure to colder temperatures compared to those fed with standard diet.
Swine group housing environmental temperature operant mechanism sows
Bernardo Predicala Alvin Alvarado
Prairie Swine Centre Inc., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7H 5N9, Canada
国际会议
The 2015 International Symposium on Animal Environment and Welfare(动物环境和福利国际研讨会)
重庆
英文
11-17
2015-10-23（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）