Keep Your Cows Cool In Summer
Summers are thrilling by thinking about chilled juices, ice creams, iced popsicles, salads and cold water baths. As the temperature raised, automatically our appetite get reduced and we prefer to intake more and more liquids and do prefer food that is light on our system.
The metabolism of cows or dairy animals are almost same to us, as the temperature rises during summer their food intake reduces so as their production of milk which results in economic loss. June, July and August are traditionally the hottest months in Northern hemisphere. During these critically hottest time of the year it is the responsibility of the producers to take care of their animals and to shift them or to provide them their best to avoid heat strokes and stress so that they may not face the production loss.
Just like how we alter our life styles, clothes and routines during summers, similarly dairy animals also need such changes during the weather change. Here are some tips and suggestions that will definitely help you to keep your animals cool during the heat time of the year and not to face the production loss.
The metabolism of cows or dairy animals are almost same to us, as the temperature rises during summer their food intake reduces so as their production of milk which results in economic loss. June, July and August are traditionally the hottest months in Northern hemisphere. During these critically hottest time of the year it is the responsibility of the producers to take care of their animals and to shift them or to provide them their best to avoid heat strokes and stress so that they may not face the production loss.
Just like how we alter our life styles, clothes and routines during summers, similarly dairy animals also need such changes during the weather change. Here are some tips and suggestions that will definitely help you to keep your animals cool during the heat time of the year and not to face the production loss.
Most importantly keep the following points in your mind:
- Make sure that the feed you providing is easily digestible for the animals.
- Maintain the daily nutrient intake of the animals, an imbalance in the nutrients leads to greatest loss.
- Maintain their body temperature by providing such environment so the body energy is conserved for the production of milk.
TIPS TO KEEP YOUR COWS COOL DURING HIGH TEMPERATURES
- Most importantly provide comfort to your cows, it’s their best friend. When the cow will have its comfort zone it will lay down, rest more and in result give more quantity of milk. But providing proper shade for resting during heat is as important as providing comfort to them.
- There should be proper aeration in their shady areas that can be provided through fans or air conditioners.
- Install cooling fans and showers in the shed to cool your cows, cows just love it
- Just like how we tend to hydrate extra during summers, our animals need the same when temperature is high. It is one of the most important and simple tip to provide plenty of water to your animals for drinking as well as bathing purpose, it will keep their body temperature near to normal.
- Another most important point is shade, must provide your animals a good and cool shady area to stay during peak time of the day. Make sure that there should be a good ventilation of air cross and no flies.
- Provide them with high quality forage because they produce lesser heat in the body and fulfilled the daily nutrient requirement of the animal as well.
- Feed them good quality concentrate/ Dasan Feed /Dasan Wanda
- Try to feed your animals two hours before the peak temperature time of the day. As during digestion process heat is produced and when outer heat added it may cause heat stress, so keep this tip in your mind while feeding your cattle.
- Instruct your staff to milk cows in early hours of the day when sun is just rising or after 5pm in the evening when the temperature is quite low as compare to day time.
- Keep a full check on your animals for a minor sympto m of heat stress, young calves and pregnant cows are at more risk of getting heat stress, so be alert.
- Last but not the least is providing your cattle with 24/7 fresh clean water help to keep themselves cool like us humans.
- As global warming continues, the rise in temperature will also continue with every passing day, being farmers it’s our duty to do every possible thing to keep our cattle save from heat and heat stress. And fortunately it’s not that difficult as we think, its only need some effort and good panning to welcome summers without any stress or fear.
- For any further queries contact Dasan Feeds technical team
