RESUMEN

The objective of this study was to determine effects of room temperature and drinker design on growth and water disappearance of growing-finishing pigs (26.9 ±â€…3.67 to 130.9 ±â€…5.10 kg live body weight). A split-plot design was used with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments: Room Temperature (RT) [Thermoneutral (TN) vs. High (HI); main plot], Drinker Design (DD; Nipple vs. Cup; sub-plot). A total of 316 pigs were used, housed in 32 pens in 4 rooms (8 pens/room; 7 pens of 10 pigs and 1 pen of 9 pigs). Two rooms were on each RT treatment. Room temperature for the TN treatment was constant throughout each day but decreased from 24°C at the start to 20°C and 18°C on d 14 and 45 of the study period, respectively. For the HI treatment, a single, cyclic RT protocol was used throughout the study (30°C from 08:00 to 19:00 h and 20°C from 20:00 to 07:00 h, with 1-h transition periods). Pens had fully-slatted concrete floors and 1 feeder and drinker (either nipple or cup); floor space was 0.67 m2/pig. Pigs had ad libitum access to standard corn-soybean diets, formulated to meet or exceed NRC (2012) nutrient requirements. Water disappearance was measured using a meter fitted to the water line supplying each drinker. There were no interactions (P > 0.05) between RT and DD treatments. Drinker Design did not affect (P > 0.05) growth performance; water disappearance was 7.3% greater (P ≤ 0.05) for Nipple than Cup drinkers. Compared to the TN treatment, the HI treatment had no effect (P > 0.05) on gain:feed ratio, but resulted in lower (P ≤ 0.05) average daily gain (6.5%) and average daily feed intake (5.5%) and greater (P ≤ 0.05) average daily water disappearance (16.8%). These results suggest that both drinker design and RT can affect water disappearance, and that the high, cyclic RT regime used reduced growth performance of growing-finishing pigs. Further research is needed to determine the contribution of water intake and wastage to treatment differences in water disappearance.

RESUMEN

Liquid feeding has the potential to provide pigs with sufficient water to remain hydrated and prevent prolonged thirst. However, lack of permanent access to fresh water prevents animals from drinking when they are thirsty. Moreover, individual differences between pigs in a pen may result in uneven distribution of the water provided by the liquid feed, leading to some pigs being unable to meet their water requirements. In this review, we look at the need for and provision of water for liquid-fed pigs in terms of their production performance, behaviour, health and welfare. We highlight factors which may lead to water ingestion above or below requirements. Increases in the need for water may be caused by numerous factors such as morbidity, ambient temperature or competition within the social group, emphasising the necessity of permanent access to water as also prescribed in EU legislation. The drinkers can be the target of redirected behaviour in response to feed restriction or in the absence of rooting materials, thereby generating water losses. The method of water provision and drinker design is critical to ensure easy access to water regardless of the pig's physiological state, and to limit the amount of water used, which does not benefit the pig.

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