Effect of Floor Space Allowance on Pig Productivity across Stages of Growth: A Field-scale Analysis

A total of 152 pig farms were randomly selected from the five provinces in South Korea. During the experiment, the average temperature and relative humidity was 24.7°C and 74% in summer and 2.4°C and 53% in winter, respectively. The correlation between floor space allowance (FSA) and productivity index was analyzed, including non-productive sow days (NPD), number of weaners (NOW), survival rate (SR), appearance rate of A-grade pork (ARA), and days at a slaughter weight of 110 kg (d-SW) at different growth stages. The objectives of the present study were i) to determine the effect of FSA on the pig productivity index and ii) to suggest the minimum FSA for pigs based on scientific baseline data. For the pregnant sow, NPD could be decreased if pregnant sows were raised with a medium level (M) of FSA (3.10 to 3.67 m2/head) while also keeping the pig house clean which improves hygiene, and operating the ventilation system properly. For the farrowing sows, the NOW tended to decrease as the FSA increased. Similarly, a high level of FSA (H) is significantly negative with weaner SR of farrowing sows (p-value = 0.017), indicating this FSA tends to depress SR. Therefore, a FSA of 2.30 to 6.40 m2/head (very low) could be appropriate for weaners because a limited space can provide a sense of security and protection from external interruptions. The opposite trend was observed that an increase in floor space (>1.12 m2/head) leads to increase the SR of growing pigs. For the fattening pigs, H level of FSA was negatively correlated with SR, but M level of FSA was positively correlated with SR, indicating that SR tended to increase with the FSA of 1.10 to 1.27 m2/head. In contrast, ARA of male fattening pigs showed opposite results. H level of FSA (1.27 to 1.47 m2/head) was suggested to increase productivity because ARA was most affected by H level of space allowance with positive correlation (R2 = 0.523). The relationship between the FSA and d-SW of fattening pigs was hard to identify because of the low R2 value. However, the farms that provided a relatively large floor space (1.27 to 1.54 m2/head) during the winter period showed d-SW was significantly and negatively affected by FSA.