Effects of days of raising TLRI Black Pig No. 1 lactating sows in farrowing crate on the welfare of sows and survival rate of piglets - 農業知識入口網

Conventional farrowing crate is a controversial issue from the viewpoint of animal production and welfare in swine industry. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of crating length on the welfare of sows and survival rate of piglets. Twenty four multi-parous TLRI Black Pig No. 1 (TBP) sows were allocated to four treatments through a completely random design, where sows and piglets stayed in conventional farrowing crate throughout the experiment as the control group (C). Sows and their piglets were moved to concrete floor nursing pen on day 4, 7 or 10 until weaning on day 28 postpartum as treatment F, S and T, respectively. On day 14 postpartum, the respiratory rate, body temperature and salivary cortisol concentration were measured and while behaviors of sows were filmed for 24 hours. The results showed that there was no difference on the body weight, backfat thickness loss, daily feed intake, and the physiological parameters, in terms of respiratory rate and rectal temperature of sows amongst treatments. Sows raised in nursing pens tended to have higher salivary cortisol concentration (P = 0.06). With regards to survival, from birth to day 7 of age, the survival rate of group F was lower (P < 0.05) than groups C, S and T. After day 7 of age, the survival rate was not different amongst treatments. Behavioral data indicated that sows raised in farrowing crate tended to have higher proportion of laterally lying (P < 0.10), and higher proportion of lying and siting posture and less standing posture than the sows raised in nursing pen (P < 0.05). In summary, farrowing crate could protect neonate, however, after the 7th day postpartum, sows and piglets could be moved and raised in enlarged nursing pen to improve welfare of sows without detriment of piglets.