Evaluation of Cooling Pads for Sows

Pigs are homeothermic.  Heat stress has dramatic effects on the health and productivity of the swine in all phases of  production.  The presence of two different thermalneutral zones in sows and piglets makes it difficult to provide a proper thermal environment at the same time for both sows and piglets.  Newborn piglets perform better at temperature over 24.2 C, preferably between 32.6-35.4 at birth.  On the other hand, the recommended air temperature in sow area to prevent a decrease in appetite and poor performance are around 16 C.  Therefore, keeping a farrowing room temperature appropriate for the newborn can result in heat stress for the sows.

< Cooling Pads

One possible approach to solve this problem is to use a cooling system (Cooling Pads) that is only available to the sow, but does not affect the piglets, to maintain an appropriate micro thermal environment for both of them.

Calorimeter Chamber for Evaluation of Cooling Pads>