This is in accordance with
a previous preference study showing that sows at 20°C
did not deselect a heated fl oor as a birth place (Pedersen
et al., 2007). Damm et al. (2010) concluded that loosehoused
sows are able to divide the available space
into a nesting area and a nonnesting area in farrowing
pens; likewise, the present results indicate that sows
are able to use different areas for lying to deliver and
lying to thermoregulate. Presumably, increased water
use for drinking and for cooling also contributes to the
thermoregulation, as the water use of sows kept at 25°C
was considerably greater during the prefarrowing week
and again the last 2 wk of the lactation period.