Housing and climatic conditions for early weaned piglets

The recent results of research carried out on housing and climatic conditions for early weaned piglets are reviewed in the present paper.Piglets weaned at 3–4 weeks of age are, in most cases, raised on a totally wired floor in weaning houses. The optimum area per animal and the number of piglets per pen depend on their age and weight at entry and leaving of the weaning house, respectively. The “all-in-all-out” management system is shown to improve the growth performance of piglets.The effects of some physical components of the thermal environment (air temperature, wind speed and relative humidity) on the growth, energy and nitrogen metabolism of the piglet were analysed. An interaction between the air temperature and the feeding level, on the one hand, and the air temperature and the management system (type of floor, piglets raised individually or in groups) on the other, was found. However, no definite conclusions can be drawn about the optimum environmental conditions for early weaned piglets.