Performance and carcass composition of growing pigs subjected to heat stress

• Grant number: 16/06588-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2016
• End date: July 01, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Production
• Principal Investigator: Luciano Hauschild
• Grantee: Natália dos Santos Fanelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 12/03781-0 - Sustainable precision feeding systems (PFS) for swine and poultry: estimating real-time individual nutrient requirements (pigs) and evaluation of the PFS (pigs and poultry), AP.JP
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/20543-7 - Digestibility of energy in heat treated full fat soybeans, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

This project aims to evaluate the responses of heat stress in pigs during the growth phase. The study will have 24 animals housed in individual metabolic cages in a completely randomized design. The trial will last 56 days divided into two layers (0-28 and 0-56 days), kept in two environments: thermoneutral (22 ° C) and heat (34 ° C). The performance parameters will be evaluated by the daily feed intake (DFI), daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion (CA). The measurement of total fat, lean meat, bone mineral content and bone mineral density in housing will be measured using densitometry equipment (DXA GE Lunar Prodigy Advance, Madison, USA). The variables will be analyzed using a mixed linear model, considering the fixed effects of thermal environment (T-22 or T-34), since the repetition is considered as a random effect. Adjusted averages are compared by Tukey test and the effects considered significant if P <0.05. This project will improve the understanding of the influence of the thermal environment on the performance of the animals and look for alternatives that make it favorable to the breeding system. (AU)