| At a University swine farm, five different
floors were tested in the breeding/ gestation area. Results showed that no breeding
floor is perfect, but woven wire is the best available. The
worst flooring: smooth slats. Wet or dry they're the worst because pigs have to get
their toes down between the slats to get any kind of traction at all.
Asphalt slats fared no better. Slippery, little traction.
Grooved slats were a big improvement over smooth slats. One problem: grooves
quickly plug up with manure, making the floor slick. Traction was further reduced
because pigs couldn't get their toes down into the pattern.
 |
"Woven wire got the vote for best traction, wet
or dry" |
The head of the University's Animal Science department said,
"Either put in 3-gauge woven wire with a good support system or go with grooved
slats. We need more work with slats though: to know how to best groove
them." "The ease of installing woven wire makes it very practical."
* Reprinted from National Hog Farmer - August 1987 |
