IMPROVEMENT OF STALLS FOR HOUSING NURSING SOWS AND PIGLETS

The study was conducted in 2023 at Agroprime Holding LLC in Odesa region on nursing sows of the Large White breed. A modification variant of stalls designed for semi-fixed housing of nursing sows was developed, and indicators of behavior and productivity were studied. At the first stage, the behavior of nursing sows under non-fixed and fixed housing conditions was determined. At the second stage, the behavior of nursing sows was studied in modified stalls providing for semi-fixed housing. It was established that the change in space-planning solutions and the transformation of the internal enclosures of the stall box led to functional differences in the behavior of sows and their productivity. It was found that sows exhibited the greatest motor activity (by 32.44%) under non-fixed state. It was established that under fixed housing for two weeks, sows lie down more often turning away from the piglet heating zone. The causa factor for this behavior is infrared radiation lamps, which create an increased air temperature (26–30°C vs. 18°C in the room) in the sow’s resting area, thereby causing a negative reaction. Under non-fixed housing, the duration of lying on the left and right sides of the body becomes balanced. Due to the high air temperature in the piglet resting areas, sows lie down more often, turned away from the heating source, although the total duration of lying in left- and right-sided positions is equal. It was established that the motor and feeding activity of sows increases linearly during lactation. The transformation of the box partitions to the side enclosures where the experimental group sow was located and the relocation of the piglet house to the rear part of the stall increased the exercise area by 15.21%, which contributed to the motor activity of the animals. On the 14th, 21st, and 28th days of the nursing period, the motor activity of the experimental group sows increased by 1.4, 1.4, and 1.5 times, respectively, compared to the control. By the end of the nursing period, the experimental group sows surpassed their control counterparts in piglet yield (by 0.38 heads), individual piglet live weight (by 0.32 kg), litter weight (by 6.49 kg), and offspring survival rate (by 2.59%). The modernization of stall equipment for semi-fixed housing of nursing sows yielded a positive result, expressed in obtaining an additional product worth 1,021.73 UAH per sow.