Abstract:
The temperature of sleeping area directly affects the lying behaviour for pigs. A floor cooling system using underground water of the sleeping area in an open housing was designed. The lying behaviours of pigs with different floor temperatures were observed. The results show that the floor temperature was close to the outside temperature without the cooling system, and the cooling effect was significant when the cooling system was used. The floor temperature could maintain between 22~26℃ using the cooling system, while the outside air temperature was 27~34℃. More than 85% of the pigs lay on the sleeping area when the floor temperature was below 26℃, and only 10%~20% of the pigs lay on the sleeping area when the floor temperature was about 30℃, while no pig laid on the sleeping area when the floor temperature was above 33℃.