J. Botermans et al., GROWING-FINISHING PIGS IN AN UNINSULATED HOUSE .1. PIG PERFORMANCE AND HEALTH AND THE INFLUENCE OF REARING SYSTEM, Swedish Journal of Agricultural Research, 25(2), 1995, pp. 73-82
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.