title: Effects of sow-crate design on health and performance of sows and piglets.
abstract: The effects of sow-crate design on certain health and performance traits of 211 sows and their piglets were evaluated with a 2 X 2 X 4 factorial arrangement of crate width (narrow [N = 55 cm] or wide [W = 64] between lowest horizontal pipes), length (short [S = 183 cm] or long [L = 198] from rump stop to front gate) and side type (lower side of sow crate "fingered" [F], "bowed" bottom bar--marking the sow zone 19.3 cm wider at the bottom--20 cm above the floor [B], or straight bottom bar 20 cm [S20] or 25 cm above the floor [S25]). Between d 107 to 110 postcoitum and d 21 postpartum, no crate design variable affected the sow's body-weight change, but side type tended to affect the most prominent head-neck and leg integumentary lesions. Number of stillborn piglets/litter was greater with W crates than with N, except with crates having S20 sides, and was greater with L crates than with S. More piglets were crushed to death in W crates than N crates, and stillbirth frequency was greater in L crates than in S, but overall preweaning piglet mortality was affected by no crate-design feature. At both 7 and 21 d of age, piglets' knee lesions were most severe with S20 crates and least with S25, whereas face-lesion score was unaffected by crate design. Piglet body weight at age 21 d was least with S20 crates and greatest with F and S25. No crate-design variable affected within-litter variation in piglet growth rate. Sow-crate design affected important health and performance traits of piglets through postnatal d 21.
authors.affiliation: Anim. Sci. Dept., University of Illinois, Urbana 61801.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Hurst
authors.forename: T M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Widowski
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Shanks
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Gonyou
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Bane
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Muehling
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Kesler
mesh_terms: D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006799:Housing, Animal; D013552:Swine / Q000502:physiology*