Sweat like a Pig? Not likely!
By Patricia Grotenhuis, Lifelong farmer and agricultural advocate
It’s a hot, sunny summer day, and pigs are all out wallowing in the mud, happy as could be. Or are they?
Pigs, when housed outdoors, will use mud to keep cool if necessary. They lack sweat glands (making it impossible to “sweat like a pig”), so the only way they can cool themselves is by getting moisture on their skin which can than evaporate and create a cooling effect. Mud would work for this cooling effect, as does water.
Although pigs are normally associated with messes (“your room is a pig sty” probably being the most common example), they actually like clean environments to live in. Pigs are quite comfortable living in a clean, dry barn with adequate supplies of food and water.
Posted by FFC on March 1st, 2011 :: Filed under Animal care,Housing,Pigs,Pork,Urban Myths,Weather
Tags :: animals, environment, Farmers, pigs