Outdoor pig farming in summer requires specific management to prevent heat stress and sunburn in an animal with limited cooling mechanisms and pale skin.
Outdoor pig farming in summer is welfare-positive in many respects — pigs can root, explore, and express natural behaviors. However, thermal management becomes a critical welfare responsibility as temperatures rise. Pigs cannot sweat effectively and sunburn is a genuine welfare problem for pale-skinned breeds. Wallowing access is not optional — it is how pigs thermoregulate, and denying it in hot weather causes welfare harm. Good summer management combines adequate shade, wallowing access or equivalent cooling, and adjustment of feeding times to cooler parts of the day. Summer management failures — sunburned or heat-stressed pigs — represent preventable welfare violations.