It’s summertime, and the livin’ is easy – except not for calves, who suffer heat stress right along with their older herd mates.
While calves have a larger surface area relative to body weight, and don’t generate as much body heat as adult cows, they are at risk of heat stress, nonetheless. Calves’ smaller body mass and weight means they dehydrate more quickly than cows. Numerous studies also have shown that calves born in the summer have sub-par bodyweight gain compared to their peers born in cooler months. And their less-developed immune systems also make them more vulnerable to stress-related illnesses.
Here are five strategies to help mitigate heat stress and keep calves healthy and growing through the peak heat of summer:
Provide shade – Calves in hutches may have a hard time escaping heat, especially when outdoor temperatures are excessive, because they have a hard time finding relief either indoors or outdoors. Installing 80% shade cloth about 4 feet over hutches has been shown to reduce the interior hutch temperature by 3F and calf rectal temperature by 0.5F in an Alabama study.
Hutches also can be placed under natural shade from trees as an alternative. Calves housed in barns have natural shade, but be sure to watch for “hot spots” where they are not protected during certain times of the day. Installing and adjusting curtained sidewalls can help manage sun exposure in buildings.
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