By Beth Ferry and Madonna Benjamin
Managing livestock health, productivity and welfare requires a clear understanding of seasonal variations and the impacts of extreme temperatures. Both hot and cold weather events can negatively affect growth, reproduction and mortality, so it is essential to implement mitigation strategies to reduce economic losses. Heat stress and the effects it has on swine have been documented in scientific literature for many years, with major themes continuing to be management strategies that address performance and alleviate welfare concerns.
The response to adapting to the onset of hot weather differs based on the animal’s previous exposure and tolerance level, genetics, lifecycle phase, and production stage. Pigs are exceedingly affected by heat stress because of the limited number of functional sweat glands and the thick layer of fat under the skin. When the animal experiences heat stress, it compensates for growth, feed efficiency and reproduction efficiencies to diminish the effect of heat stress (reference).
Source : msu.edu