A study by researchers at Iowa State University found that placing pregnant sows in group housing structures (hoop barns) could be more cost-effective and just as productive as placing them in sow stalls.
The study, conducted for 2.5 years at a research farm in South West Iowa, compared sows housed in stalls to those housed in naturally ventilated hoop barns with straw bedding.
After tracking 957 litters from 353 sows, the scientists discovered that sows in the hoop barns gave birth to more live pigs per litter than those in gestation stalls.
Hypothesis The scientists suggested that the bedding and the sows' ability to huddle in the hoop barns, thus controlling their temperature, could have added to their performance.