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.
You should not even consider the option of using torch for illumination. It gives excess illumination that is not needed by pigs. Dim lights as already mentioned is what they want. If you love your animals, you will want them to have a good rest and break and so you will ensure that where they sleep has no bright lights. It is also advised that you do not illuminate the pens with fluorescent tubes that have flickers since research has shown some bit of sensitivity from pigs to flicker.
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.
It has been documented that there should be at least 40 lux of more artificial lights in buildings without natural lights that house pigs, with the minimum time frame being 8 hours in every 24 hours. The original study actually stated that 40-80 lux is enough to enhance the pigs' vision, be able to view objects and differentiate between day and night. A more recent study did not address this wholly, it suggested that the source of illumination, be it fluorescent or incandescent, also affects how well the pig views its surroundings.
Incandescent could produce dim light while fluorescent lights are brighter even with the same lux level. Seasonal changes may have tremendous effects on the lives of your pigs and installing or maintaining hog lights is for your utmost consideration. It is therefore recommended to use hog light in the way it should be for as not to waste energy and avoid the worst environment for you pigs.
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.
You should not even consider the option of using torch for illumination. It gives excess illumination that is not needed by pigs. Dim lights as already mentioned is what they want. If you love your animals, you will want them to have a good rest and break and so you will ensure that where they sleep has no bright lights. It is also advised that you do not illuminate the pens with fluorescent tubes that have flickers since research has shown some bit of sensitivity from pigs to flicker.
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.
It has been documented that there should be at least 40 lux of more artificial lights in buildings without natural lights that house pigs, with the minimum time frame being 8 hours in every 24 hours. The original study actually stated that 40-80 lux is enough to enhance the pigs' vision, be able to view objects and differentiate between day and night. A more recent study did not address this wholly, it suggested that the source of illumination, be it fluorescent or incandescent, also affects how well the pig views its surroundings.
Incandescent could produce dim light while fluorescent lights are brighter even with the same lux level. Seasonal changes may have tremendous effects on the lives of your pigs and installing or maintaining hog lights is for your utmost consideration. It is therefore recommended to use hog light in the way it should be for as not to waste energy and avoid the worst environment for you pigs.
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