Thermal comfort of sows in free-range system in Brazilian Savanna

Publication date: Available online 25 December 2019Source: Journal of Thermal BiologyAuthor(s): João Victor do Nascimento Mós, Sheila Tavares Nascimento, Luci Sayori Murata, Vinicius Machado dos Santos, Antonio José Steidle Neto, Evandro Menezes de Oliveira, Áquila da Silva Lisboa, Luana de Freitas SilvaAbstractThe aim of this work was to evaluate the thermal comfort of sows in a free-range system in the Brazilian Savanna, based on behavior observation, availability of shading resources, meteorological and physiological variables. The sows were analyzed in the gestation sector at Água Limpa Farm from University of Brasília; the sows were housed in paddocks of 1000 m2 each containing artificial and natural shading structures, where air temperature (Tair, ºC), wind speed, relative humidity (RH, %) and black globe temperatures (TG, ºC) were collected for the environment characterization in 20-min-intervals. From the black globe temperature, the Mean Radiant Temperature (TMR, ºC) and the Radiant Heat Load (RHL, W m−2) were calculated in the sun and under the shade structures. The total short-wave irradiance was calculated through the sum of direct, diffuse and reflected radiations. For the behavioral evaluation, an ethogram was elaborated, taking in consideration where the animals were in the paddocks, body posture, and the activity performed. The physiological variables such as respiratory rate (breaths.min−1), surface and rectal temperatures (°C) were measured d...
Source: Journal of Thermal Biology - Category: Biology Source Type: research