Dr.
Bernardo Predicala, an engineering researcher at the Prairie Swine Centre, has
found that sows prefer cool temperatures.
His team
developed a supplemental heating system that allows the sows to use a switch to
increase the temperature of the room.
A normal
temperature is 16.5 Celsius, but when he gave sows the ability to choose a temperature
they like, they lowered the thermostat by about five degrees.
That amounts to
an energy saving of seven to eight per cent.
Predicala’s
research is based on trials over two winters and he plans to continue the
trials for one more winter.
