Managing welfare challenges for outdoor pigs during summer including heat stress, sunburn, and parasite pressure.
Outdoor pig welfare in summer requires specific management attention to thermoregulation. Without access to wallows or shade, pigs in warm weather experience heat stress, sunburn, and potentially fatal hyperthermia. Welfare-conscious outdoor pig farming provides multiple wallows refreshed with cool water, shade structures, and careful monitoring of pigs showing heat stress signs. Timing management activities to cooler periods of the day and providing supplementary water for wallowing are simple, high-impact welfare interventions in warm weather.