Sow performance when housed either in groups with electronic sow feeders or stalls

Lactation and reproductive performance of sows housed in groups With electronic sow feeding in gestation (ESF-G) and lactation (ESF-L) were compared to those housed individually in stalls in gestation (SG) and lactation (SC) in, a commercial production system. No interaction between gestation and lactation housing was observed. Sows housed in ESF-G had a higher farrow rate than those housed in SG (94.3 vs. 89.4%; respectively). In addition, sows housed in ESF-G had subsequently higher litter birth weight (17.7 vs. 16.7 kg, respectively) and higher litter wean weight (57.1 vs. 56.2 kg, respectively) than those housed in SG. Gestation housing system did not influence the number born alive or weaned. Number weaned had a parity by lactation housing interaction. Parity 1, 3 and 5 sows housed in ESF-L weaned fewer piglets than sows housed in SL. In addition, SL sows had litter wean weights 2.9 kg heavier than sows in ESF-L. Gestating sows housed in groups with electronic sow feeding had either similar or improved performance compared to sows gestated in stalls. However, lactating sows had poorer litter weaning performance when housed in groups with electronic sow feeding compared to those housed individually in stalls. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.