Outdoor pig farming offers significant welfare benefits compared to indoor systems, but summer heat management is a critical welfare challenge that requires active intervention.
Outdoor pig farming represents a genuine welfare improvement over indoor confinement - pigs have space, rooting substrate, social complexity, and freedom from the most restrictive housing - but it introduces specific summer welfare challenges that must be actively managed. The absence of sweat glands makes pigs uniquely vulnerable to heat stress among domestic mammals of comparable size, and wallowing is not a behavioral preference but a physiological necessity. Farms that provide outdoor pigs with beautiful space but inadequate shade and wallow access in summer fail the animals during the most welfare-critical period of the year. Good outdoor pig welfare requires year-round management attention, not just spring and autumn when conditions are mild.