Reducing ambient temperature in farrowing houses with a new controlled-environment system

Abstract

Forty first-parity sows were randomly allocated to a standard (STD; n = 21) or controlled (CET; n = 19) environmental temperature system in the farrowing house. In all cases, heat lamps were installed on one side of the sows, 60 cm from the floor. With the CET system, electronically controlled (EC) heat lamps surrounded by a niche were used. Niches had an acrylic top and three sides of plastic strips that piglets could easily go through. Room temperature was 21 °C with the STD system while it was gradually lowered with CET to attain 15 °C on day 8 postpartum. Within 48 h of birth, litters were standardized to 9 ± 1 pigs. Daily feed and water consumption of sows were recorded as well as growth rate and survival of piglets. Sows' posture and piglets' activity were recorded three times daily throughout lactation. Ambient temperature did not affect (P > 0.1) feed or water intakes of sows during lactation, nor weights or survival of piglets until day 56. From day 2 until weaning (day 23), there was a mean increase of 21% in the frequency of piglets lying in the lamp zone when comparing the CET with the STD system (P < 0.001). A mean increase of 59% in the frequency of piglets being in the lamp zone with the CET system was also noticed from day 8 for active piglets (P < 0.05). Sows were, on average, 77% more active with the CET than with the STD system (P < 0.01) from days 5 to 15 of lactation and the proportion of time they spent lying on the side relative to the total lying time was greater from day 8 until the end of lactation (P < 0.05). In conclusion, gradually decreasing farrowing room temperature to 15 °C has no detrimental effects on the performance of sows and piglets and increases the use of the lamp zone, provided that the environment in this area is well controlled. Key words: Sow, lactation, ambient temperature, farrowing room, behavior, creep heat lamp