Weekly Livestock & Pasture Update – June 18th 2018

There are still a couple of spots for the tour of my ranch in Hudson this Friday from 6-9 pm.
Columbia County Farm Tour Details

You wanted summer…well here you go. I learned something new about my animals a couple of years ago in regards to the heat of summer. The process of rumination produces heat in our animals. This heat must be dissipated from the body in order to cool the animals down but think about what our ruminant friends are carrying on their backs: hair coats (sometimes very dark in color), a layer of fat that we are actively promoting though our feeding regimen, and a layer of hide that is much thicker than our own skin. All of these traits can be helpful in the winter when the temperatures dip, but in the heat of summer they are a real burden.

Beyond the usual signs of heat stress and strategies to aid our ruminants in keeping their internal temperatures and stress low, there is another factor that I had not thought about. Because of their size and rumination, cattle, sheep, and goats are affected by an accumulated heat load. At times the temperatures during the night do not drop enough to allow that animal to dissipate all of the heat that they have accumulated from the day before. This means that the animals will carry over some of the heat from the previous day into the next. If the temperatures continue to be higher than their ability to lose it, then the heat to the next day will cause further stress on the animals.

To put this more simply, based on calculations the cattle will accumulate heat when the ambient temperatures are greater than 86 and will dissipate body heat when the ambient temperature is below 77 degrees. So if the temperatures (with humidity factored in) is not below 77 at night the animals will carry over some of heat from the previous day. After a few days of this, the animals are at a real risk for heat stress and or stroke.

Luckily for you small ruminant folks, sheep and goats are better suited to a warmer climate than cattle. Hair sheep are especially tolerant. I have included PDF factsheet so you can better understand this concept and how to help your animals be comfortable and safe in the heat of summer.

To put it simply,
Shade
Water
Air movement
are the most effective way of ensuring your animal’s health and well being.

Jason Detzel
Livestock Educator
jbd222@cornell.edu
845-340-3990 ext. 327