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UNIVERSITET AU

EFFECT OF RADIANT HEATING AT THE BIRTHS PLACE OF NEWBORN PIGLETS

Heidi Mai-Lis Andersen and Lene Juul Pedersen

Project funded by: The pig Levy Foundation and the Advanced Technology Foundation

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Sustaining a normal body temperature within the first hours of a piglet’s life is one of the main indicators for piglet survival

Hypothermia is rarely recorded as cause of death in commercial pig herds, but it might often be the primary cause of starvation, crushing and disease

(Herpin et al., 2002, Baxter 2009, Pedersen et al., 2011)

BACKGROUND

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BACKGROUND

AARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHUSHUSHUSHUSHUSHUSHHUSHUSHUHUSHUSUSUSHUSHUSHHUSHUSHUSHUSHUUSHUHUSSHUSHUHHUSHHHUH SSHHUSHUSHUSSSHUSSHUHUSSHHUUSSSUSHUNIVVVVVERVERVERVERVVERVERVEEVERVERERERVVERVEVERVVVERVERRV RVVERVERERVVERERRERV RERVERVVVVVEERRRVVVV RVEREERRRVVV RRSITSITSITSITSITSITSITSSIIITSITTSITSITSITSITTSITSITSITSSSIIITSITSITSSSITSITSIISITSITSITITSITSSSIITISITITITITTSITSISITTTSISITTITITTTTII ETETEETEEETETETETETETEEETETETTETETEEETETEETTEEETEEETETETEETETETETTETETTTTTETETTTTU

Newborn piglet: - Wet - Hairless - No brown adipose tissue - Low amounts of mobile lipids/glycogen => Poor to thermoregulate

Born into a environment - Whiteout a nest - Temperature ~ 20°C

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31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

0 2 4 8 24 t

Piglets rectal temperature at 21°C °C

Hours after birth

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BACKGROUND Floor heating in the farrowing area reduced the drop in piglets rectal temperature and improved piglet survival

(Malmkvist et al., 2006, Pedersen et al., 2013) But….

The main part of the farrowing pens are with partly or fully slatted floor

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Can radiant heating provided at the birth place � Reduced the drop in rectal temperature in new-born

piglets?

� Reduced time for piglets to recovery to a normal body temperature?

AIM

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� 36 second-parity Danish Landrace x Yorkshire sows

� 3 batches of 12 sows each

� Room temperature ~ 20°C

� Two groups: A control group and a heat group

METHOD AND MATERIALS

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The heat treatment: � A radiant heater (500 W) � 0.90 m over the farrowing area

TREATMENT

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TREATMENT Control

Day -1 Heat on in creep area Birth 1. pig - Birth +12h -

Heat

Heat on in creep area Radiant heat on Radiant heat off

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DATA SAMPLING

10

0 12 24 36

Heat: 48

Birth time +

Weight + + + (+Day7)

Rectal temp. +++++ + + + (+Day7)

Hours after birth

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Behavioural observations: � Time to leave zone 1 (the heated area) � Time to first contact with udder � Time to first suckling

DATA SAMPLING

1

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RESULTS

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RECTAL TEMPERATURE Heat off

Heat group Control group

↑ Birth weight => ↓Drop in temperature (P<0.001) No interaction between Birth weight and Treatment

*

*

* *

*

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WEIGHT

↑ Birth weight => ↑Daily gain (P<0.001) No interaction between Birth weight and Treatment Confounding effect between Birth weight and Treatment?

P=0.08

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BEHAVIOUR

↑ Birth weight => ↓Time to leaving Z1 (P<0.001) ↓ Time to at udder (P<0.001) ↓ Time to suckling (P<0.001) No interaction between Birth weight and Treatment

(16.

9 m

in)

(11.

4 m

in)

(7.5

min

)

(19.

4 m

in)

(47.

3 m

in)

(44.

5 m

in)

*

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Radiant heat: � Decrease drop in rectal temperature � Decrease time to recover to a normal rectal temperature � Increase time stay in zone 1 � No effect on time to first suckling � No effect on weight gain Confounding effect between birth weight and treatment?

CONCLUSION