Effects of Sow Activity
Activity utilizes energy so increases in activity require additional dietary energy. Activity is often defined as standing, walking, and exploratory behaviors in swine. Activity level of sows can increase in any housing system for various reasons. But, one would expect activity of group-housed sows to increase comparedwith individually-housed sows because sows have greater freedom of movement (Salak-Johnson et al., 2012). Salak-Johnson et al. (2012) reported that activity of group-housed sows with varying floor space allowances ranged from 135 to 240 minutes daily. Increasing activity from 120 to 240 minutes daily increases energy requirements about 313 kcal ME which can be satisfied with an increase of 94 g of feed (Scenarios 1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3).