Impacts on performance of growing-finishing pigs under heat stress conditions: a meta-analysis

High ambient temperatures are a challenge for animal production around the world, and they are one of the major reasons for economic and productive losses in pig production. Under stress conditions, the energy contribution to productive functions is reduced, generating health imbalances, decreased productivity rates and changes in animal behavior. Despite the numerous articles published on this subject, the variability of results on performance parameters is high. For this reason, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the actual impact of high ambient temperature (HAT) (29 degrees C to 35 degrees C) on growing-finishing pig performance, compared with animals kept in a thermoneutral environment (TNT) (18 degrees C to 25 degrees C), based on meta-analysis. Data on average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (FI) and feed gain ratio (F:G) were extracted from 22 (n=22) papers published in scientific journals. The values were analyzed using an expansion of the t-test, considering the random effect of each study. Results showed that HAT reduced the values of ADG (654.38 vs 595.81g/d) and FI (2.141 vs 1.875g/d) when compared with the thermoneutral group. There was no statistical difference between the F:G values for both groups. In conclusion, high ambient temperatures negatively influence performance parameters of growing-finishing pigs when compared with those in thermoneutral conditions.