Swine Housing

1. Swine Housing The majority of pigs today are raised in total confinement

2. Confinement Production • What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of raising swine in confinement?

3. Advantages • Less labor per cwt of pork produced • A more stable environment • Fewer parasites • Less disease problems • Increased productivity

4. Disadvantages • Buildings and equipment are very expensive • Energy costs • Reproductive problems • Waste disposal

5. Waste Handling • Manure disposal is a critical part of raising pigs in total confinement (3-4 T/200 lb hog/yr. • Typical methods of handling waste in confinement buildings include: • Gutter flush to a lagoon • Manure pit • Mechanical scraper

6. Floors in Swine Buildings • Solid concrete • Partially slotted • Total slotted • Expanded metal • Plastic coated expanded metal • Plastic

7. Farrowing Facilities • In the past individual farrowing houses were quite common when sows and pigs were raised on pasture • Today most farrowing houses are ‘central’ in design. • Central farrowing houses consist of one or more rooms that accommodate groups of sows

8. Farrowing House Continued • Most producers use farrowing crates • Years ago the majority of sows were kept in individual pens prior to and after farrowing • Crates are preferred today because they result in more pigs weaned per litter

9. Nursery Facilities • Nursery barns often contain several rooms with each room designed to accommodate the number of pigs from an individual farrowing room • Small pens designed to handle 6 to 8 pigs are very common although some pens may be large enough to handle 16 to 25 pigs

10. Nursery Building Continued • The facilities are designed to provide a fairly stable environment • These facilities may be designed to accommodate 3 week old pigs or perhaps 10 d old pigs • Supplemental heat is provided via heat lamps, radiant heaters or perhaps heat in the floor

11. Grow-Finish Facilities • Environmentally enclosed (totally enclosed) buildings are the most popular today • Open-front buildings popular in the 60s • Modified open front (MOF) buildings were popular in the 80s • Hoop buildings are the most recent • Space requirements of 8-10 sq.ft./hd for G-F

12. Waterers • Nipple waterers are very popular in confinement • Water cups are also popular • Some buildings (particularly gestation buildings) may use a concrete feed trough as a place to provide water after feeding • Rule-of-thumb = provide one waterer/15 pigs

13. Feeding Equipment • Self feeders are generally used for nursery and grow-finish pigs • Breeding stock are generally limit fed via floor feeding or in self feeders • Pigs per feeder space range from 2 for nursery pigs to 4-5 for finishing pigs.

14. Terms you should know • Segregated early weaning (SEW) • Split-sex feeding • Phase feeding • Multiple-site systems • All-in-all-out (AIAO)

15. Terms defined • SEW = refers to weaning the pigs at 10-14 days of age when they are still protected from diseases via passive immunity from the mother’s milk. These pigs are removed from the sow and placed in a separate building.

16. Terms continued • Split-sex feeding = refers to feeding gilts and barrows separate since gilts are normally leaner than barrows and as a result have a higher protein requirement. • Phase Feeding = refers to frequent changes in the diet to more closely meet the specific nutrient requirements for various weight groups.

17. Terms continued • Multiple-site systems = generally refers to having a different location for breeding-gestation-farrowing versus nursery versus grower-finishing. • AIAO = refers to a management system where all animals from a particular building or room are moved in and out on the same day.