HOUSING FOR SWINE

PRODUCTION
by

Engr. Alexis T. Belonio

Department of Agricultural Engineering and
Environmental Management
College of Agriculture
Central Philippine University
Iloilo City
atbelonio@yahoo.com
 Terminologies
 Boar – a male breeding swine which is at
least 8 months old.
 Sow – any breeding female pig that has
farrowed.
 Dry Sow – Unbred sow which have just
been weaned; non pregnant sow.
Different Breed of Swine
 Litter – piglets born in one farrowing.
 Weaner – piglet that has been recently
separated from its mother.
 Gilt – female swine that has not farrowed.
 Fattener – swine which are 66 kg and
above
 Grower – swine from 40 to 65 kg.
 Finisher – swine which are 66 kg and
above
 Structure and Equipment
 Farrowing Pen – Area in which a sow is
confined during farrowing and lactation
periods, but in which the sow can turn
arround.
 Farrowing Stall – A farrowing crate or a
device in which a sow is confined during
farrowing and lactation periods and which
prevent the sow from turning around.
 Creep Area – a place for piglets inside the
farrowing pen.
 Operation
 Farrowing – the act of giving birth to swine.
 Culling Rate – the rate of removing
undesirable or unproductive animals within
the heard.
 Litter Index – farrowing index or the
average number of farrowing of one sow
per year.
 Occupancy – number of days an animal
stays in pen.
 Swine Housing System
 One Unit System – In this system
sows are removed when the piglets
reach weaning age. The pigs remains in
the same building from farrowing until
they reach the desired weight for
slaughtering.
 Two-Unit System – The sows and
piglets remain in the farrowing house
until the piglets are weaned. The
weanlings are transferred to a growing-
finishing house.
 Three-Unit System – The sows and
piglets remain in the farrowing house
until weaning. The weanlings are
moved to a nursery house and finally to
a growing-finishing unit where they stay
until they are ready for slaughter.
 Four-Unit System – The sows and
piglets remain in the farrowing house
until weaning. After weaning, piglets
are moved to nursery house, then to a
growing house and finally to a finishing
house until they are ready for slaughter.
 Types of Roof for Swine
Housing
 Semi-Monitor
 Semi-Shed
 Monitor
 Double Span
 Shed
 Space Requirements

Age and size of Animals Space Requirements per

animals (m2/animal)
Groups of growing Swine up to 100 0.11 to 0.85
kg
Gilts up to mating 1.00
Adult pigs in group 2.50
Gestating sow 1.20
Boar pens 7.50
Lactating sows and liters
Individual pens 7.40
Multi-suckling groups 5.60
Dry sow 1.80
 Formula
Farrowing/Rearing Pen = No. of Sows x Litter
Index x Occupancy
Period x 1.1 / 365

Nursery/Weaners Pens = No. of sows x Litter

Index x Weaned/Litter
x Occupancy Period
x 1.1 / [365 x No. of
Piglets/pen]
Fattening Pen =
[No. of sows x Litter Index x Reared/litter – gilts
and Boar raised as replacement] x occupancy x
% Retained for fattening

365 x No. of Fatteners/Pen

Dry and Pregnant Sows Pen = No. of Sows x
Occupancy Period
x 1.1 / 365

Gilt Places = No. of Sows x Culling Rate x

Occupancy Period x 1.1 / [365 x
Selection Rate]

Boar Pens = Number of Sows / [Boar to Sow

Ratio ]
 Location
 It should conform with the land use plan of the
area
 It should be accessible to service roads, water
supply, and electric lines
 It should be well drained and allow for free air
circulation
 Construction should be on east-west orientation
and the structure for marketable animals should
be located near the service road.
 Site should be located where the prevailing winds
will not carry odors to the farmhouse.
East

West
 Structural Requirements
 Roofing materials should be made of
corrugated GI sheets and other durable
materials.
 Minimum roof overhand of 1 meter should
be provided to ensure shade and to
protect the swine from rain.
 Roof should be equipped with gutters so
that rainwater can be drained away
separately.
Roof Truss

Gutter

1m
 Ceiling height should be at least 2.4 m high.
 Sidewall should have a minimum height of 1 m
and should be made of durable materials.
 Concrete floors should be paved on a well
compacted gravel fills.
 Floors should be skid resistant with 2 to 4% slope
towards a gutter or drainage canal. The direction
of the slope should be away from the feeding
through.
 Slotted floor should be made of concrete, plastic,
metals, or combination of such materials.
Construction should be made to allow manure
and urine to pass through
 In partially slotted floors, the slats should be
placed perpendicular to the long dimension of
pens. For totally slotted floors, slats should be
placed parallel to the sow.
 Concrete slots should be used preferably for
swine over 30 kg including gestating sow.
 For swine under 20 kg, flattened (20 mm)
expanded metal shall be used. Supporting joist
should be placed every 300mm. Expanded
metal should be treated to prevent corrosion.
Sharp edges should be avoided.
 Welded wire flooring should be made of 5.3 mm
wire spaced at 12.5 mm, 15 mm or 18 mm. It
should be supported every 300 mm.
 Plastic flooring should be coated with rough
surface. Fiberglass reinforced T-slats should be
used for creep areas in farrowing pens/crates and
nursery. Slats should be 38 mm wide and slots
should be 9 mm. It should be supported every
600 mm.
 Farrowing pen should be provided with farrowing
crates to avoid crushing by the sow.
 Guardrail should be provided on both sides of pen
in case of rearing pen will be used.
 Weaners should be either penned in a group pen or
in an elevated nursery cages provided with slatted
floor with slot clearance of 10 mm to 14 mm.
 Weaners of the same size should be housed in a pen
or cage.
 Separate pens for growers should be provided. Size
should be designed to hold not more than25
growers.
 Separate pens for finisher should be provided. The
size of each pen should be designed to hold not
more than25 finisher.
 Sows should be be either housed individually or by
group. For individual pens the dimension should be
0.66 to 1.8 m.
 Pen for boars should be located
close to the dry sow
accommodation. Pen should be
provided with service crates.
 Pen partition should be either
solid or slotted. The slots should
be within the range of 160 mm to
210 mm.
 Minimum height of partition
should be 0.7 m for swine under
25 kg and 1.2 m for boar.
 Surfaces should not be treated
with paints that may cause illness
or death.
 Pen gate should be made of at
least 10 mm iron bars or at least
30 mm pipe fastened securely to
a GI pipe frame.
 The dimension of the gate should be 600 mm
wide and 0.9 to 1 m high. For weanling, the
height should be 750 mm.
 Primary and /secondary walkways should
have a minimum width of 1.5 m and 1 m,
respectively.
 Equipment and Facilities
 Heaters should be installed in
creep area to provide newborn
pigs its required temperature
of 27 C to 35 C until they are 3
days old.
 Heat lamps should be placed
762 mm above the floor or
152 mm above the sow.
 A properly designed feeding
trough should be provided
 Feeding through width should
be at least 300 mm and depth
should be 250 mm.
 Water through should not be placed
besides the feeding trough to keep feeding
area dry and clean.
 Automatic watering cups or bowls, 1 cup/20
weaner, 1 cup/12 gilt, and 1 cup per 10
sow should be provided. The bottom rim of
the bowl should be 120 mm and 300 mm
above the floor level for weaners and
finishers, respectively.
 If nozzle type waterers are used it should be
adjustable and should be installed at a height of
450 mm to 650 mm from the floor for sows and
growing-finishing pigs and 305 mm for
weanlings. Waterer spacing should be 300 mm
apart for nursery pigs, 450 mm for growing pigs,
and 600 mm to 900 mm apart for finishing pigs
and group housed gestating sows.
 For nursery, 1 nipple/10 pigs and 1 nipple/12-15
growing-finishing pigs should be installed.
 All plumbing design and installation should
conform to the National Plumbing Code.
 Artificial lighting
should always
be available for
use during the
night or
darkened period
of the day.
 All electrical
design and
installation
should conform
to the Philippine
Electrical Code.
Recommended Lighting Intensity
for Swine Housing

Area Lighting Intensity

Lux (Lumen/m2)
Breeding, gestation, and 150
farrowing
Nurseries 100
Growing and finishing 50
Inspection areas 200
 Outlets should be either ridge or chimney
opening on the downside of the building,
preferably located at the highest point of
the building.
 Inlets should be through vent doors,
curtains or other large openings along the
long sides of the building.
 Automatic control should be provided to
maintain the indoor temperature and
provide air exchange as weather changes
hourly and seasonally. Natural ventilation
system controllers should be available to
regulate air exchange by adjusting inlet
and outlet opening sizes.
 Mechanical ventilation should be
provided to deliver the required air flow
rate.
 Fans should be installed on the side
opposite to the prevailing winds.
 Required Ventilation Rate

Stage Ventilation Rate

(m3/min)
Farrowing unit (sow and liter) 0.28
Nursery pens 0.08
Growing-finishing pens 0.12
Breeding and gestating pens 0.28
(gilts, sow, and boar)
 Maximum Temperature for
Housed Swine in Still Air
Class Temperature
(C)
Sows and boars 30

Piglets, Newborn 35
3 weeks 30
Weaners 30

Growers and finishers 30

 Water spray nozzles should be
provided for cooling effect.
Nozzles should be placed
approximately 1.8 m above
the floor and pointing straight
down to obtain the best
pattern and cover the width of
the pen.
 Feed storages should be
provided with well ventilated
area using wire mesh.
 Spaced required should be
based on two weeks supply of
feeds.
Equipment

Heater

Hog Brooder
Hog Feeder
Farrowing Crate

Holding Crate
 References
 PAES. 2001. Housing for Swine Production.
Philippine Agricultural Engineering standards
Volume II. AMTEC, CEAT, UPLB, College,
Laguna. Pp. D3 to D23