Department of Animal Science, Universidade Federal Rural do Semi-Árido, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
Department of Animal Science, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2024 Jan 23;56(2):54. doi: 10.1007/s11250-024-03891-6.
This study evaluated litter performance, behavioral and physiological parameters, and milk characteristics of sows submitted to different thermal environments. Fifty sows were distributed in a completely randomized design with two treatments: an evaporative cooling system (ECS) and a conventional system (CS). Sow and its litter were characterized as an experimental unit. The animals were weighed at equalization and weaning. Feed intake, milk production, and bromatological characteristics of milk were measured; the sows respiratory rate, rectal, and surface temperature were monitored. Litter uniformity was determined at equalization and weaning. Behaviors of the sows and litters were monitored for 24 h on the 7th and 15th day of lactation. Temperature and relative humidity inside the maternity was 25.00 to 28.00 °C and 26.00 to 32.55 °C and 30.00 to 70.00% and 70.00 to 88.00%, respectively, considering ECS and CS. Nutritional quality of the milk remained stable during lactation in both systems evaluated. ECS improved the average weight of the piglets, weaning weight, and daily milk production by 0.038, 0.699, and 2.31 kg/day, respectively. Sows housed in the ECS had a reduction in physiological parameters and, increase in inactive alert behavior (1.79 percentage points) and breastfeeding behavior. Piglets showed a decrease of 2.43% in the range of feedings at night and 0.15% during the day. ECS provided better comfort to the sows at the expense of the CS and, consequently, better litter performance.
本研究评估了不同热环境下母猪的粪便性能、行为和生理参数以及牛奶特性。50 头母猪随机分为两个处理组：蒸发冷却系统（ECS）和传统系统（CS）。母猪及其仔猪作为一个实验单位进行了特征描述。动物在均衡和断奶时进行称重。测量了饲料摄入量、牛奶产量和牛奶的营养特性；监测了母猪的呼吸频率、直肠和表面温度。在均衡和断奶时确定了粪便均匀度。在哺乳期的第 7 天和第 15 天，监测了母猪和仔猪的行为，持续 24 小时。考虑到 ECS 和 CS，产房内的温度和相对湿度分别为 25.00 至 28.00°C 和 26.00 至 32.55°C，以及 30.00 至 70.00%和 70.00 至 88.00%。两种系统中，牛奶的营养质量在哺乳期保持稳定。ECS 分别提高了仔猪的平均体重、断奶体重和日奶产量 0.038、0.699 和 2.31 千克/天。在 ECS 中饲养的母猪生理参数降低，不活跃的警觉行为增加（增加 1.79 个百分点），哺乳行为增加。仔猪夜间的采食范围减少了 2.43%，白天减少了 0.15%。ECS 以牺牲 CS 为代价为母猪提供了更好的舒适度，从而提高了仔猪的性能。
