Devised by professors Allan Schinckel and Robert M. Stwalley III, these cooling pads comprise a rubber base and an aluminum plate, with the space in between these two layers featuring temperature sensors and copper pipes. When the sensors notice that a hog that’s lying on the pad is too warm, they flush out warm water from the pipes and circulate colder water, which helps to bring the animal’s body temperature down to a reasonable level again.
While the most obvious and important benefit of these cooling pads is that they help to keep the hogs more comfortable and safe during hot weather, the uptake of the pads will undoubtedly also be driven by the knowledge that keeping hogs at comfortably cool temperatures will have a positive impact on various elements ranging from feeding intake and milk output to sperm motility.
Image Credit: Purdue Agricultural Communication photo/Tom Campbell
