ST. LOUIS, Mo. Although
most aspects of pork production
have been vastly improved over
the past decade, the farrowing
phase has been a glaring ex
ception. According to USDA
figures, the number of pigs weaned
per litter has actually declined, to
7 09 in 1979 from a peak of 7 3
between 1966-70
Much of the decline can be at
tributed to death loss in the
farrowing quarters. In fact,
American hog farms have fared
poorly m comparison with other
countries when it comes to mor
tality rate While death loss in the
U S farrowing facilities is
averaging approximately 20.7
percent, the figure for Australian
producers is just 14,3 percent,
while Canadian hog farms are in
between the two at 17,7 percent
death loss.
But, according to one swine
authority, hog producers can take
several relatively inexpensive
steps in the farrowing room to
reduce death loss and give young
pigs a faster start.
Most hog producers will agree
the farrowing phase is one of the
most important points in a young
pig’s life,” says Ray Washam,
manager of swine research at
Ralston Purina Company. “Since
the pig at birth and again at about 3
weeks of age is at its low point in
terms of immunity, and is entering
a high pomt in terms of develop
ment, any improvement made
during the farrowing or nursery
period can have a most positive
effect.”
Washam points to research
conducted recently by Ralston
Puma which indicates the use of
elevated farrowing crates can
reduce farrowing room mortality
by upwards of 25 percent.
Much of the death loss among
baby pigs can be linked to scours,”
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Sows on wire: Research points to lower
mortality, faster weight gain
he says. “Most scouring problems
develop when newborn pigs are
lying on cold damp farrowing and
nursery room floors ”
Over the past two years,
research was done comparing
elevated crates with wire flooring
against conventional crates with
either wood, concrete or metal
slatted floors.
“In on-farm tests involving more
than 17,000 farrowmgs with 3-week
weaning, partial slat facilities had
a pig mortality of 17 percent versus
12 9 percent in total elevated wire
floor facihties. That’s a 24 1 per
cent reduction in death loss, and
38 more pigs weaned per Utter,”
he points out
Washam said he expected the
marked improvement because the
principles of elevated crates are
similar to those of cage nurseries,
a concept Purina has been
researching since the 1960’5.
“Whenever you can separate a
baby pig from its body waste,
you’ve taken a giant step towards
disease prevention,” he states.
"The use of woven wire in both
farrowing crates and nursery
cages keeps the area drier and
warmer and makes it less
receptive to disease-carrying
bacteria ” Drier footing also
means better traction, less
spraddle legs and fewer joint in
fections, he adds.
Since 3-week old baby pigs have
few disease-fighting antibodies
and little subcutaneous fat,
Washam said he behves the cage
nursery environment helps the
pigs through this critical stage of
growth
To prove his point, Washam
points to research conducted at
Punna’s Research Farm at Gray
Summit, Mo , which showed that
the use of cage nurseries can
reduce baby pig mortality to 1 25
percent or less, and get pigs up to
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50 lbs body weight at nine weeks of
age
“Conventionally raised pigs
experienced an average daily gain
of 0 67 pounds,” he reports. "This
fell far short of the 0.82 pound
average dady gain standard for
the caged nursery pig. ” Weight per
day of age comparisons produced a
similar edge for the caged pig: 0.79
pounds versus 0.63 pounds for the
conventional pig.
Sixteen comparative feeding
experiments also revealed a feed
conversion advantage for the
caged pig, Washam says.
“We put a total of 1472 pigs in
cage and conventional nurseries,
on identical feeding programs
from 14 3 lbs. average weight until
they reach 26 lbs.,” he recalls.
“Our records showed that the pig
m the standard cage nursery
converted every 165 lbs of feed
into a pound of gam, as compared
with a 1.82 ratio for the pig in the
conventional nursery
“One of the most startling
results we found with the use of
cage nurseries,” continues
Washam, “was that baby pigs
were much cleaner and less
stressed than pigs raised in a
conventional nursery, even if the
cages were stacked two or three
high. The wire flooring is a major
contribution factor.”
The swine research manager
contends wire flooring in the
farrowing crate is beneficial to the
sow as well
“Outside of the fact that better
footing will result in less baby pigs
being crushed by falling sows,
woven wire floors provide a
smoother air flow, which means
the sow can be kept more com
fortable with less ventilation,” he
states
Although Purdue University has
not conducted any tests comparing
the pig benefits of elevated crates,
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“By elevating farrowing crates and replacing wood or
concrete floors with woven wire, producers can keep their
baby pigs warmer, drier and separated from their body
wastes," says Purina's Ray Washam.
their Hobart W. Jones has found
the raised crates to be real labor
savers,
"By raising the crates in our
farrowmg houses 18-20 inches
above floor level, we’ve found it
much easier to flush or scrape out
waste material,” he says, adding
that Purdue has been utilizing
elevated crates m their facihties
for more than 15 years.
Jones said he feels elevated
crates give the producer con
sidering remodeling more
flexibility in design and cost
analysis.
“Rather than going to the ex
pense of npping up floors to install
a pit in converted buildings, it’s
much easier and less expensive to
raise the crates and flush or scrape
the wastes to one end,” he says.
Jones notes many producers
have found this method to be quite
successful.
“Producers who are on ex
ceptionally flat poorly drained
ground or who wish to have im-
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mediate access to their waste for
fertilizer purposes, have installed
a holding pit under the crates,” he
says. “If you don’t mind the odor,
it’s a concept worth considering.”
The Purdue elevated crates use
a combination of wooden planks
and wire mesh flooring. Crates are
approximately 6% feet long, with
one foot in the front and 2% ft.
behind the sow covered with woven
wire.
The remainder of the flooring
consists of wood planks, running
perpendicular to the wire across 3
to 4 crates. Both sections of wire
flooring within the crate are
welded onto wire frames
“Wire in front and back allows
both body and feed wastes to fall
away from the crates,” says
Jones. “The wood is beneficial
from a cost standpoint, and allows
us to concentrate supplemental
heat on a specific area because of
its heat retentive qualities.”
In terms of durability, Jones
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