Gaseous emissions, growth performance and pork quality of pigs housed in deep-litter system compared to...

This study measured gaseous emissions, growth performance and pork quality in a deep-litter system and concrete-floor system. Three hundred and twenty weaned piglets with an average body weight (BW) of 6.0 ± 0.3 kg were assigned randomly into three treatments. Treatments 1 and 2 included four pens with 20 pigs for each pen respectively in the deep-litter system, and the ratio of sawdust to chaff was 5:5 and 3:7 for treatments 1 and 2 respectively, the probiotics inoculated into the fermentation bedding for both treatments were composed of Saccharomycetes, Bacillus subtilis and Actinomycetes; treatment 3 was the conventional concrete-floor system including eight pens with 20 pigs for each pen. The concentration of NH3 and CO2 in the deep-litter system was significantly (P < 0.001) lower than that in the concrete-floor system. The ratio of feed to gain for pigs raised in the deep-litter system was significantly (P < 0.05) lower than that for pigs housed in the concrete-floor system. The carcass weight and length, color score and rate of cooking meat for pork from the deep-litter system were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than those from the concrete-floor system. Results indicate that pigs raised in the deep-litter system had some animal welfare improvements and an odor nuisance reduction; in the meantime, pork quality also improved from the deep-litter system compared to the pigs housed in the concrete-floor system.