Effects of different crate opening times in free farrowing systems on production parameters under commercial conditions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56617/att.7537Keywords:
free farrowing, sow welfare, crate opening time, production performance, pig productionAbstract
Background: the use of free farrowing systems in pig production has gained increasing attention due to growing animal welfare requirements; however, their impact on production performance remains a subject of debate. Objectives: the aim of the present study was to evaluate, under Hungarian commercial conditions and on a pilot scale, the effects of different farrowing crate opening times applied in a partially open free farrowing system on key production parameters. Four treatments were compared: a fully open system throughout lactation, systems opened on day 4 or day 10 after farrowing, and a conventional fully confined control. The experiment was conducted on a commercial pig farm in Hungary, involving 9 sows per treatment and a total of 36 sows per repetition. The present paper reports the results of the first measurement of a pilot study; data collection for the subsequent repetitions is currently ongoing. Results: the findings indicate that the different crate opening strategies did not result in a deterioration of production performance compared to the conventional system. No statistically significant differences were observed among treatments in terms of total number of piglets born, number of piglets weaned, piglet mortality per litter, or litter weight at weaning. However, differences were detected in individual piglet weaning weights, suggesting that the timing of crate opening may influence individual growth performance. Conclusions: despite the pilot nature of the study, the results suggest that different crate opening strategies applied in partially open free farrowing systems may provide a suitable compromise between improving sow welfare and maintaining production safety. Final conclusions require the evaluation of the complete dataset and the assessment of longer-term effects.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Laczkó Hajnalka,Szabó Áhim Dominik,Búza László,Benedek Zsuzsanna,Polgár J. Péter (Szerző)
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