Ambient temperature below which pigs should not be continuously showered in lairage

Showering pigs with cold water during preslaughter lairage is thought to be useful in reducing the body temperature of hot, easily stressed animals. H owever, showering when the ambient temperature is too low could chill them too severely. To assess the effects of showering and to determine a tempera ture below which pigs should not be showered, pigs from one source, passing through a commercial slaughterhouse lairage, were split into two groups of approximately 50 each, showered and unshowered, on 10 days with a range of ambient temperatures. The pigs' behaviour and any damage to their skin wer e recorded, various measures of body temperature were taken before and afte r showering, and blood taken at slaughter was analysed for plasma creatine kinase, cortisol and lactate. Showering prevented the usual reduction in ac tivity observed in pigs in lairage at high ambient temperatures. On the bas is of the reduction in their flank temperature during showering, it is reco mmended that pigs should not be showered continuously if the temperature in side or outside the lairage falls below 5 degrees C, and showering should c ease if they are seen to be shivering.