Abstract
A comparative study was performed between the cage swine raising and ground swine raising in terms of meat productivity by using 24 hogs from 4 litters of LH breed through two seasonal feeding tests, in summer and in winter.
The test period covered the summer season of July through October and the winter season of December through April. The fattening period was designated for the time of growth from 34kg up to 90kg of body weights. The feedstuff provided was the new feed for meat productive performance test of Japan with resticted feeding. The hog pens in the winter season was heated with warm water piping on the floor surface for the cage swine raising, while no warming except laying of straw was provided for the ground swine raising group.
The results were as described hereunder.
1. No significant difference was found out between the cage raising and the ground raising groups in terms of weight gain and feed utility. The difference between the summer season and the winter season in terms of these factors was also no significant. However, the heating in winter season in the cage raising group resulted in less feed consumption by about 5% than in the ground raising group.
2. No significant difference was seen between the cage raising group and the ground raising group in terms of the findings with carcasses, although the cage raising group tended to show larger area of loin eye and thinner back fat than the ground raising group in the summer and winter seasons.
3. The overall judgement of the results according to the standerds for evaluation of meat productive performance test of swine revealed that the cage raising group tended to attain better marks in both the summer and the winter seasons.
4. The cage raising in winter season costed approx. \1, 000 for cage heating per head (40 litters of kerosine), but the heating cost could be offset as the cage raising group in the present test in terms of grading carcasses and feed consumption,
5. As a result, it can not be claimed that the cage swine raising is inferior to the ground swine raising in terms of meat productivity.
