title: Establishing Sprinkling Requirements on Trailers Transporting Market Weight Pigs in Warm and Hot Weather.
abstract: This study was conducted July of 2012 in Iowa, in WARM (<26.7 °C) and HOT (≥26.7 °C) weather. Four sprinkling methods were compared, with one treatment being randomly assigned to each load: control- no sprinkling (not applied in HOT weather), pigs only, bedding only, or pigs and bedding. Experiment 1 used 51 loads in WARM- and 86 loads in HOT weather to determine sprinkling effects on pig measures (surface temperature, vocalizations, slips and falls, and stress signs). Experiment 2 used 82 loads in WARM- and 54 loads in HOT weather to determine the sprinkling effects on transport losses (non-ambulatory, dead, and total transport losses). Experiment 1 found that, in WARM weather, there were no differences between sprinkling treatments for surface temperature, vocalizations, or slips and falls (p ≥ 0.18). However, stress signs were 2% greater when sprinkling pigs- or bedding only- compared to control (p = 0.03). Experiment 2 found that, in WARM and HOT weather, sprinkling did not affect non-ambulatory, dead, or total transport losses (p ≥ 0.18). Although the current study did not find any observed sprinkling effects for pig measures or transport losses it is extremely important to note that the inference space of this study is relatively small, so further studies should be conducted to see if these results are applicable to other geographical regions and seasons.
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
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: Departments of Animal and Food Science and Animal Care Services, 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. stalder@iastate.edu.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stalder
authors.affiliation: Departments of Animal and Food Science and Animal Care Services, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. john.mcglone@ttu.edu.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McGlone
keywords: market-weight pig; sprinkling; transport loss; well-being