title: Establishing Trailer Ventilation (Boarding) Requirements for Finishing Pigs during Transport.
abstract: Specifically, this study aimed to establish the effects on mortality and morbidity of boarding levels (amount of side-wall trailer ventilation) for finishing pigs in mild weather (8.80 ± 0.30 °C, 71.70% ± 1.12% humidity). Pigs from commercial finishing sites were transported in 302 pot-bellied trailers to commercial processing plants. Measures collected at the processing plant were rates of dead on arrival (DOA), non-ambulatory, non-injured (NANI), non-ambulatory, injured (NAI), and total dead and down (D&amp;D). Boarding levels (% that side walls were closed off with inserted boards) were divided into 3 bins: low, medium, and high, and outside temperature was divided into 4 bins <5 °C, 5.10-10 °C, and 10.10-15 °C and >15 °C. Average rates of DOA, NANI, NAI, and D&amp;D were approximately 0.30%, 0.12%, 0.04%, and 0.46%, respectively. The D&amp;D was highest when boarding level was low with temperatures <5 °C (p < 0.05). However, variations in boarding level (medium and high boarding) in the temperature range of 5.10 °C to 23.30 °C did not affect pig losses.
authors.affiliation: Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. john.mcglone@ttu.edu.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McGlone
authors.affiliation: Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. asapkota@purdue.edu.
authors.forename: Avi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sapkota
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA. johnsona@iastate.edu.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA. rkdavis@iastate.edu.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kephart
keywords: boarding; pig; transportation; ventilation; welfare