Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jun 1:10:1178970.
doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1178970. eCollection 2023.

Evaluation of the effect of the indoor environment on the physiological responses of early-gestation sows in a commercial house in China

Yangyang Li  1 , Tong Li  2 , Bin Shang  1 , Yang Zhao  3 , Xiuping Tao  2 , Feng Peng  4 , Xiaojun Zou  4 , Sixin Zhang  5
Affiliations

Evaluation of the effect of the indoor environment on the physiological responses of early-gestation sows in a commercial house in China

Yangyang Li et al. Front Vet Sci. .

Abstract

Objective: The environment influences the sow's health and physiology during gestation. This study was conducted to evaluate indoor environmental parameters and physiological responses of early-gestation sows and investigate the possible methods for assessing the thermal environment in commercial houses.

Methods: A total of 20 early-gestation sows (commercial purebred Yorkshire) with an average body weight of 193.20 ± 3.62 kg were used for this study in winter, spring, summer, and autumn. The indoor environment parameters comprising dry-bulb temperature (Tdb), relative humidity (RH), and carbon dioxide (CO2) were recorded in 30-min intervals. Physiological parameters including heart rate (HR) and respiration rate (RR) of sows were also measured every 30 min. Wet-bulb temperature (Twb) was calculated using Tdb, RH and atmospheric pressure was recorded at a nearby weather station.

Results: The average indoor Tdb and RH were 12.98 ± 2.03°C and 80.4 ± 6.4% in winter, 18.98 ± 2.68°C and 74.4 ± 9.0% in spring, 27.49 ± 2.05°C and 90.6 ± 6.4% in summer, and 17.10 ± 2.72°C and 64.5 ± 10.9% in autumn. A higher average concentration of CO2 was observed in winter (1,493 ± 578 mg/m3) than in spring (1,299 ± 489 mg/m3), autumn (1,269 ± 229 mg/m3), and summer (702 ± 128 mg/m3). Compared with the HR and RR in the optimum environment, high RH in the house led to a significant decrease in both HR and RR (P < 0.05). In addition, a significant decline in HR was also obtained at high temperatures (P < 0.05). A temperature humidity index (THI), THI = 0.82 × Tdb + 0.18 × Twb, was determined for early-gestation sows, and the THI thresholds were 25.6 for HR. The variation in THI in summer showed that heat stress still occurred under the pad-fan cooling system.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the critical significance of considering physiological responses of early-gestation sows in commercial houses and THI thresholds. We recommend that much more cooling measures should be taken for early-gestation sows in summer.

Keywords: index; physiology; sow; temperature humidity index; threshold.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

FP and XZ were employed by Henan Zhumei Swine Breeding Co., Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic drawing of the sow barn (top view) and sampling locations. Twenty sows (out of 35) were selected for testing in winter, spring, summer, and autumn (five sows in each season). Signals of physiological parameters were recorded by a receiver positioned in the middle of the hallway.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The profiles of daily averaged dry-bulb temperature (A), relative humidity (B), and CO2 concentration (C) during the experimental period.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The indoor and outdoor averages of temperature (A), relative humidity (B), and CO2 concentration (C) for each season. The plot shows mean (square box), median (line within box), 25th and 75th percentiles (box), and 5th and 95th percentiles (whiskers). ** indicates a significant difference (P < 0.01) between indoor and outdoor environmental parameters in each season.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The variation of heart rate (beats per min, bpm) when the temperature–humidity index (THI) ranged from 18 to 32 (A) and THI (B) in each season. A breakpoint (blue vertical dot line) was detected at 25.6 THI for heart rate. The red horizontal dotted line indicates the THI threshold.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. National Statistical Bureau of China (NSBC) . China Statistical Yearbook. Beijing: China Statistics Press; (2020).
    1. DeShazer J. A livestock energetics and thermal environmental management. In: DeShazer, JA, LeRoy Hahn G, Xin H. editors. Principles of the Thermal Environment and Livestock Energetics. St Joseph, MI: American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers; (2009). p. 1–22. 10.13031/2013.28294 - DOI
    1. Ni JQ, Heber AJ, Lim TT. Ammonia and hydrogen sulphide in swine production. In: Air Quality and Livestock Farming/ Florida, FA, USA: CRC Press; (2018). p. 69–88. 10.1201/9781315738338-3 - DOI
    1. Mihina S, Sauter M, Palkovicova Z, Karanduovská I, Broucek J. Concentration of harmful gases in poultry and pig houses. Anim Sci Papers Rep. (2012) 30:395–406.
    1. Williams AM, Safranski TJ, Spiers DE, Eichen PA, Coate EA, Lucy MC. Effects of a controlled heat stress during late gestation, lactation, and after weaning on thermoregulation, metabolism, and reproduction of primiparous sows. J Anim Sci. (2013) 91:2700–14. 10.2527/jas.2012-6055 - DOI - PubMed