GROWING-FINISHING PIGS IN AN UNINSULATED HOUSE .1. PIG PERFORMANCE AND HEALTH AND THE INFLUENCE OF REARING SYSTEM

Pig performance and health were studied in growing-finishing pigs hous ed in an uninsulated building. Comparison with insulated reference hou sing showed that the animals in the uninsulated housing system had a s ignificantly lower daily weight gain (831 vs. 866 g/day), poorer feed conversion efficiency (2.91 vs. 2.79 kg feed/kg gain), and tended to h ave a lower carcass meat percentage (58.0 vs. 58.4). The health and co ndition of the pigs in the uninsulated housing system compared with th at of the animals in the reference housing were somewhat poorer; more problems with diarrhoea were recorded. No differences were found with regard to culling rate or mortality. The piglet rearing system of the pigs (in a multisuckling pen vs conventional rearing with one litter p er pen) did not have any impact on performance, but the multisuckling pigs had a higher morbidity and a higher frequency of tail biting. The role of competition during the suckling period was unclear with respe ct to these observations. Pigs reared in the multisuckling system had less injuries after introduction into the growing-finishing house as c ompared to those conventionally reared, probably because they were not regrouped at this time.