Save Energy in the Farrowing Room With Piglet Hovers / Kennels
By Larry D. Jacobson and Lee J. Johnston, University of Minnesota Extension Service - Piglet Hovers (or kennels) are simple, solid partition enclosures located in the farrowing crate or pen to which piglets have free access. A few commercial companies...

Ventilation - Cost of Treatment?
By Nick Bird for FarmEx - Nowadays, it seems that producers are often advised to give "plenty of fresh air" to prevent ill health due to respiratory problems and contaminated air, which is interpreted as increasing the minimum ventilation rates. As with...

Ventilation and Heating Costs - Weather in the last month
By Nick Bird for FarmEx - Running costs of heating and ventilation systems depend on the weather. In warmer weather, more ventilation is needed to remove pig heat. In colder weather, more heating is needed. When considering heating running costs, you...

Mechanical Ventilation for Pig Housing
By Larry D. Jacobson, Minnesota University Extension Agricultural Engineer - Environmentally controlled facilities for housing pigs require ventilating systems which control the moisture and heat produced by the animals as well as maintain acceptable...

"Psychological heating" - An expensive mistake
By Digby Scott, National Pig Association - This article is based on Nick Bird's case study "Gas use on a US breeding unit" and looks at why altering the temperature and ventilation settings for pig buildings can create unnecessary heating bills.

Heat Stress Index Chart for Swine Producers
By Iowa State University - Due to the fact that the US National Weather Service (NWS) has cut back on information that they provide to radio stations on livestock heat stress, ISU has developed a heat stress index chart to aid swine producers in making...

Maintenance of Evaporative Cooling Systems
Dr. Joe Zulovich, P.E, Livestock Housing Systems Engineer, University of Missouri-Columbia - For evaporative cooling to function, the water handling equipment components of evaporative cooling systems need to be kept relatively clean. Different maintenance...

Why Evaporative Cooling Works
By Dr. Joe Zulovich, P.E. Livestock Housing Systems Engineer, University of Missouri-Columbia - Evaporative cooling is used to relieve heat stress conditions in swine production. Two different types of evaporative cooling can be used in swine facilities....

Time to Test the Water
By Bill Raufer, Pork Magazine - A pig's cooling system depends on water -- and performance suffers when it does not get enough. Areas that suffers most are growth, gain and feed conversion.

How to Cut Hot Weather's Toll
By Bill Raufer, Pork Magazine - Giving your facilities a comprehensive cooling inspection can be one of your best time investments. That is, provided you follow up with needed repairs and maintenance.

Environmental Housing Requirements: Climatic needs and Responses of Pigs
By William H Close - Close Consultancy, Berkshire, England. - The main function of housing is to provide an optimum environment within which animals can achieve high rates of growth and efficiency of feed utilisation, yet live comfortably under good...