Department of Livestock Production and Management, Madras Veterinary College, Chennai - 600 007, India.
*This forms part of M.V.Sc., thesis submitted by the first author to Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur, Kerala - 680651.
An experiment was carried out to findout the effect of three types of housing systems viz., conventional house with wallowing tank (T1), conventional house with sprinklers (T2) and range system (T3) on the reproductive performance of sows. Eighteen sows were reared under each system. A significantly (P<0.01) lower air temperature was observed in sprinkler (33°C) as compared to conventional (35°C) and range (34.35°C) system. In the sprinkler and range groups (T2 and T3) there were a higher weight gains i.e. 5.67 and 6.3 kg respectively. The increased litter weight of 20.75 kg in T2 group and 25.38 kg in T3 group over T1 group at weaning produced it savings of Rs. 1556.25 and Rs. 1903.50 respectively. The pre-weaning piglet mortality was less in T2 and T3 groups which resulted in additional savings of Rs. 600 and Rs. 1200 respectively per litter. Although Rs. 139.20 and Rs. 3000 per animal was incurred on additional facilities in T2 and T3 group, still there was an average net saving of Rs. 2191.20 and 306.20 respectively per farrowing.
