Symposium on Environment and Facilities: Environment and Facilities in Swine Production

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Abstract
Given adequate opportunity, a newborn 1.3-kg. pig will increase in body mass by 70 times before 6 mo. of age. During this transition there is a change from a heat-tolerant, cold-susceptible physiological state to one that is highly heat-sensitive and cold-resistant. Temperature is perhaps the most critical factor of physical environment for swine, and in controlled and semi-controlled environmental conditions has been shown to affect behavior, rate of gain, feed utilization, carcass composition, certain nutritive requirements and reproductive efficiency. Interrelationships of temperature and nonthermal environmental factors have been indicated. Management practices and housing design and equipment can modify environmental effects to allow for more efficient production. Improper management may nullify anticipated benefits of improved facilities, demonstrating that environment includes more than temperature and that non-thermal factors frequently may be major causes of deviation from expected animal behavior. Maximum control of all measurable components of environment is essential to evaluate correctly the physiological response and social behavior of swine resulting from modification of their environment. Copyright © 1964. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1964 by American Society of Animal Science

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