Influence of various swine building designs on the environment during the warm season in the south from Brazil.

Abstract

The environmental conditions of different swine building designs during the warm season were analised using data collected in several farms in the study including 153 buildings at 23 counties of the southern Brazil, observed from October 1981 to February 1983. The designs included open front, completely closed, completely open and mixed buildings. Temperature, relative humidity and air velocity were measured internally in each building at 7:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 1:30 PM, 5.00 PM and 8:00 PM. Temperature data were collected in several locations inside the building at 0.00; 0.30; 1.00 and 2.00 meters height from the floor, while relative humidity and air velocity were measured at the 1.50 meters height from the floor. There were no significant differences (P >0.05) among building designs for temperature and air velocity. Open front and completely closed building presented higher relative humidity values (P <0.05) than completely open and mixed building designs. The temperatures observed in open front, completely closed, completely open and mixed building designs were 25.4^oC; 25.6^oC; 25.3^oC and 24.3^oC, respectively, being higher than those recomended for adult pigs. The ventilation values observed for open front (3.05m/min), completely closed (4.04 m/min), completely open (5.66 m/min) and mixed (2.65 m/min) building designs were inadequate for all designs considered. It is concluded that swine farms are not managing their buildings well enough to control the environment.