Effects of Sow Housing Systems in Practical Pig Production

ABSTRACT IN Sweden, a key question with regards to livestock environment is the effect of different sow housing systems on the production results, health, and general animal behaviour and welfare in enclosed stables having various degrees of confinement (fixation) of the sow. The paper presents the results of a 3-year study in which the production results of about 1,500 pig producing herds were analyzed with respect to litter size, death losses and fertility. More than 128,000 litters were studied, involving three different gestation systems and three different farrowing systems. The data were analyzed statistically, taking into account the effect on litter size and death losses of such factors as breed, herd size, age of sows, season of farrowing and combinations of farrowing and gestation housing systems. The gestation systems and the total housing system had a significant effect on the number of surviving piglets. The gestation interval was shorter in the more confined systems. The death losses after birth were significantly lower when the sows were fixed at farrowing. There was no indication of higher culling rate among the fixed sows. Fixation at farrowing had a significantly negative effect on the gilts.