Localized cooling systems and their effects on swine production in a farrowing house

Abstract The facilities where the livestock carry their production cycle must have as their main characteristic the control of the influence of variation of environmental factors on the animals, which can be controlled through the use of different ventilation systems. In this way, the objective of this research was to evaluate the influence of different conditioning systems in the swine farrowing house. Three treatments were tested in a farrowing house located in Parana, Brazil: refrigerated ventilation (T1), forced ventilation (T2) and natural ventilation (T3), on 12 females with 11 piglets each. The climatic parameters evaluated were temperature, velocity and relative humidity of the air. For the females were analysed the parameters: surface temperature (laser thermometer and thermal image), average weight and feed conversion at the end of lactation; and for the piglets: surface temperature (thermal image), average weight and weekly feed conversion. The data were interpreted statistically by analysis of variance and Tukey’s test with 5% probability of error, using the program SAS (2008). The use of the refrigerated ventilation system decreased the temperature of the air and the superficial temperature of the females, without affecting the comfort of the piglets. There was no difference in the productive indexes of the animals, thus other aspects of the production chain could be explored to reflect a higher financial gain.