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Does hut climate matter for piglet survival in organic production?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2018

S.-L. A. Schild Open the ORCID record for S.-L. A. Schild [Opens in a new window] ,
L. Foldager ,
M. K. Bonde ,
H. M.-L. Andersen  and
L. J. Pedersen
S.-L. A. Schild*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
L. Foldager
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark Bioinformatics Research Centre, Aarhus University, C.F. Møllers Allé 8, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
M. K. Bonde
Affiliation:
Center of Development for Outdoor Livestock Production, Marsvej 43, DK-8960 Randers, Denmark
H. M.-L. Andersen
Affiliation:
Department of Agroecology – Agricultural Systems and Sustainability, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
L. J. Pedersen
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
*
†E-mail: sarah-lina.schild@anis.au.dk
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Abstract

Piglet mortality in outdoor production systems varies across the year, and a reason for this variation could be fluctuations in hut climate, as ambient temperature might influence piglet survival, both directly and indirectly. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to investigate the impact of farrowing hut climate and year variation on stillbirth and liveborn mortality. A large-scale observational study was conducted at five commercial organic pig-producing herds in Denmark from June 2015 to August 2016. Both year variation (F3,635=4.40, P=0.004) and farrowing hut temperature (F2,511=6.46, P=0.002) affected the rate of stillbirths. The risk of stillborn piglets was lowest in winter and during this season larger changes in hut temperature between day 1 prepartum and the day of farrowing increased the risk of stillbirths (F1,99=6.39, P=0.013). In addition, during the warm part of the year stillbirth rate increased at temperatures ⩾27°C. Year variation also affected liveborn mortality (F3,561=3.86, P=0.009) with a lower rate of liveborn deaths in spring. However, the hut climate did not influence liveborn deaths. Consequently, other factors than hut climate may explain the influence of year variation on liveborn mortality. These could be light differences causing seasonality in reproduction and lactation.

Keywords

neonatal piglet mortalityorganicoutdoor pig productiontemperaturehumidity
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , April 2019 , pp. 826 - 834
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2018 

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