15 Apr 2005
Cool pigs are porkier pigs

The headline certainly speaks truth, but the proposed solution(s) are a bit much. The easiest way to keep the little porkers comfy is to just let them roam the pastures and woodlots - which is what they were designed to do, instead of crowding them into completely enclosed barns and spending beau coup bucks on elaborate cooling floors and air conditioning to get them to chill. Not only is this a more natural and humane way to raise pigs, it's much more energy efficient: no oil powered cooling system needed - a nice shade tree will do just fine.

Dutch-sponsored researcher Thuy Huynh has discovered that pigs get stressed if they become too warm. They go and lie on the slatted floor, wallow in urine, eat less and grow less as well. With cooling systems, such as floor cooling, sprinkling or water baths, the pigs remain cool and grow better.

(link) [Science Blog]

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