• Question: what would happen if a pig was allergic to mud, would it become sunburnt?

    Asked by sophk to Jo, Kevin, Valeria on 21 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Kevin Mahon

      Kevin Mahon answered on 21 Jun 2012:

      Hmm, I don’t think a pig could be allergic to mud specifically – it’s not a sinlge substance, it’s made up of many different things!

      But a pig that couldn’t bath in mud for whatever reason would be in trouble yes – there are more serous problems than sunburn with not being able to cool down too – dehydration and skin cancer to name a few!

    • Photo: Joanna Cruden

      Joanna Cruden answered on 21 Jun 2012:

      It would have a tough life, of course many domesticated pigs live indoors their whole life and never get to wallow in mud, I expect if a domestic outdoor pig were to develop this sort of allergy it would be kept indoors away from the sun and mud, but in the wild it may be more problematic especially in winter when there is mud everywhere, it would get sunburnt, this would be worse if it had pink bits but most wild pigs live in woods and it may be able to avoid sunlight. However I don’t think it is likely they would ever be allergic to mud to be honest

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