J. Anim Sci.
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J. Anim Sci. 2007. 85:1311-1317. doi:10.2527/jas.2006-437
© 2007 American Society of Animal Science
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Performance of gestating sows in bedded hoop barns and confinement stalls1

P. J. Lammers*, M. S. Honeyman*,2, J. W. Mabry* and J. D. Harmon{dagger}

* Department of Animal Science, and and {dagger} Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames 50011

2 Corresponding author: honeyman{at}iastate.edu

The effects of gestation housing systems on sow and litter performance were evaluated for 2.5 yr in southwest Iowa. Gestation housing system treatments were as follows: 1) individual gestation stalls in a mechanically ventilated confinement building with a partially slatted floor and a manure flush system and 2) group pens with individual feed stalls in deep-bedded, naturally ventilated hoop barns. In all, 957 litters from 353 sows were evaluated. Number of pigs born alive per litter differed for the 2 housing treatments (P = 0.002). Sows gestated in hoop barns gave birth to more live pigs per litter (10.0 ± 0.2 pigs) than sows gestated in stalls (9.3 ± 0.2 pigs). Preweaning mortality was not different for the 2 housing treatments (P = 0.70). Cross-fostering was done to equalize litter size within 24 h of birth, which resulted in an equal number of weaned pigs per sow (P = 0.50) regardless of gestation housing treatment. The weaning-to-breeding interval was different (P = 0.01), with sows kept in stalls (4.3 ± 0.6 d) returning to estrus sooner than sows gestated in hoop barns (6.0 ± 0.6 d). These results indicate that gestating sows can be housed as groups in deep-bedded hoop barns equipped with individual feeding stalls and will perform comparably to gestating sows housed in confinement systems with individual gestation stalls.

Key Words: alternative swine housing • group gestation

1 This project was supported by Hatch Act and State of Iowa funds, USDA Special Grants, Wallace Foundation for Rural Research and Development, and the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. We gratefully acknowledge the assistance of R. Breach, D. Hummel, D. Kent, and the former staff of the Iowa State University Lauren Christian Swine Research Farm for data collection and N. Leyva-Estrada for statistical assistance. Mention of company or product names is for clarity and does not imply endorsement by the authors or Iowa State University nor exclusion of any other products that may be suitable for application.






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