Excessive Heat and Your Livestock

Extreme heat situations can be hazardous to your livestock, horses and poultry. Reduced production, heat-related illnesses, even death can occur. Protect your animals during extreme heat situations.

Before Excessive Heat Situations

• Establish cool housing or shaded areas.
  • Adequate shade is important and can be provided by trees, buildings or sunshades.
  • Ensure building roofs are high enough to allow for air movement.
• Prepare access to water.
  • Animals will require more water during extreme heat conditions – up to twice as much as normal.
  • Ensure animals always have access to cool, clean water.
  • Shade above ground water lines or tanks to keep water cool.
  • Additional watering tanks may be necessary; if possible provide these in advance so animals can become used to multiple water sources.
• Improve ventilation.
  • Install fans, open windows, front of stalls or roof ventilation to increase air movement in buildings.
  • Cut tall vegetation 150 ft back from perimeter of holding pens.
  • Consider building earth mounds to minimize bunching of animals.
  • Increase floor space per animal or reduce the number of animals in an area.
• Prepare for power outages.
  • High summertime temperatures increase energy demand for cooling; overloaded energy systems can result in power outages.
  • For more information, see the Power Outage handouts in this manual.

During Excessive Heat Situations

• Provide cool, clean water.
  • Check water delivery systems periodically for plugs or other problems.
  • Monitor the water temperature and keep it cool.
  • If possible, keep in a shaded area.
• Keep animals cool.
  • Spray with oscillating sprinklers; water can have a cooling effect for animals.
  • Run water on the ground to keep hooves cooled.
  • Run water across roofs of buildings where animals are housed to cool the area.
• Control biting insects.
  • Flies and other insects are more active in warm weather; animals may increase their activity trying to avoid these insects and risk overheating.
  • Reduce insect breeding areas by:
  • Removing weeds/brush
  • Removing standing pools of water or mud
  • Removing manure
• Feed later in the day
  • Do not feed animals during the hottest periods of the day.
  • Shift feeding toward the evening after peak day temperature.
  • Cover feed bunks to prevent spoilage from heating in the sun.
• Avoid or limit handling of animals.
  • Processing or working animals can elevate body temperature.
  • Avoid handling during mid-day.
  • If animal must be handled, work them early in the morning (prior to 8 AM – not after 10 AM) and if possible in a shaded facility or area.
  • Ship animals at night or early morning (e.g., arrival time before 7 AM).
  • Cool animals after exercise with sprays of water.

Heat-Related Illness

• Monitor your animals frequently for heat-related illness.
  • Signs of heat stress can be subtle initially, so watch animals closely.
  • Animals with darker fur (e.g., black haired beef cattle) may be more susceptible.
  • Signs of heat stress:
    • increased respiration rate or panting
    • excessive salivation
    • elevation of head to make it easier to breathe
    • open mouth breathing
  • If your animals are showing signs of heat stress:
    • Contact your local veterinarian immediately!
    • Move animals to the shade immediately.
    • Offer plenty of cool, clean water.
    • Spray them with cool water, especially on the legs and feet, or stand them in water.
    • Increase air movement around them.
• Sunburn.
  • Animals can get sunburned just like people, especially their ears and noses.
  • Animals with pink skin are at greatest risk.