Hog Heat Stress

Keep Animals Safe and Healthy During Excessive Heat

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 13:25:56 GMT

Excessive heat will once again blast much of the U.S. this week, with heat indices predicted to reach 110 degrees Fahrenheit or more in many locations. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign animal welfare expert Angela Green-Miller says pets and livestock are at risk, and it’s up to humans to keep them safe.

Green-Miller runs the Animal Welfare, Environment, and Sustainability Laboratory as an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and The Grainger College of Engineering at Illinois.

Green-Miller answers common questions from pet owners and livestock producers.

First of all, how do animals cool themselves?
Different animals use different methods, but some broad brush-strokes for all animals include seeking shade and shelter, lowering activity and feed intake to keep metabolism down, and drinking more water. Any of the cooling strategies we would use, they would use too.

Don’t some animals not sweat? How do they keep cool?
That’s true. Dogs and pigs, for example. They dissipate heat through panting, defecation, and urination. They may increase those activities, which makes it that much more important to replenish their water supply.

What can humans do to help animals when it’s hot? Let’s start with pets.
Anything you would do for yourself, you could do for them. Bring them into the air conditioning, if possible, make sure they have access to plenty of water, and try to have them rest indoors or in the shade during the hottest part of the day. For outdoor animals, shade is critically important. Also, if they can be elevated from hot surfaces, such as on an elevated bed, that will let air circulate around them and remove some of that heat.

What about livestock?
We need to make sure the air is moving, bringing fresh air into the barn, even if it’s hot outside. The animals are contributing energy and heat into the environment, so the more of that we can move out, the better. And moving air over their body surface helps them release some of that energy.

For animals in indoor confinement, producers can alter lighting and feeding schedules. The idea is for them to rest during the hottest part of the day, so keep the lights down and withhold feed until it starts to cool down. That’s not an uncommon strategy, but there may be some producers out there who could use a reminder.

It’s also critical to ensure that water lines are working and that there’s fresh water flowing. Double-check those drinkers a little more frequently to make sure they’re not clogged. This is the time of year when we emphasize the critical nature of maintenance. If there’s any deferred maintenance, bump it up to the top of the priority list because a broken fan in this type of weather is one of the worst situations we can have.

What are the potential economic impacts of excessive heat on the livestock industry? Are there predictable dips in productivity every summer?
Absolutely. Feed intake is reduced during heat events, so we see dips in productivity. They’re also losing energy in the form of heat instead of putting it toward growth. We see reproductive impacts as well. Breeding rates tend to drop whenever there’s a heat event, and sometimes we see gestational impacts as well, especially in animals that are late in gestation.

Disease Strikes in Every Season: Don't Forget These On-Farm Practices as Temperatures Rise

Tue, 06 May 2025 21:41:37 GMT

Just because summer heat is around the corner, don’t be fooled into thinking your winter infection worries are gone. While viruses such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) have historically struck swine herds more in cold months, the reality is that under the right conditions, your pigs can contract viral illnesses in the summer as well. In fact, Midwest veterinarians and producers tend to see more PRRS outbreaks this time of year with our warm days and chilly nights.

Disease biosecurity is just one area in which you as a swine producer do not want to become fatigued as we head into summertime. It may be tempting to ease off on some of the precautions you took in the winter to hold off viruses, but “seasonality” for PRRS as well as influenza, deltacoronavirus and porcine epidemic diarrhea is not as defined as it used to be.

Don’t Let Up
It is still important in these warmer months to stick to your truck-washing, as well as changing/washing routines for entering a barn or moving between barns. Lessening or eliminating wildlife vectors such as rodents and migratory birds is also key.

Carthage System’s Chief Operating Officer Shaun McGinn, who oversees day-to-day management of Professional Swine Management (PSM) farms, explains that part of each farm manager’s summer-prep checklist is replacing and resetting rodent bait boxes to maintain weekly throughout the season.

Birds, which are especially attracted to on-farm compost, are carriers of all sorts of potential viral infections. One trick McGinn said works for their farms comes from the world of used cars, of all places. “I always thought those colorful, waving ‘dancing men’ on car lots were just some gimmick, until I found out they’re there to scare off the birds that might leave droppings on the clean cars,” he explains. So, PSM tried this on its farms — turns out birds don’t like these modern scarecrows near pig barns, either.

In addition to these efforts, don’t neglect doing the simplest thing you can to try to prevent disease: Make sure your pigs are caught up on vaccines, especially season-specific ones such as those against bacterial infections that tend to flourish in hot, humid weather. It’s frustrating to lose animals to an infection that could have been avoided or at least curbed better with a comparatively inexpensive vaccine.

Virus reminders
A virus that does tend to circulate more in warm weather is Seneca Valley Virus (SVV), a vesicular disease with clinical symptoms nearly identical to foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). Last year, the Midwest saw an increase in SVV vesicular lesions, or blisters. This can also present in diarrhea as a symptom, so if you start seeing this in piglets, it’s important to address right away, as SVV can cause 30-40 percent mortality among these babies.

Another important thing to know about lesions is that you should immediately report any you find to your veterinarian and the state vet and seek lab testing to eliminate FMD as the culprit. FMD is considered a foreign animal disease, which has stricter protocols for reporting and treatment. We hope this kind of report is overkill and that it’s not FMD — as we used to say in vet school, though, “I don’t want to be the first vet to find a foreign animal disease, but I don’t want to be the first vet to miss it.”

Your next read: Protect Your Pigs With Summer Beat-the-Heat Prep Tips

Protect Your Pigs With Summer Beat-the-Heat Prep Tips

Tue, 06 May 2025 21:39:42 GMT

Disease doesn’t discriminate seasons. As summer approaches and temperatures rise, so does the importance of preparing for the heat wave ahead. Carthage System’s Chief Operating Officer Shaun McGinn, who oversees day-to-day management of Professional Swine Management (PSM) farms, offers some key points to keep your operation running smoothly during the hot summer months.

Maintenance reminders
Top priorities on PSM’s farms’ summer-prep checklist include checking generators for repairs and preventive maintenance; inspecting outdoor watering systems and preparing them to turn back on after a long winter shutoff; and making sure the barn cool cells are ready to deploy, McGinn says. These cells are especially important in keeping the barns cool and, in fact, may make a difference of as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit on a steaming summer day.

Part of your preparation should be to make sure those are up and running before they’re needed. This means replacing any broken water lines from the winter, as well as other worn parts, and running disinfectant or algaecide through the cells to ensure cleanliness and longevity. Also, check there are no holes in the pads and do a test run of the cool cells.

Ventilation and fan upkeep
Another tool for beating heat stress in the summer is checking your facility’s fans and ventilation system for needed replacements and repairs. We know pigs can’t sweat to cool off, so using misters and dippers helps simulate that process by coating them in cool water that evaporates to take some heat off their skin. Smooth-running ventilation and fans provide that cross breeze that dries the animals more quickly.

McGinn says their farms, and even the Illinois headquarters, stay stocked up on fan motors and blades to ensure speedy repairs in case of storms, tornadoes or simple equipment failure.

Pigs in hot temperatures
And, of course, Pig Care 101 tells us to make available plenty of cool water for every animal in these upcoming hotter months. You should monitor your pigs’ respiration when it’s particularly hot or humid — if you notice their panting is becoming too labored or, worse, stopping in high temperatures, take immediate action to better cool them off.

This has impacts on transport of animals in the summer, as well. Since the goal is to deliver healthy pigs with no mortalities, it’s important to minimize the heat to which they are subjected when riding in a semi trailer:

● Try to load the truck during cooler parts of the day when the forecast is hot and humid, beginning earlier in the morning or waiting until evening (if driving overnight)

● Speaking of overnight, if it’s possible to transport during these hours, it does remove direct sunlight as your main element of exacerbating the heat

● Wet down bedding or shavings inside the trailer to help cool the environment

● Pigs should not be sprayed directly with cold water when heat-stressed. This will cause a shock to the pig’s system and can result in death

● Drivers should be instructed to keep the truck moving as much as possible until the pigs are unloaded — if they cannot unload immediately at their destination, drive around the block or down the road and back until they can, since a still trailer with no breeze or airflow is a hot trailer

● This also applies to the drive itself — ask your driver to plan routes that take them around construction and metro-area traffic jams as much as possible (again, driving at night may help with some of this, on top of cooler temperatures)

We once put a data logger in a trailer that was moving in minus-20-degree weather a few years ago, and what we noticed is the interior got up to 20 degrees over zero from the truck being in direct sunlight. While 20 degrees isn’t warm at all in the winter, the point is to think about what a 40-degree difference means in the summer to a trailer full of pigs.

Even more heat considerations
Pig production depends on the animals consuming enough well-formulated feed to hit their growth and gain targets and to sustain them through times of higher stress. But just as you or I are likely to not be as hungry when we get hot and sweaty, the same applies to pigs in the heat of a June afternoon.

For that reason, it’s important to gently push where necessary — for instance, making each animal get up and walk around to exercise and stimulate appetite — and to make sure the feed is available later in the day and overnight, when they are more likely to eat.

Our farms make dietary formulation changes for pigs in the summer, as well. While there’s little alteration in the gestation diet for sows, we increase energy and lysine components in lactation diets around the first of May to ensure every sow that will be farrowing has the nutrition to handle such stressful activity — and because, like other pigs, they tend to consume less feed as it gets hotter. For the same reason, we also boost the energy in nursery and grow-finish diets in the summer.

“Summertime is our most important time of year, as it is when pigs are worth the most,” McGinn added. “Pig prices tend to go up in June and fall off in the autumn. We take preparing our facilities and sows in advance seriously, from barn and grounds care to plotting our feed formulations and bin maintenance, in order to supply feed at peak eating times in sufficient quantities and with the right nutritional energy.”

Don’t forget people
It’s also wise for producers to watch out for the humans on the farm in hot weather. McGinn notes one of the simplest things PSM farms do is make cold drinks available to workers at all times.

The safety team also monitors weather and temperature forecasts and sends out reminders on the most hot or humid days for how to beat the heat, and allows flex-hours so people can instead work earlier to load trucks or later at night to sprinkle water over sows (which is all right to do in cooler conditions than a hot trailer or direct sunlight), for example.

Your Next Read: Disease Strikes in Every Season: Don’t Forget These On-Farm Practices as Temperatures Rise

6 Ventilation Reminders Before You Plan a Swine Barn Project

Tue, 30 Jul 2024 14:43:17 GMT

Although proper ventilation plays a critical role in providing an ideal environment in swine barns, Mark Oberreuter, system design engineer for AP, says it’s often left to the end of the planning process when designing a new barn or remodeling project.

Ventilation should be discussed at the outset of the process so that design plans can support the right ventilation system, he points out in a release.

“Producers tend to have initial conversations about what type of building will work best for the land they have and for their swine operation,” Oberreuter says. “Most of the time that works, but sometimes the building design is great but not ideal for ventilation.”

Here are 6 things Oberreuter suggests when planning a swine barn project:

1. Fans
Building size and airflow requirements determine the number and size of fans needed for proper airflow, whether that is a single fan at the end of the building or multiple units spaced along the sidewall. The rule of thumb is that air entering from inlets should not have to travel more than 100 feet to reach a fan.

2. Manure pit fans
These fans have pros and cons. The advantage is that they bring warm air down through the slats, helping to dry them out as they exhaust air to the outside. The disadvantage is that producers have to keep an eye on them, as the fans collect animal waste and can be challenging to maintain.

3. Ceiling inlets
These inlets can be used year-round or just during colder months. Most are now actuated inlets, which automatically provide precise control and distribution of airflow as ventilation stages increase. Generally, inlets should be spaced no more than 20-25 feet down the length of the barn to achieve a good air distribution pattern.

4. Tunnel ventilation
This type of system creates high wind velocity across the length of the barn, providing additional cooling during excessive summer heat, especially for older animals. Whether tunnel ventilation is a good option depends on several factors, such as the number of animals and rooms, as well as the room dimensions. The barn location is also very important – for example, one that receives good winds versus one that’s situated in a valley.

5. Evaporative cooling system
This is the most popular cooling system, especially for sow operations, and involves running air through cooling pads. Determine the correct size for the evaporative cooling system based on the height and width of the building and number of fans.

6. Heaters
The number and type of heaters will be based on how many BTUs are required. That will depend on the number of animals, how much heat they produce, the size of rooms and the amount of insulation.

“Producers may not dive into all of the details of what their contractor is installing,” Oberreuter points out. “I would just encourage them to ask questions about what ventilation system is being planned for the building and who has done background work to ensure it is the right equipment.”

Are Your Barns Ready for the Summer?

Fri, 10 May 2024 15:11:37 GMT

As summer approaches, preparing the barn to be ready for seasonal heat should begin before the summer heat wave starts. Here are five things to consider:

1. Nutrition
Nutrient density of the feed needs to be adjusted for the lower feed intake during the summer. Sows could also experience reduced feed intake and ultimately lysine intake. The reduction in lysine intake can result in prolonged wean to estrus. While fat is not currently economical, finding ways to improve energy intake can be sought. Close attention should be paid to ingredients that may reduce feed intake which may need to be removed during the summer.

2. Feed intake
Summer heat stress will create a reduction in feed intake. The utilization of wet feed can improve feed intake by 1 to 2 pounds which can improve growth rates, milk yield, litter weights and wean to estrus intervals. Adjusting amino acid ratios can also influence feed intake. For example, increasing the Trp:Lys ratio can improve feed intake.

3. Cooling mechanisms
Ensuring that cool cells are functional before the heat can prevent drops in feed intake and heat stress. Turn on the pumps and evaluate the cooling pads for hard water deposits and rodent damage to allow for appropriate water dispersion. In finishing barns, make sure that all the water misters are operational and any malfunctioning heads are replaced.

4. Water pressure
Proper water pressure can improve water intake. Low water intake can reduce feed intake. Make sure water lines and the screens on water nipples are clean and free of debris.

5. Water supply
Ensure water nipples are at appropriate height. The nipples should be at the height of the shoulder of the smallest pig in the pen. Water bowls should be provided at a rate of one bowl per 20 pigs. In addition, ensure that water nipples are not dripping and resulting in water wastage.

Proper management of water and feed during the summer can help reduce the negative impacts on growth and milk yield. Continual monitoring of these items throughout the summer will be needed to maintain good results.

Laura Greiner is an assistant professor in animal science at Iowa State University.

Hot Weather, Cool Strategies: 5 Tips for Feeding Lactating Sows in the Summer

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 17:36:05 GMT

Seasonal infertility is a major issue for the U.S. swine industry, resulting in substantial economic losses due to decreased farrowing rate, reduced litter sizes and increased non-productive days. Heat stress during the lactating period induces physiologic and metabolic changes in sows, leading to the mobilization of body reserves to offset nutrient deficiencies. This excessive mobilization of body tissues compromises the reproductive performance of sows.

Ensuring that lactating sows meet their amino acids and energy requirements is crucial for optimal milk production, maintenance of body reserves and reproductive outcomes. While enhancing farrowing room environments through ventilation management is critical, equal attention must be paid to the nutrition and feeding of sows. Here are five strategic recommendations for feeding lactating sows during the summer months:

1. Preparing Sows for Farrowing and Lactation
The feeding management of sows during gestation significantly influences their body condition at farrowing, which is a pivotal factor for feed intake during lactation. Over-conditioned sows typically reduce feed intake, whereas under-conditioned sows lack adequate body reserves to sustain lactation. In addition, when transitioning sows into farrowing rooms, a carefully regulation of the feed amount provided to sows can prevent complications and stillborn pigs. When feasible, hand-feeding sows around farrowing can facilitate close monitoring of feed intake and timely identification of sows requiring medical intervention.

2. Water Availability and Quality
Water, often overlooked, is one of the most important nutrients as it’s involved in almost every function of the body. Sufficient clean and fresh water is essential to ensure optimal sow health and milk production. The key to effective water management lies in ensuring availability and quality. Before placing sows into farrowing rooms, check your water systems. This should include an inspection of the drinkers to confirm that they are properly positioned and delivering the adequate flow. Maintaining a recommended water flow rate of 1 L/min or 4 cups/min for sows in the farrowing room is critical.

3. Sow Nutrition
To compensate for the reduced feed intake during summer months, consider using high-dense diets, balancing feed cost and sow performance. As the use of added fat in lactation diets is carefully considered to increase the energy density of diets, we recommend its use to meet the minimum intake of essential fatty acids. Our research has shown that providing lactating sows with a minimum of 100 g/d of linoleic acid prevents pregnancy loss in the subsequent cycle. Meeting amino acid requirements is particularly critical for younger sows that are at a higher risk. If a separate lactation diet can be delivered to young sows, consider providing them with 59 g/d SID Lysine. Additionally, dietary osmolytes like betaine have been shown to be beneficial. Feeding 0.2% dietary betaine during the summer months to mature lactating sows was reported to improve the subsequent litter size by 1.2 total pigs born.

4. Sow Feed and Feeders
Make feed quality a priority. High levels of mycotoxins can further reduce feed intake, so it’s crucial to monitor these in key ingredients like corn, soybean meal, distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS), among others. Keep feed fresh and feeders clean because feed tends to spoil in warm temperatures, which sows will reject. Consider adjusting the feeding times to cooler hours of the day. During the day, provide smaller meals more frequently and closely monitor off-feed sows, as they may need medical attention.

5. Some Practical Considerations
Minimizing stress for sows during summer months is a proactive step to maintain their health and productivity. Move sows during the cooler parts of the day. When placing sows into farrowing rooms, group them by age and body condition. This strategy allows caretakers to focus their attention on the high-risk females, promoting better water and feed intake and enabling close monitoring and rapid intervention on sows that go off-feed. Ensure that farrowing rooms are well-prepared prior to the sows’ arrival, with fully functional feeders, feed systems, drinkers, and ventilation systems.

Develop a comprehensive summer plan with your team, focusing on these key strategies to ‘beat the heat’ and minimize seasonal infertility.

David Rosero is an assistant professor in animal science at Iowa State University.

References:
Knauer, M.T., and D. J. Baitinger. The sow body condition caliper. Appl Engineering Agr 31, 175-178 (2015).

Mendoza, S.M., Boyd, R.D., Remus, J. Sow performance in response to natural betaine fed during lactation and post-weaning during summer and non-summer months. J Animal Sci Biotechnol 11, 69 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40104-020-00471-0

Menegat, Mariana B., Robert D. Goodband, Joel M. DeRouchey, Mike D. Tokach, Jason C. Woodworth, and Steve S. Dritz. Kansas State University Swine Nutrition Guide: Water in Swine Nutrition (2019)

PIC. PIC Nutrition and Feeding Guidelines. (2021). Access on April 2 2024. Available on: https://www.pic.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/03/PIC-Nutrition-Manual_English-Imperial.pdf

Rosero, D.S., Boyd, R.D., McCulley, M., Odle, J., van Heugten. Essential fatty acid supplementation during lactation is required to maximize the subsequent reproductive performance of the modern sow. Anim Reprod Sci 168, 151-163. (2016)

Is Your Ventilation Ready for Warmer Weather?

Tue, 09 Apr 2024 17:04:32 GMT

By Erin McCoy, veterinary physician assistant at Pipestone

As someone who thrives on outdoor adventures, I eagerly anticipate the warmer weather and the lively buzz that comes with spring. But it’s also the time when our barn ventilation systems kick into high gear. With temperatures climbing during the day and dipping at night, it’s crucial our ventilation systems keep pace with the changing temperatures of the seasons.

I encourage producers to conduct a thorough check-up on their ventilation systems to ensure they’re ready for the impending warmer weather. Here’s a checklist for guidance:

Soffit Doors

It’s crucial to prioritize checking soffit doors despite any lingering concerns about cold weather. While the closure of outside soffit doors on the north or west sides of barns serves to shield against snow infiltration into the attic, it’s important to recognize the potential drawbacks of keeping them shut. Keeping these doors closed can starve the attic’s ventilation system, especially as more fan stages are activated. Therefore, once the threat of snow has passed, open the soffit doors and clear dust or debris obstructing the openings. Barn inlets will close as needed to manage the cooler air.

Wall Fans

Ensure all wall fans are uncovered, in preparation for that unexpectedly warm day. If I notice stage three fans are running, that is a clear indication it is time to uncover the stage four fan in anticipation of rising temperatures.

Curtains

Remove any bubble wrap or plastic covering your curtains and switch the toggle switches to automatic mode. Additionally, check the curtain settings to ensure a delay of 2°F to 3°F before transitioning into tunnel or curtain mode after maxing out on fan power. This is important to prevent curtains from bouncing up and down on those 40°F-to-50°F-degree days. This provides our pigs and our people with a comfortable consistency in air movement.

Inlets

Calibrate and check the functionality of each inlet in every fan stage, aiming for a target airflow of 600' to 800' per minute. A good rule of thumb is the airflow should hit you in the face from 6' to 8' away from the inlet. Inlets might need recalibration due to ice buildup during colder winter days.

Alarms

Check the settings on emergency thermostats and alarm high/low settings to adjust for upcoming summer temperatures.

A Hot Situation for Hogs

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 16:45:00 GMT

By Olga Vicente, ARS Office of Communications

With temperatures rising because of climate change, heat stress is becoming a more serious problem for all kinds of living things — including livestock. Pigs are very sensitive to heat because they don’t sweat and therefore have trouble responding to excessive heat. This problem affects the productivity of the swine industry and causes health and welfare issues in the pig population. Currently, the United States is the third-largest producer and consumer of pork and pork products.

“You know, back around 2003, it was estimated that the swine industry lost around $299 million per year in just the U.S. alone due to heat stress,” said Jay S. Johnson, supervisory research animal scientist at the USDA-ARS Livestock Behavior Research Unit in West Lafayette, IN. “If you adjust that for inflation, that’s more like $493 million per year now.”

Since then, things like climate change and genetic improvements in pig carcass and reproduction traits have resulted in pigs with greater basal level of heat generation which has culminated in lower tolerance of heat for pigs. Experiencing a heat stress event causes negative impacts on the pigs’ growth and their ability to get pregnant or to maintain a pregnancy, with greater losses commonly occurring late in the second trimester where the negative impacts on the mother and the economic losses are greater. Once exposed to heat during prenatal development, pigs also tend to grow slower, are less efficient, their immune systems are compromised, and they get more stressed during standard production procedures.

Other common issues when growing pigs are exposed to heat stress include the amount and quality of meat, as the pigs tend to add more fat and less muscle as they grow. Because of these issues, researchers are working to understand more about how heat stress affects hogs’ behavior, productivity, and welfare. One technique the researchers are using is measuring the heat that the animal is generating and the heat they’re absorbing from the environment; that way the researchers can identify more accurately if they experienced heat stress. Another important factor is the rate of response of a pig to heat stress, and how fast their body temperature fluctuates. Some pigs demonstrate heat stress sensitivity through reductions in productivity, like a decrease in milk production in lactating sows.

In addition to external factors, researchers are investigating whether there’s a genetic difference between pigs that are more or less sensitive to heat stress. There are several projects in progress that aim to develop genomic selection models, which are a tool for enhancing molecular breeding efficiency, to breed animals that are more resilient to heat stress events.

There are common practices and tools that farmers can use to help manage their swine in heat stress events, including cooling technologies like ventilation fans and the use of natural fresh air by keeping windows unobstructed. Farmers also use drip coolers, which intermittently provide small quantities of water on the skin followed by additional cooling through evaporation, as well as evaporative cooling pad applications whereby fans distribute air cooled by passing through the wet pads.

ARS researchers in collaboration with Purdue University and University of Illinois have developed a smartphone app called HotHog . It works as a decision support tool that alerts producers when their pigs are going to be impacted by heat stress, while offering general guidelines on different mitigation practices they can use to help get those animals over the heat stress event.

“We have animal geneticists, reproductive physiologists, nutritionists, behavior experts, basically everyone we can get together to try to solve this issue,” explained Johnson. “And really, that’s what we think it’s going to take.”

Heat stress is a concerning issue in many phases of swine production. When the pigs are stressed, they grow less efficiently, meaning they take longer to reach a market weight where they harvested for human consumption. As a result, farmers face increased costs associated with added feed, labor, and housing needs, while also increasing the volume of manure generated. Current ARS research strives to diminish the effects and causes of heat stress to enable more efficient production while promoting the welfare of the animals.

New Hog-Cooling Technology is Coming to North America Soon

Wed, 30 Aug 2023 15:10:53 GMT

A new cooling pad technology for hogs designed by researchers in Purdue University’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and Department of Animal Sciences is coming to North America in spring 2024.

IHT Group, a division of Decisive Dividend Corp. based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, is bringing the innovative pads, which are 2-foot-by-4-foot aluminum tread plates on top of copper pipes that circulate water, to market. Sensors in the pads determine if the hog is too hot and circulate new water to keep the pad cool.

Overheating can cause problems for hogs, says Francisco Cabezon, research president at Pipestone Research, which specializes in swine health research and recommendations.

“Under heat stress conditions, lactating sows reduce their feed intake and milk output to attempt to reduce their metabolic heat production. In consequence, their piglet growth and subsequent reproductive performance is negatively affected,” Cabezon, who earned his PhD at Purdue University, says in a release . “In boars, some negative impacts of heat stress are decreased sperm motility and concentration and an increase in sperm abnormalities.”

Tests Prove Benefits
Allan Schinckel, a professor in Purdue’s Department of Animal Sciences, and Robert M. Stwalley III, associate clinical professor in Purdue’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, designed the cooling pads.

“The Purdue-developed IHT active swine cooling pads will represent a paradigm shift in hog production, increasing both operational efficiency and animal welfare,” Stwalley says in a release. “We are refining the pads and their materials, currently testing stainless steel pipes versus copper pipes to continue optimizing their performance.”

Schinckel adds that the initial research showed the cooling pads make sows more comfortable.

“We saw a decrease in their overall respiration rates, slightly lower internal temperatures and lower daily maximum temperatures. The sows also produced more heat, which corresponded to an increase in their feed intake and milk production; this improves animal welfare and well-being,” Schinckel explains in a release. “Piglets who were on the cooling pads had a 26% increase in weaning weight and 7.2% increase in feed intake.”

Purdue’s initial research shows the cooling pads maintain boars’ semen quality by reducing heat stress abnormalities. The pads kept the boars cool even at high environmental temperatures and high humidity. They also kept the boars’ respiration rate low.

Peer-reviewed papers about the initial research have been published in journals including Applied Engineering in Agriculture, Applied Animal Science, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Journal of Animal Science, Livestock Science, The Professional Animal Scientist and the Journal of the ASABE (American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers). Schinckel will present a poster at the Allen D. Leman Swine Conference about the effects of cooling pads on sows prior to farrowing and mid and late lactation.

What’s Next?
The pads have been evaluated for their commercial assessment under a Commercial Evaluation Agreement with the Purdue Innovates Office of Technology Commercialization. Based on the results of the evaluation, IHT and OTC negotiated an exclusive license for manufacturing and selling the pads.

“We will sell the pads across North America in spring 2024 as farmers prepare for the heat stress of the summer,” says Chris Grant, IHT president. “That launch date will also allow us to compile and analyze final data from the boar stud tests, which will be available in October.”

Initial research on the cooling pads’ effects on boars, sows and gilts conducted at Purdue was funded by grants from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Agricultural Science and Extension for Economic Development, or AgSEED, program from Purdue’s College of Agriculture. IHT Group supported beta tests at Pipestone Research in Minnesota, led by Cabezon, and at Purdue and two commercial facilities in the U.S. IHT Group funded a graduate student at Purdue during the beta test period. Data from those tests is being complied for summarization for analyses.

The Heat is On: 6 Tips to Prevent Heat Stress at the Fair

Tue, 25 Jul 2023 20:32:16 GMT

A heat wave that has smashed records in the Southwest is spreading into parts of the Midwest and Northeast this week. Unfortunately, that heat is spreading toward the northern tier over the coming days with expected highs surging toward 100 degrees in some Midwest cities and well into the 90s in the Northeast. During the peak of county fair season for a large part of the Midwest, these daunting forecasts have youth exhibitors and their families quite concerned.

“This week has been hot, and the temperatures are expected to increase,” says Maddison DeOrnellas, a 14-year-old swine exhibitor from Paxton, Ill. “My showpigs are important to me. Not only do I want to keep them comfortable for their health, but as a livestock exhibitor, I need to make sure that all of the spectators that come through the barn can see that my pigs are treated with the best care possible.”

Although heat stress is more commonly considered to occur in extreme temperatures, anytime the temperature exceeds 70 degrees, livestock are adversely affected. Heat stress causes increased respiration rate, suppressed appetite, fatigue and dehydration, all signs of a lowered immune response.

That’s why hot weeks mean much more work for youth exhibitors and their families. When getting animals ready for the fair, everyone wants them to eat well, stay hydrated and be at their best.

“It’s clear that these expectations we put on our show livestock to perform at the highest level and look exceptional while doing so can become a challenge when temperatures rise,” says Shelia Grobosky, mother to Lily, an 8-year-old youth exhibitor from Alexis, Ill.

Don’t just react to changes in temperatures. Pay attention to the weather forecast and make decisions to the best of your ability based on what’s coming.

“It is a lot harder to bring down livestock’s body temperature once they are hot than it is to manage it before it rises,” Grobosky says.

Here are six suggestions from showpig exhibitors in the trenches of county fair this week to make sure your show animals stay healthy and perform to their best ability under hot weather conditions.

1. Create a comfortable environment.

Manage your animal’s environment to make it as comfortable as possible. Keep animals out of direct sunlight and provide a shaded setting. Manage air flow by using fans and misters.

“During the summer shows, there are several ways to keep your showpigs cool and comfortable to beat the heat. I hang fans on each individual pen to keep air moving,” DeOrnellas says.

Keeping bedding wet down and misting water in the air can also help cool the air that fans push through.

2. Modify your feeding program.

Livestock, like humans, don’t want to eat when it’s extremely hot. Consider feeding earlier in the mornings so animals have a chance to eat before it gets hot. Keep water sources in a shaded environment if possible. Make sure lines that serve as water sources are not exposed to heat that can result in the water in the lines getting extremely hot. At the fair, DeOrnellas makes sure to offer cold, fresh water often.

^{Krayten watering her pig at the Edgar County Fair.}

3. Rinse animals multiple times throughout the day.

When you rinse animals with cool water, it helps drop their core temperature quicker than anything else you can do. When you rinse, focus on cooling their underline and head as it will help them cool down faster.

11-year-old Krayten Trogdon of Paris, Ill., is showing at the Edgar County Fair this week and says she takes her pigs on several trips to the wash rack to cool them off on hot days. She pays special attention to not just get her pigs wet, but to allow the cool water to run over them a while to help drop their body temperature.

^{Maddison rinses her pig at the Champaign County Fair.}

4. Ice down animals when signs of heat stress present.

Keep a close watch for signs of panting, lethargy or diarrhea that could indicate heat stress. If you notice your pig is getting overheated, Trogdon recommends keeping a sprayer full of ice water on hand as well as rags that she dips in ice water to lay on her pig’s back to cool down its body temperature faster.

DeOrnellas applies ice directly to her pig’s chest and belly when it is laying down if it shows signs of distress.

^{Krayten sprays down her pig with ice water when heat stress signs begin to show.}

5. Strategically plan when you haul to shows.

During hot periods of the year, hauling at night is the most ideal to help reduce the time they will be exposed to the heat. Adjust ventilation on your trailer to allow for adequate air flow while traveling.

“My family will be done showing at the Champaign County Fair and released Wednesday afternoon in the heat of the day,” DeOrnellas says. “However, due to the projected temperatures, we don’t plan on traveling until the temperatures cool down. If that means leaving at dark, we’ll do whatever we need to do to keep the pigs content.”

6. Keep your schedule consistent.

When you are at the show, try to maintain the same schedule of caring for your stock. Feed early, rinse regularly and keep the air moving by using fans.

“I am intentional about keeping a close eye on my pigs. I have a group chat with my family where we all share when we checked pigs and what tactic we used to keep them cool,” says Abby Clapp, a 17-year-old livestock exhibitor from LeRoy, Ill.

Clapp says this is helpful so everyone knows what pigs to keep an eye on and so there is accountability in how frequently they are refreshed.

Don’t lose your focus on the most important job you have at the fair – caring for your animals, she emphasizes.

“Fairs and shows are a great opportunity to visit with friends that I don’t see often, but the wellbeing of my livestock is the most important thing, especially in the summer heat,” Clapp says. “One of the best things about livestock friends is that they also prioritize the care of their animals, so we are all doing these things at the same time.”

You may not be able to escape the heat during summer shows, but you can turn that challenge into an advantage by preparing properly and paying close attention to your livestock.

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A Checklist to Keep Your Pigs Cool This Summer

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 21:04:52 GMT

Temperatures are quickly on the rise as we approach the start of summer. Mature pigs are more comfortable when the air temperature is between 50 and 75 degrees - once the weather starts consistently being over 80 degrees, we have to be on guard for heat stress in our animals. Be on the lookout for warning signs such as open-mouth breathing, panting and rapidly blotchy skin.

Even without extreme heat stress, pigs are inherently bad at managing their body temperature, since they can’t sweat. We know that productivity tends to drop in the summer months with reduced feed intake, lower finishing weights and increases in mortality. We have to provide other ways they can cool themselves, such as airflow and water evaporation. Facility management makes a big difference, so I recommend that producers make a checklist to prepare their barns.

Check your generators

Successfully run and test the power transfer, because you would expect that you are going to have more power outages due to more use of electricity, which can result in overheated panels and tripped breakers. Check your generator’s oil, and make sure you have plenty of diesel and engine coolant on hand.

Check your loadout

When you are moving pigs on a hot day, it’s always good to have an extra outside water source so you can spray down the trailer. I recommend having a garden hose near your loadout. Double-check that winter freezes didn’t damage or crack your location. Walk the outside of your barns daily to check for any water leaks.

Another outside consideration is roads and driveways. Winter is hard on them and can cause some rough surfaces and potholes. I would consider ordering a load of gravel to make sure your farm continues to be accessible for truck traffic.

Check your cool cells

Before you start your cool cells, check that the cool cell pads are in good shape and not covered by an excess of calcium or algae that can restrict airflow. If needed, you can add chemicals that help remove that extra buildup.

Test that your cool cells and cool cell pumps are all functioning properly. When they are functioning properly, the target air volume is 400 feet per minute. Have extra cool cell pumps on hand; I recommend at least four. Due to high use, those can frequently have issues and burn out.

Check your fans

Fans are also going to be in high demand. As with your cool cells, make sure there is not buildup on or around your fans and screen that will decrease airspeed capacity. Check the fan motor and belts and grease the bearings. Prepare for something to break — make sure you have extra parts, belts and motors on hand if needed.

Check ventilation

Remove all your winter insulation that was there to stop drafts and conserve energy during the cold months. Check your inlets and ensure they are functional and set properly for the warmer summer months. You will also want to shut the ceiling inlet and force the air to go through the cool cells and across the barn. We don’t want the air pulling down from the ceiling, as we expect the attic to have at least 10 degrees hotter air.

Check your curtains

Ensure there are no holes or damage to your curtains and they are all in working order, including the connector, cables, ropes and pulleys. Grease winches on automatic curtains and the bearings on curtain pulleys. Making sure your emergency drop is functional is critical to avoid any risk of suffocation of your animals.

Check your alarms

We do expect an increased number of alarms in the summer, so make sure you verify all your systems are functioning. Adjust your parameters to summer settings to make sure we are keeping a good eye on the farm. Farrowing set point is usually to sound around 20 degrees over the checkpoint, and gestation is typically around 30 degrees over.

This is not an exhaustive list, but some key items to include in your summer preparation plan. It is important to check equipment ahead of consistently high temperatures so you can make adjustments, repairs and orders as needed. If everything is functioning properly, the most we can drop the temperature from outside is 10 to 15 degrees. We have to make sure everything is working to provide the pigs and our production teams with every degree we can, to alleviate stress and impacts on productivity.

More from Farm Journal’s PORK:

5 Ways to Keep Pigs Cool When Temperatures Rise

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Don’t Sweat Heat Stress

The HotHog Days of Summer: New App Predicts Heat Stress in Pigs

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 15:49:45 GMT

The hot summer months are upon us, and a team at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and university scientists recently announced a new smartphone application, HotHog, to help predict heat stress in pigs.

Utilizing local weather data, the app predicts relative comfort or heat stress levels of pigs on an hourly, daily or weekly basis, says the release. Swine producers may then use this information to determine the pigs’ needs, including the adjustment of ventilation rates, utilizing sprinklers and ensuring free access to abundant, cool water.

Heat stress in pigs costs the U.S. swine industry an estimated $481 million in revenue losses each year, notes the release, while Jay S. Johnson, animal scientist who leads the ARS’s Livestock Behavior Research Unit in West Lafayette, Ind., says ensuring positive welfare and productivity in pigs will be even more critical in the face of global climate change.

While pigs under heat stress may start to eat less, grow slower, produce less lean muscle, produce less milk and experience other health, productivity or fertility problems, the release explains, gestating sows are among the swine herd’s most vulnerable members—with the increased possibility of birthing fewer and smaller piglets, or stressing in utero piglets causing greater risk of health and other complications in their postnatal life while under heat stress.

HotHog is the first decision-support tool of its kind to predict thermal stress based on behavioral and physiological data collected from heat-load studies of swine, specifically non-pregnant breeding females and mid- and late-gestation sows, according to the developers.

“Additionally, many thermal indices currently in use were originally developed for use in non-swine species and may not accurately predict thermal comfort and stress in pigs,” Johnson says, in the release.

The HotHog app was developed, tested and released with collaborators from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana; and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Educationin Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The app provides producers the ability to choose their geographic user locations, which then populates temperature forecasts and included recommendations to ensure sow comfort.

Further updates of the HotHog app include Spanish translation, thermal predictions for boars, nursery pigs and growing-finishing pigs. The app is now available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

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Protect Your Show Livestock from Heat Stress at the County Fair

Mon, 25 Jul 2022 17:55:31 GMT

Nothing says county fair week like a hot forecast. Don’t forget to prepare for the heat your animals will face at the fair.

Although heat stress is more commonly considered to occur in extreme temperatures, anytime the temperature exceeds 70 degrees, livestock are adversely affected. Heat stress causes increased respiration rate, suppressed appetite, fatigue and dehydration, all signs of a lowered immune response.

When getting animals ready for the fair, we want them to eat well, stay hydrated and be at their best. It’s clear that these expectations we put on our show livestock to perform at the highest level and look exceptional while doing so can become a challenge when temperatures rise.

Here are a few tips to make sure your show animals stay healthy and perform to their best ability under hot weather conditions.

1. Be proactive.
Don’t just react to changes in temperatures. Pay attention to the weather forecast and make decisions to the best of your ability based on what’s coming.

“It is a lot harder to bring down livestock’s body temperature once they are hot than it is to manage it before it rises,” says Shelia Grobosky of BioZyme Inc.

2. Create a comfortable environment.
Manage your animal’s environment to make it as comfortable as possible. Keep animals out of direct sunlight and provide a shaded setting. Manage air flow by using fans and misters.

“If you can provide an environment that minimizes exposure to the direct sunlight and allows for air to move through, even in the most extreme heat, you can drastically reduce the outside temperature,” Grobosky says. “Keeping bedding wet down and misting water in the air will also help cool the air that fans push through your facility.”

3. Modify your feeding program.
Livestock, like humans, don’t want to eat when it’s extremely hot. Consider feeding earlier in the mornings so animals have a chance to eat before it gets hot. Keep water sources in a shaded environment if possible. Make sure lines that serve as water sources are not exposed to heat that can result in the water in the lines getting extremely hot. When you are at the fair, make sure to offer cold, fresh water often.

Photo by Karen Bohnert

4. Rinse animals multiple times throughout the day.
When you rinse animals with cool water, it helps drop their core temperature quicker than anything else you can do. When you rinse, focus on cooling their underline and head, Grobosky adds, as it will help them cool down faster. Don’t just get them wet, but allow cool water to run over them a while to help drop their body temperature.

5. Strategically plan when you haul to shows.
During hot periods of the year, hauling at night is the most ideal to help reduce the time they will be exposed to the heat. Adjust ventilation on your trailer to allow for adequate air flow while traveling.

6. Keep your schedule consistent.
When you are at the show, try to maintain the same schedule of caring for your stock. Feed early, rinse regularly and keep the air moving by using fans.

Fairs are fun because they provide lots of opportunities to visit with friends. Don’t lose your focus on the most important job you have at the fair – to care for your animals. You may not be able to escape the heat during summer shows, but you can turn that challenge into an advantage by preparing properly, Grobosky says.

Read More:

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The Stock Show “Prize” We Need to Talk More About

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Keep Your Pigs Hydrated at the County Fair