A comparison of a straw-based and slatted floor housing system for the weaned pig

Abstract

Little objective information is available on the relative merits of straw based and slatted floored systems for the weaned pig in terms of performance and indices of welfare. A controlled experiment was conducted in an attempt to obtain relevant information.The following 3 systems were compared: (1) straw bedded pens (SB), conventional flat decks (FD) and identical flat decks with environmental enrichment (FD+). The FD pens had fully perforated expanded metal floors with an ad lib feeder across the front of the pen and 2 nipple drinkers on the opposite wall. The enriched FD pens had a variety of ‘recreational’ objects added - a metal chain and tyre suspended from the ceiling within the pigs’ reach, a concrete block, a tyre and an assortment of rounded stones of different size placed on the pen floor. There were 3 pens per room but only 2 were used in the trial, one each for the FD and FD+ treatments. Temperature control was by means of 2 gas heaters and a fan assisted ventilation system which was thermostatically controlled. The straw pens were located in a large cattle court which had a concrete floor; within each pen there was a kennelled lying area and an open outrun. The whole floor surface was kept liberally covered with good quality dry barley straw. An identical ad lib feeder to that in the flat decks was provided in the outrun area and 2 nipple drinkers were provided adjacent to the feeder. In all treatments for the first 3 days of the trial a box drinker was placed in each pen to allow the pigs time to familiarise themselves with the nipple drinkers.