Abstract
A field trial was conducted during the late summer/fall of 1996 and during the summer of 1997 to assess cooling systems involving forced evaporative cooling of growing/finishing swine. Four treatments were evaluated: no cooling (control), fan cooling only, sprinkler cooling only; and fan cooling with sprinkling in an open front finishing unit. During the 1996 experiment, animals initially weighed an average of 53 kg (116 lb) at the beginning of the test period, and bi-weekly pig weights were obtained over the grow finish period. The mean average daily gain (ADO) values over the test period were 905, 944, 932 and 939 g/d for the control, fan only, sprinkler only, and sprinkler and fan treatments respectively. Although the cooled pigs exhibited improved mean ADG values over the control treatment, no statistically significant differences were obtained. The test period was relatively moderate in temperature level. During the 1997 experiment, initial pig weight was similar, 51 kg (113 lb). The mean average daily gain (ADG) over the test period to date was 685, 735, 762, and 776 g/d for the control, fan only, sprinkler only, and sprinkler and fan treatments respectively. The ADG values for the cooling treatments were on average 10.6% higher than the control group performance, with the ADG for the sprinkler and fan treatment being 13.3% greater than the control group.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Paper - American Society of Agricultural Engineers |
| Volume | 3 |
| State | Published - 1997 |
| Event | Proceedings of the 1997 ASAE Annual International Meeting. Part 1 (of 3) - Minneapolis, MN, USA Duration: Aug 10 1997 → Aug 14 1997 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)