While our area hasn't been impacted as severely as some with the recent heat wave, we are definitely experiencing some unpleasantly hot days this week. Many of our resident animals, like Bebop here, are geriatric at this point, so we've had to monitor closely and provide relief. Thankfully, that's an easy task with the pigs: kiddie pools, a deep mud wallow, and a sprinkler help them beat the heat, even if it looks pretty messy (yes, that is one day worth of dirtiness in the pools).
In addition to its cooling effects, mud is like a natural sunscreen for pigs, and helps protect their skin from the sun. This is especially important for light skinned pigs, who are more vulnerable to sunburn and skin cancers. If your pigs are tame enough for you to apply it and spend most of their time outdoors, actual sunscreen is prudent; there are a few brands made specifically for pigs, and many brands used for babies are also safe.
Did you know that both wild and domesticated pigs utilize mud wallows? This behavior has unfortunately given the wrong impression on the cleanliness of pigs; they roll in mud, but need plenty of dry, clean surfaces for the health of their skin and hooves, and they prefer to soil away from where they live and rest. Their rooting behavior is very destructive to ground cover, however, and they also produce a large volume of urine and feces, so when kept in small spaces it is easy for conditions to deteriorate into a filthy stereotypical "pig sty." We have a never-ending battle with moisture control and erosion in our pig yard despite it being quite spacious, particularly in a climate with heavy rainfall, and are looking into purchasing a load of fill dirt to replenish the yard now that we have a robust vegetation barrier along the fence to control soil loss.
