Browsing by Person "Opderbeck, Svenja"

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Improvement of the acceptance of a solid lying area by fattening pigs and rearing piglets
(2022) Opderbeck, Svenja; Gallmann, Eva
Society’s demands for more and better animal welfare in Germany have increased in recent years which has been promoted by the introduction of a lot of animal welfare labels and legislative changes. Therefore, housing systems with fully slatted floors, a minimum space allowance and a few employment opportunities are no longer state of the art. However, the implementation of more animal welfare confronts farmers with a large number of challenges. Among other things, there are still many problems with the integration of a solid lying area, due to the high risk of fouling and the resulting poor indoor climate. Functionally reliable solutions were to be found in the project “Label-Fit” for the integration of a solid lying area into existing conventional housing systems for rearing piglets and fattening pigs. Based on literature research and expert discussions, the influencing factors group size, pen structure, type of perforated floor, light intensity, a cooled/heated lying area and a cover over the lying area were examined. These factors were investigated in four fattening and two rearing compartments over three years (five fattening periods with a total of 2200 pigs; six rearing periods with a total of 1152 piglets) in the Bildungs- und Wissenszentrum Boxberg (LSZ). The lying behavior, the fouling of the pens and animals and various climate parameters were recorded and evaluated to assess the acceptance of the lying area. In order to examine the influence of the light intensity, spotlights were located over the slatted area in fattening pens to make this area unattractive for lying and influence the lying behavior and the soiling of the lying surface positively. This increased light intensity leads to significantly more pigs lying on the solid lying area, but it did not affect the fouling. Furthermore, the effect of a cooled lying area on fattening pigs was tested. The cooling of the lying area leads to significantly more animals on the lying area even at higher temperatures, and the fouling of the animals was reduced significantly. The fouling of the lying area was not affected; however, the fouling was very low in this examination. The temperature requirements in the rearing of piglets change greatly during the rearing period, consequently, two heating systems and a floor cooling system were examined in two rearing compartments. There was no difference between the two heating systems on the lying behavior. However, significantly more piglets lay on the cooled lying area compared with the control pen during the last weeks. The fouling of the pens and animals was very low but not affected by the cooling or heating systems. Two of the fattening compartments were converted with pens for 18 pigs and two compartments with pens for 28 pigs. The two group sizes could only be compared descriptively due to structural and temporal differences. The acceptance and the cleanliness of the lying area in the groups with 28 animals were better than in the smaller groups. Furthermore, two different arrangements of the perforated area on one side or two sides of the lying area were tested, but only descriptively. It was shown that more animals were lying on the lying area in the pen with the slatted area on one side, but the solid lying area was dirtier. The position of the feeding can also influence the acceptance of the designated functional area. Therefore, two feeder positions were examined descriptively: In the middle and at the edge of the lying area. The results showed that more pigs were lying on the solid lying area when the feeding was placed at the edge. In addition, the fouling of the lying area and partly also of the animals was reduced in pens with feeding at the edge. The attractiveness of lying in the designated elimination area can be decreased by the type of floor. Therefore, a concrete slatted area was compared with a triangular grid area. Significantly more pigs lay on the solid lying area in pens with a triangular grid, especially when the temperature was low. Finally, the influence of the heated lying area and a cover over a part of the lying area was compared. The results showed that a cover over the lying area seems to lead to more pigs lying on the solid lying area, which was also fouled less than in pens with heated lying areas (no significant differences). Based on the results of this study and the results of other studies, recommendations for an optimized pen structure with a solid lying area are summarized in a decision aid for the structuring of a pen for fattening pigs or rearing piglets. In addition, as part of this dissertation, an optimized pen for fattening pigs with a solid lying area was designed. The results of the dissertation show that there are many ways to implement a solid lying area. A combination of several of these approaches has the potential to improve the acceptance of a solid lying area in conventional pig housing systems.