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Nowadays, energy is one of the highest costs on a farm. In order to have a profitable production, it is not enough to sell the maximum number of animals: the goal is to produce them with the lowest possible cost.
One of the items in which the management of the energy must be very thorough is in the farrowing rooms.
The challenge in the farrowing quarters is to achieve an optimal comfort level for the sows and the piglets, because their thermal needs are completely different. It is basic to set two well-delimited areas: a "warmer" area for the piglets and a "cooler" area for the sows.
The farrowing quarters have heating mats. In order to avoid hypothermia, the goal is that after the farrowing the piglets find a heat spot over 30ºC as soon as possible. An option for saving the energy needed for keeping the mats at an optimal temperature for the piglets is to place a lid that leans on the boards that limit the pens, and that is located above the thermal pads so a kind of nest is created. This lid has lateral walls that come down some 10-12 cm, and this helps to keep the heat given off by the pads. In this way we will be able to reduce the temperature of the heating mats and achieve a higher comfort for the piglets with the resulting savings in energy.
At the same time, we improve the environment in the farrowing quarters because, as less heat is emitted from the floor, the rooms will not have to be over-ventilated (and this will also entail a saving of the energy used for activating the fans). Also, the general environment in the room will be much better for the sow (less draughts, cooler temperature), and this will help to guarantee an optimal feed intake during the lactation (especially in summer) and a lower body condition loss at weaning.
