The importance of good temperature regulation in farrowing houses is outlined, in order to avoid having too high temperatures in the summer and too low in the winter. Earlier experiments had shown that soil heat exchangers using pipes buried in the area round the farrowing house could reduce...

There is a strong desire to move Atlantic salmon aquaculture to more exposed locations in the future - either along the coast or even off-shore. Here the fish may experience much stronger water current conditions compared to traditional sheltered locations. Are salmon able to thrive in these new...

As part of the planned revision of animal welfare legislation in Switzerland, an experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of increasing the housing area of beef cattle. On 2 farms, 8 groups each of 7 Mastmunis [beef cattle] were held in 4 pens on rubber-covered slatted floors. Every 4...

The use of rubber slatted flooring in the rear part of the stall floor or in cattle pens was studied. The slatted floor was made of rubber strips placed in metal U-bars carrying the mechanical load. In the standard design the strips were 53 mm wide and the openings in between 32 mm. In the field...

The project Varkens in ComfortClass (Pigs in Comfort Class) is searching for a system of stalls which respects the needs of the fattening pig as much as possible yet is still economically viable for the pig farmer. This study analyses the housing costs of both existing stalls and new stalls built...

A new, automated position-finding system was used on 6 dairy farms in Switzerland to investigate the social behaviour of cows kept permanently or semi-permanently in cubicles. The herds ranged in size from 20 to 50 cows, and the purpose of the study was to investigate ways of integrating heifers...

This work consists of two collaborative research projects between INRA (France) and MTT (Finland) that examine the influence of group management on young cattle. The first work investigated whether pair versus individual housing of calves reduces their chronic stress reactions and whether positive...

From the day after farrowing, 8 pig litters born to sows kept in loose housing, were given the choice of remaining with their dam in the unheated farrowing pen, going into adjacent open pens with a 100 Watt heating lamp or into similar pens provided with a curtain made from strips of plastic. The...

In recent years livestock production became a special focal point in public debate, with animal welfare particularly turning out to be a major concern. Since pig husbandry systems are characterised by intensive production systems, where animals are often kept on slatted floor in an extremely barren ...

This report presents the results of a study of roosting preference of broiler breeders during the laying period, whereby the animals could choose between grids and perches. In addition, the animals could spend the night on the litter, the drinking line or in the laying nest. This experiment was...