Slated and solid floors in farrowing pens of pigs

 

A farrowing shed is a planetary intended for sows and piglets during farrowing. A farrowing shed has bangers for distinct sows, permitting planetary for the piglets together with their mother and room for the sow to change around and access her food and water without contaminating them.

Advantages and disadvantages of slated floors

The slatted bottom is better than the solid floor bottom to keep hygiene and welfare. The slates may be either malleable, adhesive concrete or iron. To protect the crushing of piglets, sows are usually confined in the crate during lactation. Though, it is not favoured from the animal welfare point of assessment. But to safeguard the piglets from crushing, confinement of sow is practised. Readymade plastic or cement concrete slates are available. Measurement of 2.4m length and 1.8m width is enough for one slated base farrowing pen. To provide warmth, an electric heating plate is best suitable for piglets. Otherwise, an infrared bulb or ordinary bulb of higher wattage can be used for providing the brooding temperature comfort to the newborn piglets.

To maintain the cleanliness, slated floors are used. Through the slated floor, urine is readily passed to the manure pit placed below the pen which helps the pen to remain dry. Some quantity of dry solid faeces also slowly passes through slates and recurrent removal of dry faeces benefits to keep the floor of the pen very clean. There is no room for waterlogging on the slated floor and piglets don’t get the chance to lick such dirty/contaminated water. The sow cannot turn in the farrowing crate and don’t get the chance to lie over its faeces or urine, which keep the udder and teats remain clean and chances of infection are minimized. Irregular washing of hind digs of a sow with the exclusion of faeces is enough to retain the sow and the pen clean. But, restraining sows in such narrow crates is a welfare issue.

Advantages and disadvantages of solid floors

In maximum of the pig farmhouses in India, the base of farrowing pen is fabricated with cement concrete. In such a condition, the sow usually gets dirty with urine and faeces. With systematic washings, it is not possible to clean the sow totally. The udder along with teats gets dirty. There is every possibility of infection for the piglets from such unclean udder.

In majority of cases, after washing with water, little amount of water along with faeces and urine retained in small holes of damaged floors. Piglets usually don’t drink water for up to 7 days, if the milk production of the sow is optimum. However, if milk production is low and inadequate, they may drink water before 7 days of age. The piglet’s pickup infection, if they lick or drink such contaminated water from the floor.

The passive immunity obtained through intake of colostrum protects the piglets normally up to 14 days of age and later the piglets are more vulnerable to infections. However, a certain amount of immunoglobulins presents in milk also protects the piglets to some extent when they are in the nursing stage. On the other hand, when sow milk production is not sufficient to supply all the nutrients required for piglets after 7 days of lactation and the piglets start searching for feed or other liquid. Intake of feed or liquid by the piglets increases when milk production of the mother declines after the third week of age. Therefore, if the floor is unclean, which is a normal case in a solid floor, and the intake of colostrum’s and milk is not up to the mark, piglets suffer from infection (mostly diarrhoea) resulting in high mortality, which may go up to 40%.