Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T17:27:55.619Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The influence of the thermal environment on the voluntary food intake of pigs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2018

W. H. Close
W. H. Close*
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute for Grassland and Animal Production, Church Lane, Shinfield, Reading RG2
Get access

Abstract

The thermal components of the environment, through their effects on the animals' heat exchange, influence growth, metabolism and voluntary food intake. The environmental components considered include air temperature, either constant or fluctuating, air movement, relative humidity, group size, stocking density and atmospheric concentrations of various gases and dusts. For the growing pig, it has been calculated that each 1°C change in temperature is associated with a 0.65 MJ metabolizable energy (ME) per day change in energy intake; for the other environmental components the variation was between 0.36 and 0.65 MJ ME per day. From the relation between environmental temperatures, food intake and growth, it was shown that for young pigs the optimum temperature range was between 20 and 25°C; for older animals it was between 10 and 20°C. Knowledge of the extent to which food intake changes with the environmental circumstances, both cold and hot, allows feeding and managemental strategies to be developed to ensure optimum growth and efficiency of food utilization.

Type
Research Article
Information
BSAP Occasional Publication , Volume 13: The Voluntary Food Intake of Pigs , 1989 , pp. 87 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Production 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agricultural Research Council. 1981. The Nutrient Requirements of Pigs. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough.Google Scholar
Blaxter, K. L. 1962. The Energy Metabolism of Ruminants. Hutchinson, London.Google Scholar
Blecha, F. and Kelley, K. W. 1981. Cold stress reduces the acquisition of colostral immunoglobulins in piglets. Journal of Animal Science 52: 594–600.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bond, T. E., Heitman, H. Jr. and Kelly, C. F. 1965. Effects of increased air velocities on heat and moisture loss and growth of swine. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 8: 167–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bond, T. E., Kelly, C. F. and Heitman, H. Jr. 1952. Heat and moisture loss from swine. Agricultural Engineering 33: 148–152.Google Scholar
Bond, T. E., Kelly, C. F. and Heitman, H. Jr. 1963. Effect of diurnal temperature on heat loss and well being of swine. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 6: 132–135.Google Scholar
Britt, J. H. 1986. Improving sow productivity through management during gestation, lactation and after weaning. Journal of Animal Science 63: 1288–1296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brumm, M. C. and Shelton, D. P. 1988. A modified reduced nocturnal temperature regime for early-weaned pigs. Journal of Animal Science 66: 1067–1072.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brumm, M. C., Shelton, D. P. and Johnson, R. K. 1985. Reduced nocturnal temperatures for early weaned pigs. Journal of Animal Science 61: 552–558.Google Scholar
Close, W. H. 1981. The climatic requirements of the pig. In Environmental Aspects of Housing for Animal Production (ed. Clark, J.), pp. 149–166. Butterworths, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Close, W. H. 1987. The influence of the thermal environment on the productivity of pigs. In Pig Housing and the Environment (ed. Smith, A. T. and Lawrence, T. L. J.), Occasional Publication, British Society of Animal Production, No. 11, pp. 9–24.Google Scholar
Close, W. H., Heavens, R. P. and Brown, D. 1981. The effects of ambient temperature and air movement on heat loss from the pig. Animal Production 32: 75–84.Google Scholar
Close, W. H. and Mount, L. E. 1978. The effects of plane of nutrition and environmental temperature on the energy metabolism of the growing pig. 1. Heat loss and critical temperature. British Journal of Nutrition 40: 413–421.Google Scholar
Close, W. H., Mount, L. E. and Brown, D. 1978. The effects of plane of nutrition and environmental temperature on the energy metabolism of the growing pig. 2. Growth rate, including protein and fat deposition. British Journal of Nutrition 40: 423–431.Google Scholar
Coffey, M. J., Seerley, R. W., Funderburke, D. W. and McCampbell, H. C. 1982. Effect of heat increment and level of dietary energy and environmental temperature on the performance of growing-finishing swine. Journal of Animal Science 54: 95–105.Google Scholar
Culver, A. A., Andrews, F. N., Conrad, J. H. and Noffsinger, T. L. 1960. Effectiveness of water sprays and a wallow on the cooling and growth of swine in a normal summer environment. Journal of Animal Science 19: 421–433.Google Scholar
Curtis, S. E. 1970. Environment — thermoregulatory interactions and neonatal piglet survival. Journal of Animal Science 31: 576–587.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Curtis, S. E. 1983. Environmental Management in Animal Agriculture. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Ia.Google Scholar
Curtis, S. E., Anderson, C. R., Simon, J., Jensen, A. H., Day, D. L. and Kelley, K. W. 1975. Effects of aerial ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and swine-house dust on rate of gain and respiratory-tract structure in swine. Journal of Animal Science 41: 735–739.Google Scholar
Curtis, S. E. and Morris, G. L. 1982. Operant supplemental heat in swine nurseries. Proceedings of the 2nd International Livestock Environment Symposium, Ames, Iowa, pp. 295–297.Google Scholar
Dauncey, M. J. and Ingram, D. L. 1983. Evaluation of the effects of environmental temperature and nutrition on growth and development. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 101: 291–299.Google Scholar
Done, S. H. 1972. The relationship between respiratory disease, environment and economic production. In Pig Production (ed. Cole, D. J. A.), pp. 107–128. Butterworths, London.Google Scholar
Drummond, J. G., Curtis, S. E., Simon, J. and Norton, H. W. 1980. Effects of aerial ammonia on growth and health of young pigs. Journal of Animal Science 50: 1085–1091.Google Scholar
Feddes, J. J. R. 1986. The response of growing pigs to high cyclic and constant temperatures. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Nebraska.Google Scholar
Fuller, M. F. 1965. The effect of environmental temperature on the nitrogen metabolism and growth of the young pig. British Journal of Nutrition 19: 531–546.Google Scholar
Fuller, M. F. and Boyne, A. W. 1972. The effects of environmental temperature on the growth and metabolism of pigs given different amounts of food. II. Energy metabolism. British Journal of Nutrition 28: 373–384.Google Scholar
Garrett, W. N., Bond, T. E. and Kelly, C. F. 1960. Environmental comparisons of swine performance as affected by shaded and unshaded wallows. Journal of Animal Science 19: 921–925.Google Scholar
Gehlbach, G. D., Becker, D. E., Cox, J. L., Harmon, B. G. and Jensen, A. H. 1966. Effects of floor space allowance and number per group on performance of growing-finishing swine. Journal of Animal Science 25: 386–391.Google Scholar
Hamilton, C. L. 1967. Food and temperature. In Handbook of Physiology (ed. Code, C. F.), Section 6, Vol. 1, pp. 303–317. American Physiological Society, Washington, DC. Google Scholar
Holmes, C. W. and Close, W. H. 1977. The influence of climatic variables on energy metabolism and associated aspects of productivity in pigs. In Nutrition and the Climatic Environment (ed. Haresign, W., Swan, H. and Lewis, D.), pp. 51–74. Butterworths, London.Google Scholar
Hsia, L. C., Fuller, M. F. and Koh, F. K. 1974. The effect of water sprinkling on the performance of growing and finishing pigs during hot weather. Tropical Animal Health and Production 6: 183–187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ingram, D. L. 1965. Evaporative cooling in the pig. Nature, London 207: 415–416.Google Scholar
Ingram, D. L. 1974. Heat loss and its control in pigs. In Heat Loss From Animals and Man (ed. Monteith, J. L. and Mount, L. E.), pp. 233–254. Butterworths, London.Google Scholar
Ingram, D. L. and Legge, K. F. 1974. Effect of environmental temperature on food intake in growing pigs. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 48A: 573–581.Google Scholar
Kelley, K. W., Blecha, F. and Regnier, J. A. 1982. Cold exposure and absorption of colostrol immunoglobulins by neonatal pigs. Journal of Animal Science 55: 363–368.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kleiber, M. 1961. The Fire of Life. Wiley, New York.Google Scholar
Kornegay, E. T. and Notter, D. R. 1984. Effects of floor space and number of pigs per pen on performance. Pig News and Information 5: 23–33.Google Scholar
Le Dividich, J. 1981. Effects of environmental temperature on the growth rates of early-weaned piglets. Livestock Production Science 8: 75–86.Google Scholar
Le Dividich, J. and Noblet, J. 1981. Colostrum intake and thermoregulation in the neonatal pig in relation to environmental temperature. Biology of the Neonate 40: 167–174.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lynch, P. B. 1977. Effect of environmental temperature on lactating sows and their litters. Irish Journal of Agricultural Research 16: 123–130.Google Scholar
Lynch, P. B. 1989. Voluntary food intake in gilts and multiparous sows. In The Voluntary Food Intake of Pigs (ed. Forbes, J. M., Varley, M. A. and Lawrence, T. L. J.), Occasional Publication, British Society of Animal Production, No. 13, pp. 71–77.Google Scholar
McCracken, K. J. and Caldwell, B.J. 1980. Studies on diurnal variations of heat production and the effective lower critical temperature of early-weaned pigs under commercial conditions of feeding and management. British Journal of Nutrition 43: 321–328.Google Scholar
McGlone, J. J., Stansbury, W. F. and Tribble, L. F. 1988. Management of lactating sows during heat stress: effects of water drip, snout coolers, floor type and a high energy-density diet. Journal of Animal Science 66: 885–891.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, S. R., Bond, T. E. and Heitman, H. 1967. Skin and lung moisture loss from swine. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 10: 691–692.Google Scholar
Morrison, S. R. and Heitman, H. 1982. Performance of swine following periods of heat stress. Proceedings of the 2nd International Livestock Environment Symposium, Ames, Iowa, pp. 584–588.Google Scholar
Morrison, S. R., Heitman, H. and Bond, T. E. 1969. Effect of humidity on swine at temperatures above optimum. International Journal of Biometerology 13: 135–139.Google Scholar
Morrison, S. R., Heitman, H. and Givens, B. L. 1975. Effect of diurnal air temperature cycles on growth and food conversion in pigs. Animal Production 20: 287–291.Google Scholar
Morrison, S. R., Heitman, H., Givens, R. L. and Bond, T. E. 1972. Sprinkler use for swine cooling. Tropical Agriculture 49: 31–35.Google Scholar
Mount, L. E. 1968. The Climatic Physiology of the Pig. Edward Arnold, London.Google Scholar
Mount, L. E. and Ingram, D. L. 1965. The effect of ambient temperatures and air movement on localised sensible heat loss from the pig. Research in Veterinary Science 6: 84–91.Google Scholar
National Research Council. 1987. Predicting Feed Intake of Food Producing Animals. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Nichols, D. A., Ames, D. R. and Hines, R. H. 1982. Effect of temperature on performance and efficiency of finishing swine. Proceedings of the 2nd International Livestock Environment Symposium, Ames, Iowa, pp. 376–379.Google Scholar
Nienaber, J. A., Hahn, G. L. and Yen, J. L. 1987. Thermal environment effects on growing-finishing swine. Part 1: Growth, feed intake and heat production. Part 2: Carcass composition and organ weights. Transactions of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers 30: 1772–1779.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Noblet, J., Le Dividich, J. and Bikawa, T. 1985. Interaction between energy level in the diet and environmental temperature on the utilisation of energy in growing pigs. Journal of Animal Science 61: 452–459.Google Scholar
Parker, R. O., Williams, P. E. V., Aherne, F. X. and Young, B. A. 1980. Serum concentration changes in protein, glucose, urea, thyroxine and triiodothyronine and thermostability of neonatal pigs farrowed at 25 and 10°C. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 60: 503–511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pettigrew, J. E. 1981. Supplemental dietary fat for peripartal sows: a review. Journal of Animal Science 53: 107–115.Google Scholar
Riley, J. E. 1989. Recent trends in pig production: the importance of intake. In The Voluntary Food Intake of Pigs (ed. Forbes, J. M., Varley, M. A. and Lawrence, T. L. J.), Occasional Publication, British Society of Animal Production, No. 13, pp. 1–5.Google Scholar
Stahly, T. S. and Cromwell, G. L. 1979. Effect of environmental temperature and dietary fat supplementation on the performance and carcass characteristics of growing and finishing swine. Journal of Animal Science 49: 1478–1488.Google Scholar
Stahly, T. S., Cromwell, G. L. and Aviotti, M. P. 1979. The effect of environmental temperature and dietary lysine source and level on the performance and carcass characteristics of growing swine. Journal of Animal Science 49: 1242–1251.Google Scholar
Stansbury, W. F., Mcglone, J. J. and Tribble, L. F. 1987. Effects of season, floor type, air temperature and snout coolers on sow and litter performance. Journal of Animal Science 65: 1507–1513.Google Scholar
Stombaugh, D. P., Teague, H. S. and Roller, W. L. 1969. Effects of atmospheric ammonia on the pig. Journal of Animal Science 28: 844–849.Google Scholar
Vajrabukka, C., Thwaites, C. J. and Farrell, D. J. 1987. The effects of duration of sprinkling and temperature of the drinking water on the feed intake and growth of pigs at high ambient temperatures. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 109: 409–410.Google Scholar
Verstegen, M. W. A., Brascamp, E. W. and van der Hel, W. 1978. Growing and fattening of pigs in relation to temperature of housing and feeding level. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 58: 1–13.Google Scholar
Verstegen, M. W. A. and van der Hel, W. 1976. Energy balances in groups of pigs in relation to air velocity and ambient temperature. In Energy Metabolism of Farm Animals (ed. Vermorel, M.), Proceedings of 7th Symposium, Vichy, France, pp. 347–350. Bussac, Clermont-Ferrand.Google Scholar
Verstegen, M. W. A., van der Hel, W., Jongebreur, A. A. and Enneman, G. 1976. The influence of ammonia and humidity on activity and energy balance data in groups of pigs. Zeitschrift für Tierphysiologie, Tierernahrung und Futtermittelkunde 37:255–263.Google Scholar