Saturday, July 7, 2018

Beating the Heat Like a Big Fat Pig





It's reminiscent of our childhood summers, this recent heat wave. Hot enough to make the road tar melt causing that definitive car tire bubbling-whine noise. Hot enough to take away all concern about your loose underarms flapping in the breeze; you're wearing sleeveless tops anyway. Hot enough to fight with the dog over tepid water in the cow trough because it's too far to walk to the house for a non e-coli  filled drink.

Hot enough for pigs to swim.

Perhaps you've been hit with these above average temperatures as well. I know Ireland and other parts of Europe are certainly dealing with high temps and low rains. I find myself dressing in less and less as the day goes on. Modesty takes a back seat to comfort when it comes to me and heat.  Remember that if you're thinking about a drop-in visit. A two minute warning call will save us both some embarrassment.

But whatever you do to cope please remember not to say,  "I'm sweating like a pig", as you'll be wrong. Reason being, pigs do not sweat, nor can they pant like a dog. This means they don't handle heat well and require regular farmer assist.

Forgive me, loyal long time followers, I know I blog about this every summer, but for the newbies out there I must repeat myself. Livestock loss in summer heat is a sad reality of homesteading, but can be prevented in many cases. Take for example, the pigs.

The chore of watering the pigs these record breaking days requires much more than keeping water pans filled. It also requires maintenance of the pigs water hole which is about the size of a kiddie pool but a bit cloudier. This porcine pond serves a few purposes. It cools the hogs overall body temp. It increases their hydration status as water is absorbed through their skin. And it decreases annoying parasites like flies, mites and fleas by suffocation via the resulting thick mud.

It also makes the pigs very, very happy. They see me with the hose and they line up underneath it.

16 comments:

  1. Oh, Donna, I too have decided to ignore the underarm flapping due to the heat. lol. We do what we have to, right?
    Our little town had a big car show downtown today and one of the churches had a sign outside: "NO, it is NOT hot as hell here". I would say, well, almost.

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    1. Funny sign that. Hot as purgatory though. Now as I write this we're having a nice break. In the 60's last night and it was HEAVEN!

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  2. Sadly, a lot of people forget about their animals suffering from the heat. We still see regular stories of dogs dying in cars; you'd really think that people would learn! Your Pigs look very happy; as happy as when I throw myself into the pool.

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  3. That's a very good point. Our horses use their shelters more when it's hot than when it's raining!

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    1. My single horse as well. I've seen her stand outside seemingly enjoying near tornado conditions, but its the heat that gets her (and us) down.

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  4. I think I could go right in there with them at this moment!

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    1. I have been knonn to fill up one of our unused water troughs to take a dip but so far have not yet climbed in with the pigs...so far.

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  5. Our Highland cows are suffering too - they have decided to hang out in any shade they can find on our farm. Long red hair viking cows are not made to be in this type of heat - come to think of it long haired Irish girls like myself are not either. Move over pigs, I am joining you in the sprinkler!

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    1. This Irish girl tolerates heat better than I did in my office girl days, but when I do get overheated, man, am I crabby!

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  6. Remember sis your arms r tan so u have camouflage us office girls only have white so we can be seen easier with our flabby arms! btw I got lots of sun today push mowing! Lol

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    1. Yeah for you! Keith is out mowing still (it's 9:05 pm) because the tall grass is shorting out our fence.

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  7. Such a good point, remember the animals in the heat, last year there was a hive in Texas that melted the wax and honey drowned the whole hive.
    I have a small birdbath near the deck ( birds and bees), a large one near the back fence and a ceramic rain barrel out the front and all are well used all year by various sized birds.The possums have a deep pot(shared with frogs) and the lizards have 2 shallow saucers in the foliage and a small frog pond level with the soil hidden in the Irises.

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    1. Well done you. Little critters need water too don't they? I fill one of our bird baths twice a day not so much for the birds but for our bees! They love that particular one for some reason

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  8. Thanks for the education on pig coolness today, Donna, as I didn't know this fact. And I agree that wearing less is best in summer heat. Let's agree not to drop into each other's place unexpectedly

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Comments are good, as long as you're a real person and not some goof telling me how you were cured of hepatitis by snorting a pulverized neon blue crayon. Your comments don't even have to agree with my viewpoint, I love a good discussion, but civility does matter.