TY - JOUR
T1 - Establishing sprinkling requirements on trailers transporting market weight pigs in warm and hot weather
AU - Kephart, Rebecca
AU - Johnson, Anna
AU - Sapkota, Avi
AU - Stalder, Kenneth
AU - Mcglone, John
PY - 2014/6
Y1 - 2014/6
N2 - This study was conducted July of 2012 in Iowa, in WARM (<26.7 °C) and HOT (26.7 °C) weather. Four sprinkling methods were compared, with one treatment being randomly assigned to each load: control-no sprinkling (not applied in HOT weather), pigs only, bedding only, or pigs and bedding. Experiment 1 used 51 loads in WARM-and 86 loads in HOT weather to determine sprinkling effects on pig measures (surface temperature, vocalizations, slips and falls, and stress signs). Experiment 2 used 82 loads in WARM-and 54 loads in HOT weather to determine the sprinkling effects on transport losses (non-ambulatory, dead, and total transport losses). Experiment 1 found that, in WARM weather, there were no differences between sprinkling treatments for surface temperature, vocalizations, or slips and falls (p 0.18). However, stress signs were 2% greater when sprinkling pigs or bedding only compared to control (p = 0.03). Experiment 2 found that, in WARM and HOT weather, sprinkling did not affect non-ambulatory, dead, or total transport losses (p 0.18). Although the current study did not find any observed sprinkling effects for pig measures or transport losses it is extremely important to note that the inference space of this study is relatively small, so further studies should be conducted to see if these results are applicable to other geographical regions and seasons.
AB - This study was conducted July of 2012 in Iowa, in WARM (<26.7 °C) and HOT (26.7 °C) weather. Four sprinkling methods were compared, with one treatment being randomly assigned to each load: control-no sprinkling (not applied in HOT weather), pigs only, bedding only, or pigs and bedding. Experiment 1 used 51 loads in WARM-and 86 loads in HOT weather to determine sprinkling effects on pig measures (surface temperature, vocalizations, slips and falls, and stress signs). Experiment 2 used 82 loads in WARM-and 54 loads in HOT weather to determine the sprinkling effects on transport losses (non-ambulatory, dead, and total transport losses). Experiment 1 found that, in WARM weather, there were no differences between sprinkling treatments for surface temperature, vocalizations, or slips and falls (p 0.18). However, stress signs were 2% greater when sprinkling pigs or bedding only compared to control (p = 0.03). Experiment 2 found that, in WARM and HOT weather, sprinkling did not affect non-ambulatory, dead, or total transport losses (p 0.18). Although the current study did not find any observed sprinkling effects for pig measures or transport losses it is extremely important to note that the inference space of this study is relatively small, so further studies should be conducted to see if these results are applicable to other geographical regions and seasons.
KW - Market-weight pig
KW - Sprinkling
KW - Transport loss
KW - Well-being
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84898852192&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ani4020164
DO - 10.3390/ani4020164
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84898852192
SN - 2076-2615
VL - 4
SP - 164
EP - 183
JO - Animals
JF - Animals
IS - 2
ER -