Do pigs sweat?

One of the English language's most misleading phrases is "sweating like a pig". Pigs only sweat a small amount because they only have a limited number of functioning sweat glands. How do pigs regulate their temperature?

Warm-blooded pigs have a stable body temperature regardless of the temperature of their surroundings. Endothermic animals have a warmer body temperature than their environment. Cold-blooded animals rely on external heat sources to keep their body temperature constant.

The metabolism and behavior of animals regulate their body temperature. There is a big difference between the two types of thermoregulation.

Dan Tucker is a professor of veterinary public health at the University of Cambridge in the UK. The heat is generated by the metabolism. A 2006 paper published in the journal Physiological Reviews shows that when pigs are exposed to hot or cold temperatures over a period of time, they can be switched on or off by thyroxine.

Which animal sings?

In a short time, behavioral thermoregulation can help raise or cool the temperature. In hot weather, pigs wallow in water or mud, which causes their body temperature to be similar to human sweat. The mud or water that comes off the pig's body cools it down. Tucker said that pigs can seek shaded areas or lie flat out on a cool surface. The pigs are panting to get cool. Air flow and the amount of water in the lungs can be increased by panting.

Tucker said that many groups within the pig family live in areas where they spend more energy on keeping warm than on cooling. In cold weather, pigs huddle together to build a nest or shiver.

When pigs are exposed to higher temperatures, they eat less. This method of cooling down reduces the amount of heat produced when you eat and digest less food. Small pigs lose more heat through their skin than do large pigs, which have a smaller ratio of surface area to body volume. Farmers who breed pigs for rapid growth and more efficient meat production will be more likely to experience heat stress in their herds.

Climate change can cause pigs to eat less, which in turn can lead to smaller pigs, so should pig farmers be concerned? The study states that heat stress can result in decreased sperm quality in pigs, smaller litter sizes, and inability to conceive in sows. Hyperthermic shock, which is really cardiovascular collapse, can occur when pigs are exposed to hotter temperatures. A drop in blood pressure can lead to unconsciousness and death.

Tucker said that pig meat is the second most- eaten meat in the world. Tucker said that heat stress should be considered as an animal welfare issue for farmers.

"Sweating like a pig" is a phrase that has been used before. The phrase comes from the process of turning iron into steel. The cooling pieces look like sow and piglets when hot iron is poured on sand. The sweating on the surface of the metal shows that the "pig iron" is cool.

The original article was published in September of 2012 and was updated in June of 2022.