Effect of High Ambient Temperature on Growth Performance, Blood Characteristics and Fecal Concentration of Odorous Compounds in Growing Pigs
This study was conducted to secure basic data for developing technologies to reduce the generation of odor substances by investigating the effects of environmental temperature on growth performance and the generation of odor substances from feces in growing pigs. A total of 16 pigs (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc, average body weight 56.49±0.47kg) were randomly assigned to two treatments: thermal-neutral (TN) and heat stress (HS) conditions. The experiments were conducted for two weeks, with average temperature-humidity indices of 68.91±0.09 for TN and 85.98±0.08 for HS. The results showed that HS significantly decreased average daily feed intake (ADFI, 33.3%) and average daily gain (ADG, 25.8%) compared with TN (p<0.05). Non-esterified fatty acid in serum was lower (36.2%) in HS compared with TN (p<0.05). However, protein, blood urea nitrogen, cholesterol, triglyceride, glucose, and IgG in serum showed no difference between HS and TN. Phenol (350.0%) and skatole (416.3%) were significantly higher in HS than in TN (p<0.05). The decrease in growth performance is attributed to reduction in ADFI. The increase in phenol and skatole in HS is presumed to be due to the effect of HS on the metabolism of intestinal microbial composition. Digestion rate, intestinal microbial composition, and urine emissions are known to affect odor substances. Further research on the content of odor substances in urine, nutrient digestion rate, and intestinal microbial composition is considered necessary to determine the exact associations.