The use of a heated floor area by sows and piglets in farrowing pens

Twenty-six sows housed in farrowing pens were observed from 5 days prior to until 5 days after parturition. Pens consisted of a resting area with solid concrete floor and an activity area with drained concrete floor. The sows were randomly distributed between two pen types: Pens where the floor of the resting area was heated to 34 °C (HEAT sows) and pens where the floor of the resting area was kept neutral (CONTROL sows). The average room temperature was 19.8 ± 0.8 °C. The lying position of the sows as well as posture of the sows were observed continuously and scan sampling was carried out every hour recording the position of the piglets.Thirteen sows chose to farrow in the resting area and 13 in the activity area with no significant difference between treatments. Sows that farrowed in the resting area were lying in the resting area for the majority of their lying time during the 5 days after the birth of the first piglet (BFP), whereas sows that farrowed in the activity area tended to lie more and more in the resting area in the days following parturition, the latter being significantly more pronounced for HEAT sows (F10,177 = 1.92, P = 0.04). The number of postural changes was higher in CONTROL sows than in HEAT sows (F1,20 = 7.67, P = 0.01), in particular on the day of parturition (day 0). In contrast, the duration of time the sows were active (standing/walking) did not differ significantly between HEAT and CONTROL sows on any days. The percentage of the litter resting without contact with the sow in the resting area increased over days for HEAT piglets whereas the percentage remained low for CONTROL piglets (F4,79 = 4.95, P = 0.001). In conclusion, the percentage of sows that farrowed on the heated floor was unaffected by treatment. However, after parturition, both the sows and the piglets actively sought the heated floor.