A SURVEY ON CONCRETE FLOORS IN PIG HOUSES AND THEIR DEGRADATION

On farms with fattening pigs, degradation of slatted and solid concret e floors can result in animal injuries and early failure of slat beams . A survey in East and West Flanders was conducted to gauge the extent of this problem, the causes and consequences. Entrusting mixing and p lacing of the concrete to specialized firms, appeared to increase the life of the floor. However, even concrete slats cast by specialized ma nufacturers, showed degradation within five years of use on 40% of the farms. No relation could be found between the use of high-pressure cl eaning and the speed of attack. The use of cleaners seemed to delay th e attack rather than cause degradation. The feeding method had a major influence on attack. The smaller the distance between water and feed supply, the faster the degradation proceeded. Therefore the use of liq uid feed made the problems significantly worse. Almost half of the far mers had already taken measures to protect or repair the floor. The li fe of coatings appeared to be rather limited. Surface layers with ordi nary portland cement and ''product S'', which is said to be based on g round tuff, seemed to have a much longer life than the regular concret e or sand-cement finishes. (C) 1997 Silsoe Research Institute.