[An electric dynamic katathermometer and the thermal environment in pig farrowing pens]

Temperature conditions were measured with an electric dynamic catathermometer (EDC) and thermometers in pig farrowing houses 13 and 90 cm above the floor of the central and side corridors, boxes for sows and in piglet pens, heated with electric infra-radiators (input 525 W). The heat flow density of the EDC sensor, characterizing the cooling properties of the environment, was higher near the floor, at the ends of stables, on the sides exposed to wind, and after turning on the fan. The thermal conditions in the farrowing houses were therefore highly variable. In the piglet pens the heat flow density was usually kept at a very low level, owing to the thermal radiation of the electric infra-radiators, with possible bad implications for production. However, these facts cannot be documented just by the current measurements of air temperature.