Influence of housing type and age in female pigs. 2. Effects on biochemical indicators of fat metabolism and the fatty acid profile of belly fat and back fat depots

Abstract

Weaning pigs into deep-litter (D) housing systems and then moving them into conventional (C) housing facilities affects the growth paths of the pigs and can result in differences in carcass composition which may be explained by altered fat metabolism. To examine this proposition experimentally, 160 female Large White × Landrace pigs were obtained at 3 weeks of age, average liveweight 5.5 ± 0.08 kg and were stratified by weight to four treatments. The treatments consisted of two housing treatments, C or D, across two growth periods: (i) early (3-13 weeks of age); and (ii) late (13-24 weeks of age). At ∼13 weeks of age eight pigs per experimental treatment (n = 32) were slaughtered and the rem..