010—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 21,1984 Tips to minimize hog heat stress ST. LOUIS, MO. - Swine producers should take necessary precautions this summer to avoid heat induced problems in their growing and finishing units, say two industry specialists. “Especially as swine grow older, they become progressively susceptible to hot surroundings,” contends Stan Curtis, professor of animal science at the University of Illinois in Urbana, in his 1983 report of swine heat stress. “This susceptibility affects the per formance of growing and finishing swine by lowering their feed intake and growth rates and increasing the required metabolizable energy concentration of the diet,” he reveals. Curtis notes that the en vironmental temperature range of 64 to 70 F has been found optimal for growing and finishing hogs’, productive performance. “For each degree above 70 F, growing finishing hogs typically take in 60 to 100 grams less feed and gain 35- 60 grams less body weight daily,” he says. One reason hogs go off feed in hot weather is because the digestive process further increases body temperature, notes Larry DeGoey, swine researcher for Ralston Purina Company. To minimize this reduction in feed intake, he says, producers should make several dietary and environmental alterations, instead of “waiting out” hot spells and suffering the consequences. “First, to get hogs eating again and maintain energy intake, producers should feed high fat, high energy rations, which lower the diet’s heat increment, causing less heat production during digestion,” DeGoey points out. “Such rations reduce the heat load on heat stressed hogs, permitting them to maintain intake even during hot weather. ’ ’ High energy rations such as Purina High Octane Hog Grower or Finisher Chow, he says, provide grower-finisher hogs with the nutrients and energy necessary during hot weather, but without higher levels of heat-producing EAR CORN Paying Top Prices For Good Quality Ear Corn • Wet or Dry • No Quantity too large or too small • Fast Unloading - Dump on Pile & Go • Easy access - 2.2 miles off 283 bypass- Manheim, Mt. Joy exit • Daily Receiving 7:30 A.M. to 5 P.M. - un loading evenings & Saturdays by appt. • Trucks available for pick up at your farm. Call Anytime For Price 717-665-4785 JAMES E. NOLL GRAIN fiber. These high energy rations are also amino acid-balanced to meet protein requirements, he adds, and have proved ad vantageous in terms of swine performance in hot weather. Besides dietary alterations, Curtis adds that several en vironmental changes can help reduce the negative impacts of hot environments on the performance of growing/fimshing swine. “These include increasing air speed and sprinkling water over the animals at a rate of one minute per hour when air temperature exceeds 70 F,” he details. “Evaporative cooling, too, has also proved effective in relieving peak mid-day heat stress,” Curtis says. Providing growing and finishing hogs with adequate drinking water will also help maintain body temperature during hot weather. “Because hogs don’t sweat, they depend on evaporation from their respiratory tract and lungs to maintain body temperature, and can lose a great deal of water by this process,” DeGoey explains. Daily summertime water needs can be as much as: 3 gal/day for growing swine and 4 gal/day for 'lp STAK-DECKtmCHIK-EZEtm lis « i Pullet Cage System Automation and Control in Starting and Growing Pullets IdflH^ ISL EQUIPMENT rn i company ’ ,Nc <—)