Heat stress causes significant welfare harm and production losses in farmed animals globally. Climate change is expanding heat stress risk, making cooling systems and appropriate housing increasingly urgent welfare priorities.
Heat stress welfare represents a growing crisis as climate change expands both the duration and intensity of heat events across livestock-producing regions. Individual animals experiencing severe heat stress show rapid breathing, elevated core temperature, reduced movement, and in extreme cases heat stroke and death. The chronic effects of moderate heat stress including reduced feeding, altered metabolism, and impaired reproduction also represent welfare harm. The solutions are available - shade, ventilation, cooling water access, and appropriate stocking densities reduce heat stress risk substantially. The challenge is economic: retrofitting existing facilities for effective heat management is costly, and in competitive agricultural markets, welfare investments that are not legally required may not be prioritized.