Reducing the negative effects of heat stress in high genetic potential pigs with specific diets

The aim of the article is to present the negative effects of high environmental temperature and also to recommend different feeding methods to reduce these effects in pig nutrition. Climate change is a research area of particular importance today, as it has an effect on everyday life - including on agriculture and food production. Heat stress is one of the prominent environmental elements which can influence meat quality. Based on the literature data, the authors drown the following conclusions: heat stress can cause severe damage to organisms, therefore, high environmental temperature has negative effects on the energy metabolism, reproduction, gastrointestinal system, insulin concentration, immune system and antioxidant status of pigs and also on the digestibility of nutrients which leads to reduced performance and increased mortality. The solutions for prevention of heat stress includes biological (e.g. genetics, thermal conditioning, nutrition) or keeping technology devices (e.g. air conditioning, intensive ventilation, humidification), however, these methods are expensive and not always adequate. Therefore, reducing the negative effects of heat stress with different nutritional tools is one of the primary interests for the economical production of food produced from animals. Generally, nutritional methods such as feeding concentrated diet, increased amount of fat and decreased amount of crude protein and fibre content of diet, increased electrolyte balance by supplementing feed additives: lipoic acid, chromium, betaine, vitamins and minerals could be a solution. According to the authors the combination of housing system and using different feeding methods could also be used effectively. It is important to have more comprehensive knowledge about the effects of heat stress in pigs. Therefore, further systematic studies should be carried out to learn how we can support the pork production with different nutritional tools. The authors recommend that a "special summer premix" must be developed to reduce the harmful effects of high ambient temperature in pigs.