Reproduction performances and conditions of group-housed non ...

- How does group housing vary in practice? -
HOW DOES GROUP HOUSING VARY IN PRACTICE?
A basic knowledge of how group housing varies in practice is a prerequisite for identifying
important causes for impaired reproduction performance in group housed non-lactating
sows. In this chapter some of the applied housing conditions are shortly described. The description
is based on a combination of own observations, personal communication with
people who work with pig production in practice (e.g. advisors), literature presented in pig
magazines and scientific journals. The description is to a large degree founded on Danish
conditions. However, it is aimed also to include experiences from outside Denmark.
Housing conditions may e.g. vary with
respect to feeding procedure, timing of
mixing of groups, group dynamics,
group size, stocking rate and floor type.
Feeding procedure
In general, feeding procedure can be
divided into two different principles:
Group feeding and individual feeding.
Common group feeding procedures are
1. Floor feeding, 2. Providing liquid
feed in long feeding troughs with or
without individual troughs dividers and
3. Biofix. (Svendsen et al., 1990; Brouns
& Edwards, 1992; Olsson et al., 1993;
Fisker, 1994). In biofix the feed is provided
in a trough with individual
troughs dividers in a speed that match
the eating rate of the sows in order to
ensure that each sow are ‘fixed’ at one
place throughout the feeding (‘biological
fixed’). In biofix, as in the other
group feeding systems differential feeding
within a group is not possible. The
group feeding procedures mentioned are
illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Floor feeding, liquid feed in long
feeding troughs and biofix (photos: L.U. Hansen
and A.G. Kongsted).
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