Wallows and outdoor farrowing

Avoiding heat stress in sows during farrowing and lactation is important and wallows play a key role in keeping sows cool.

Wallows can reduce heat stress on outdoor pig units during warm weather. This is particularly important for sows before farrowing and at the end of lactation, when their intake and metabolic rate is at its highest.

Using wallows also means sows spend more time with their piglets, as they can cool down quickly and are then happy to return to their litter.

• Run a pipeline around the site, with valves at each paddock to allow for wallows to be filled and maintained on an individual basis
• Turn arcs north in the summer and south in the winter
• Position wallows away from drinkers so that there is no overlap or contamination
• Do not allow wallows to become stagnant as this leads to infections