HOUSING
PIH-10
pork industry handbook
COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE • PURDUE UNIVERSITY • WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA
Swine Farrowing Units
Authors
A. J. Muehling, University of Illinois
C. M. Stanislaw, North Carolina State University
Reviewers
J. Thurman, Glenco, Oklahoma
R. Wilson, Ohio State University
D. England, Oregon State University
A wide variety of choices is available in farrowing units—from the A-frame house in the field to the environmentally controlled central farrowing house with slotted floors. Although good management is the most important requirement for a successful farrowing operation, well-planned and properly constructed buildings and equipment make good management easier.

Perhaps a higher level of management is required with a central farrowing house than with a pasture operation; with central farrowing the labor required is reduced, and one person can handle more sows. When selecting a farrowing unit, each producer should consider available capital, amount and type of labor available, anticipated future size of operation, existing buildings available, and management ability available. While the sows and pigs need a certain environment for optimal performance, this environment can be provided in many ways and should be accomplished in the ways best suited to each producer’s conditions.
Critical Design Factors
Comfort The farrowing house must provide physical comfort for the young nursing pigs and for the sow. Each has different temperature requirements. Ideally, the newborn pig needs a clean, dry, draft-free environment with clean air and a temperature of about 85-90 F. the first three days of life. In contrast, the most comfortable temperature for the sow is approximately 60-65 F.

In central farrowing houses, these two temperature requirements are best handled by maintaining an overall farrowing house temperature of about 65-75 F. and
providing supplemental zone heat for the pigs. Solid floor houses using bedding can be maintained at a lower temperature than slotted floor houses. In a house that is open or not environmentally controlled, other provisions such as draft barriers, bedding and hovers may be needed.

Comfort considerations can also be judged by the operator observing the activity of the pig. Peak efficiency is best obtained from a building in which it is comfortable or pleasant for a person to work.

Protection Farrowing crates reduce the number of pigs crushed by the sow. Guardrails located about 6 in. out from the wall and 8 in. up from the floor will reduce the number of pigs crushed by the sow in open pen farrowing. Having a separate comfort zone for the baby pigs provides additional protection by attracting them away from the sow except when nursing.

Sanitation Properly designed farrowing units are easy to keep clean. Porous or rough surfaces should be avoided as they can harbor certain bacteria. Rough floor surfaces not only are abrasive to the feet and knees of nursing pigs but they also retain moisture and manure. Smooth surfaces drain better, dry more rapidly and are easier to clean and disinfect, but can be slick.

Solid floors should be sloped for proper drainage— about 1/2-in. per foot. Slotted floor surfaces should be flat and smooth. Slats made of materials that could be slick (aluminum, stainless steel, plastic) should have ribs down the center or punched slots to give better footing. A number of parallel ribs may trap moisture and manure, resulting in unsanitary conditions.

Management Proper management in central farrowing houses is much easier if farrowings are grouped.
Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics, State of Indiana, Purdue University and U. S. Department of Agriculture Cooperating. H. G. Diesslin, Director, West Lafayette, Ind. Issued in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914. It is the policy of the Cooperative Extension Service of Purdue University that all persons shall have equal opportunity and access to its programs and facilities without regard to race, religion, color, sex or national origin.