Group housing systems for sows, 2: Group housing of sows in gestation in insulated buildings. Results of a questionnaire survey and farm visits

The results of a survey made during 1988-1989, investigating the us age of uninsulated buildings for dry sow group housing, are presented. The planning details, environmental aspects, husbandry routines, animal health and working environment conditions were studied, focusing primarily on housing systems using deep straw bedding. The aim was to evaluate how the plan or layout of the housing, and the husbandry routines, could be adapted to achieve a good operation with respect to animal welfare and the working environment. One hundred farmers were telephone interviewed, and of these, 36 were visited for additional studies. The results showed that an increasing number of farmers with relatively large pig production have built simple and uninsulated buildings for their dry sows in order to reduce building and labour costs, and to maintain a good animal environment. Three types of housing systems were seen in both insulated and uninsulated buidlings: one having individual feeding stalls and deep straw bedding; a system using electronic feeding; and one with individual feeding stalls, a dung alley and bedded lying area. Many farmers considered that loading machines for dunging out and handling straw in stables with deep straw bedding required less time and was less complicated mechanically than caring for sows in conventional buildings. However, pen design and the locations of fittings could create problems and lead to accidents. The climate, especially during the winter, did not appear to present any difficulty but some sows had been frostbitten, and there could be problems with dung freezing and with cold metal equipment. In stables with nearly identical designs, the injury frequency, animal behaviour and the general impression of the stable varied greatly. Herds that had a higher mean injury score also had more nervous sows, thin sows, and gilts in the sow groups, than did herds having a lower mean injury score, indicating that there was a management and husbandry component in the occurrence of these problems. Function was affected by group size and housing system; for herds having both large (30 sows/group) and small groups (8 sows/group), the smaller groups had fewer injuries and health disturbances. In general, the results showed that the different types of housing systems in uninsulated and insulated buildings could function well if they were managed properly.