Document type scientific and technical summary published on theEURCAW-Pigs website
Authors: Vermeer Herman, Hoofs Anita
Preview: With increasing global temperatures, the risk of heat stress for farm animals is growing. As pigs are not able to sweat and in livestock houses they generally do not have the opportunity to wet themselves, an ambient temperature above the upper critical temperature (UCT) leads to reduced welfare and performance. In this review, technologies are described on cooling the pig (sprinkler/shower, floor cooling, fans for air circulation) and on cooling the environment (heat exchanger, fog/mist, cooling pads, air conditioner, underground tubes, underfloor air inlet) for pigs kept on farms. The knowledge in this review aims to support welfare inspectors in the field of climate control on pig farms, in particular at high temperatures.
