The Rural Voice, 2005-04, Page 25per sow. Still, the entire group of '
sows must be able to be fed within a
14-18 hour period, he said which
limits the number of mature sows
that can be fed to 55-65. If there are a
large number of gilts the number
must be reduced further because they
eat more slowly. Increasing number
can cause competition and aggression
at the feeder and more animals will
miss a feeding. Attention must also
be paid to training animals to use the
system and to daily checking of feed
records to see if any animals are off
their feed.
The Prairie Swine Centre operates
an electronic feeding system on
partially -slatted floors with Ino
bedding. Researchers are comparing
static and dynamic groups (new
animals are added to existing groups
every five weeks). They also add
animals to the pens either pre -
embryonic implantation (within a
week of breeding) or post-
implantation (six weeks after
breeding). They've found little
difference between static and
dynamic groups though Gonyou
notes that they only add animals at
five week intervals while commercial
farms might add new animals
weekly.
The pre -implantation treatment
has reduced farrowing rates by about
five per cent compared to post-
implantation animal, he said. Overall
productivity, combining farrowing
rates and litter size, is reduced in pre -
implanted animals but does not differ
among animals in stalls or those
grouped after implantation.
"We attribute the reduction in
farrowing rate to the stress of
aggression following regrouping, and
that this occurs during a sensitive
period prior to embryonic
implantation," Gonyou said.
For those who want to retain
stall systems, the Canadian
Code of Practice suggests sows
should be housed in wider stalls as
they increase in size with each parity,
but few producers are following
those guidelines, Gonyou said. "I
suspect that many studies involving
stalls have looked at animals only as
gilts and young sows. Are we
confident that productivity in older
sows is not limited by stall size?"
Prairie Swine Centre has initiated
a long-term project looking at stall
SP' Manufacturers of CHALLENGER' 3000 Gasketed Smoothwall Pipe
size and productivity this summer, he
said. "In our initial study we
observed females from gilts to
mature sows in stalls from 22-28
inches (55-70 cm) in width. Using
the criteria suggested by the Food
Marketing Institute and National
Council of Chain Restaurants that
sows should be able to lie on their
sides without their udder extending
into the adjoining stall we assessed
the posture of sows during the 14th
week of gestation. We found that
sows spent 50-60 per cent of the time
lying ... on one side."
The study showed that a 28 -inch
(70 cm) stall would be sufficient for
all animals not to protrude while
lying on their sides but a 26 -inch (65
cm) stall would only be sufficient for
gilts and small, first -parity sows.
"Our study will continue to look
at productivity. behavior and stress
levels in sows in different widths of
stalls, but the industry should
consider what they must do if they
want to retain gestation stalls in a
high -welfare environment," Gonyou
said. "Increasing the width of stall.
particularly for larger sows. would
seem to be an appropriate action
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APRIL 2005