Influence of Pasture Composition and Weather Conditions on the Productivity and Behavioral Reactions of Pigs of East Balkan Breed

Abstract

In the Agricultural Experimental station- Sredets, in Strandzha region, a study was conducted with two groups of 10 pigs of East Balkan breed. The experiment began after weaning at 60 days of age (8,91 and 8,81 kg) and continued to the age of 123 days (28,02 and 26,48 kg live mass). The period from May (spring) to the end of August (summer) was covered. The purpose of this study was to investigate the productivity and some behavioral reactions of East Balkan pigs depending on the composition of the pasture and weather conditions. The pastures in Strandzha are not highly productive - from 890 to 1320 kg/daa and with low nutritional value - the protein content ranges from 8,89 to 12,1 % in the spring and from 5.53 to 5.91% during the summer. Growing pigs in the control group have achieved average daily gain of 0.155 kg throughout the whole period and the pigs from the experimental group 0.144 kg. This indicating that the various chemical and botanical composition of the herbageas well as herbage yield did not significantly affect the live weight of animals. Major influence on the productivity and behavior of piglets from the East Balkan breed have weather conditions during the season. The behavior of the two groups of pigs was observed for two consecutive days for 8 hours during the spring season (May) and summer (July). In the spring, the activity of the animals of both groups (83% and 89%), was higher compared to the summer (62% and 73%).