Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CP Foods) gave useful tips to the farmer, helping the animals to stay healthy in the heat of Thai summer.

CP Foods Vice-President for Animal Health Dr. Narin Romlamduan suggested that the top priority is sufficient water consumption.

Dr. Narin explained that a pig needs at least 130 litres of water a day in sow farm with Evaporative Air Cooling System,  while swine fattening farm requires 40 litres of water a day to survive the heat and possible drought.

In chicken farm, the amount of food should be doubled from usual in the summer. If the chicken’s weight drop more than 20%, it will result stress and other symptoms such as low immunity, slow growth and loss of appetite. In the worst case, the chicken could die if it lost water over 10% of its weight.

The quality of water must be taken into account. The water source must be clean from bird, rats, insects and other animal that could be a vehicle of diseases.

“Even though most of the farmers are using EVAP system to run the farm, the system requires continuous maintenance to make sure that there is no leak. Water spray can also reduce the heat. However, the farmer must make sure that the floor is not too wet,” Dr. Narin said.

He suggest that the farmers should feed their animals with vitamin supplements for 3 – 5 consecutive days to tackling animal stress.

Mr. Adit Krisanawong Senior Vice President of CP Foods suggested the fish farmers to reduce number of fish by 30% in summer in order for the fish to stay comfortably since the heat can reduce amount of Oxygen in the pond. Covering the pond can help reducing the temperature and stress from overexposure.