Swine or hog as it is commonly called, is a farm animal with toes that are even in number. It is an ungulate or the species that belong to the former order Ungulata. It traces its origin from the wild boar of unique kind in its own right. These type of animal that do not have the capacity to distinguish even their own kind nor communicate with each other without the right hog light. Neither, they can see their own feeders.
A swine is believed to be better off with a dim level of natural illumination, as evidence has shown that its eyes cannot tolerate bright lights well. It is important to have this in mind when planning on how to establish lighting in your pig units, whether indoor or outdoor. Natural lights enhance the production of vitamin D3 in pigs, although its deficiency is not considered harmful as pig diets contain vitamin D2.
Lighting your pigs may find it hard for them to adjust to it. Spotlights are to be avoided because they prefer to sleep in spaces which are not lighted or dim as can be described. Rest is achieved by not lighting their pens with brightness. It has been observed that pigs may have disruptive rests in instances they see light movement. It only suggests that you maintain your fluorescent lights so as not to disturb the animals.
Different seasons can adversely affect a pig's reproduction rate, with the major reason being related to temperature. There is usually a decrease in reproduction during high temperature months especially in the summer. One factor that can affect pigs' reproductive pattern is controlling day-length in the pig unit. In all these, lighting does not play a major role in reproduction; the sire line characteristics do.
When you increase the amount of time they spend in the units, the pigs are likely to have their young ones suckle for long time. The increase would be like if you make their day lengths go as long as between 15 to 18 hours. This would also mean they eat more of their growers and finishers. You need to know that if they stay with light all through, they will be stress and this will reduce their productivity.
Maintaining a bright lights in pigpens can damage the eyes of your hogs and may result to weight loss. Do not use lightings round-the-clock to avoid unrestful behavior in your pigs. Though, they can tolerate and adapt to artificial light solutions.
There has been current information that pigs in enclosed structures should be lighted with at least 40 lux of lights for 8 hours per day as the minimum requirement. The original statement was that 40 to 80 lux would be enough for the pigs to see and can distinguish the night from the day. But the information was not confirmed as it said that incandescent or fluorescent lights will greatly affect their sense of sight.
Applying the same lux level, fluorescent bulb is considered to be two times brighter than incandescent lights. Of great significance would be the information regarding pigs' seasonality. More important is over or under use of the hog light and hence, energy wastage as well as the provision of an environment that is below standard.
A swine is believed to be better off with a dim level of natural illumination, as evidence has shown that its eyes cannot tolerate bright lights well. It is important to have this in mind when planning on how to establish lighting in your pig units, whether indoor or outdoor. Natural lights enhance the production of vitamin D3 in pigs, although its deficiency is not considered harmful as pig diets contain vitamin D2.
Lighting your pigs may find it hard for them to adjust to it. Spotlights are to be avoided because they prefer to sleep in spaces which are not lighted or dim as can be described. Rest is achieved by not lighting their pens with brightness. It has been observed that pigs may have disruptive rests in instances they see light movement. It only suggests that you maintain your fluorescent lights so as not to disturb the animals.
Different seasons can adversely affect a pig's reproduction rate, with the major reason being related to temperature. There is usually a decrease in reproduction during high temperature months especially in the summer. One factor that can affect pigs' reproductive pattern is controlling day-length in the pig unit. In all these, lighting does not play a major role in reproduction; the sire line characteristics do.
When you increase the amount of time they spend in the units, the pigs are likely to have their young ones suckle for long time. The increase would be like if you make their day lengths go as long as between 15 to 18 hours. This would also mean they eat more of their growers and finishers. You need to know that if they stay with light all through, they will be stress and this will reduce their productivity.
Maintaining a bright lights in pigpens can damage the eyes of your hogs and may result to weight loss. Do not use lightings round-the-clock to avoid unrestful behavior in your pigs. Though, they can tolerate and adapt to artificial light solutions.
There has been current information that pigs in enclosed structures should be lighted with at least 40 lux of lights for 8 hours per day as the minimum requirement. The original statement was that 40 to 80 lux would be enough for the pigs to see and can distinguish the night from the day. But the information was not confirmed as it said that incandescent or fluorescent lights will greatly affect their sense of sight.
Applying the same lux level, fluorescent bulb is considered to be two times brighter than incandescent lights. Of great significance would be the information regarding pigs' seasonality. More important is over or under use of the hog light and hence, energy wastage as well as the provision of an environment that is below standard.
