Last night we heard of a pig breeder of 7yrs experience who lost an in-pig sow which was suffering from heatstroke, unfortunately they decided to hose her down with cold water which gave her such a shock she had a heart attack and died.
In Spring/Summer Spot Press 2018 we did a piece called Summer Troubles you can read it here see page 10 SP SpringSummer 18
Can we please remind pig keepers in this very hot weather not to use water from hosepipes directly on to over hot pigs. If you think a pig is suffering from the heat use wet towels dipped in cold water draped over them and get them into the shade. Make sure they have access to a wallow, shade and free access to drinking water preferably clean though you may find they try to sit in it. On no account dump cold water on pigs the shock can kill.
Symptoms of overheating inc lethargy, very pink, visible panting and not eating. Use wet towels to bring down temp, bottle or syringe water if they wont drink, dab vinegar behind their ears to help heat evaporate. In really bad cases you may need to get them onto a plastic sheet or concrete floor and run cold water beneath them gently. As above DO NOT be tempted to hose them down. Once you get the towels on you can use the hosepipe to trickle water to keep the towel wet.
It’s hot out there. Take care all and stay safe.
When the weathers hot, you just gotta wallow.