Productivity of sows and growth of piglets during the use of different indoor microclimate systems

Abstract

The aim of the article was to study the dependence of reproductive qualities of sows of Irish origin and growth intensity of their piglets on the influence of technological and design parameters of the microclimate system in the farrowing room. The material of the study was the F 1 sows of the Hermitage Genetics maternal line, which were reared in two sections for farrowing of identical planning, identical construction execution and engineering and technical support, except for the microclimate creation and maintenance systems installed in them. The sows of the control group were kept under the classical valve-type ventilation system, and the sows of the experimental group were kept under the geothermal ventilation system. The analysis of reproductive indicators of the experimental population was carried out using generally accepted statistical methods, one way analysis of variance, evaluation index for a limited number of traits, selection index of reproductive qualities of sows. At the end of the experiment and based on the evaluation of data, it was found that the productivity of sows whose farrowing took place in rooms with geothermal microclimate system, were significantly higher during the study period in the number of piglets at weaning – by 0.70 heads or 5.58% (p ≤ 0.001), their safety – by 4.49% (p ≤ 0.05) and the weight of the nest at weaning – by 2.91 kg or 4.23% (p ≤ 0.05) relative to peers kept in sections for farrowing with the classic valve type of microclimate system. The method of factor analysis of variance allowed to identify a statistically significant effect of the type of microclimate system on these indicators, namely: the number of piglets at weaning with an impact force of 2.01%, the safety of piglets – with an impact force of 2.03% and on the weight of the nest of piglets at weaning – with a force of influence within 2.01%. The results of the evaluation of the reproductive qualities of pigs showed the predominance of livestock kept under geothermal ventilation, both for the use of the evaluation index – by 1.31 points, and for the use of the selection index of reproductive qualities – by 1.33 points. No statistically significant difference between sows and piglets kept under different microclimate systems on indicators such as total number of piglets at birth, number of stillborn piglets, proportion of stillborn piglets, fertility, high fertility, weight of one head at weaning, absolute gain, average daily yield has not been established. Key words: sow, piglets, microclimate system, farrowing, piglet nest weight, safety.