Introduction and objective:
Ammonia (NH₃) is released during all stages of pig production, with particularly high emissions occurring in the breeding phase. The aim of this study is to compare ammonia concentrations across different sectors of a breed-to-wean pig farm, and to identify their daily variation patterns. Therefore, the exposure of support staff to ammonia in different production sectors may vary. It was assumed that differences in sow feeding strategies – resulting from varying protein and nitrogen levels in rations during mating, gestation, and farrowing/lactation – would lead to differences in ammonia concentrations between production sectors. The initial hypothesis suggested that the farrowing and lactation sector would show the highest ammonia levels.

Material and methods:
The study was conducted from March – October 2023. on a breed-to-wean farm located in the West Pomeranian Province of Poland. Ammonia concentration was measured using a portable multi-gas detector (MultiRAE Lite by Honeywell). Collected data were statistically analysed using the Statistica 13 software package.

Results:
Ammonia concentration in pig housing depends on multiple factors, including not only the protein content of the feed, but also ambient temperature and animal density. The study revealed that ammonia distribution across production sectors changed throughout the day, with concentrations peaking in the morning and gradually decreasing afterwards. Statistically significant correlations were found between ammonia concentration in individual sectors and both internal housing temperature, as well as minimum and maximum outdoor temperatures.

Conclusions:
Contrary to the hypothesis, the results showed that the highest ammonia levels were recorded in the mating sector rather than in the farrowing and lactation sectors.