Ruminants
How to take care of your homestead animals during summer
Summer is finally here and the heat can be unbearable. The farm animals certainly feel the heat during these peak summer months. Several challenges such as dehydration, heatstrokes, and heat stress are common in animals, as they struggle to cope with the heat.
Here are some basic suggestions to keep your animals cool during summer.
Provide Clean Water Sources
Come summer and farmers usually tend to go for check-in farms. This results in stagnation of water with algae, bacterial growth and more forming. It is necessary to keep the water clean during summer, thus keeping fishes in the water might do the trick here.
Reduce Stress
Try to avoid hard work, especially during the hottest days. That includes hauling and transport, other works such as castrations, vaccinations, hoof care, breeding or weaning. Give them enough time to relax, thus minimizing the heat stress for your animals.
Provide Enough Shade
Providing enough shelter for the barns or fields can save animals from heatwaves. It is best to set up the sheds next to a tree or anything that offers shade. Trees generally offer enough shade; thus, animals get relief from summer while grazing, resting. However, it is wise to build a portable shade shelter for summer; therefore, it can be used in the future.
Run fans in the sheds
Most animals stay indoors at their sheds during summer, intending to avoid unwanted heat from the sun. Thus, the chances of air passage in the sheds are minimal. It is advised to set up several fans across the sheds to provide a cool breeze inside the farm and also prevent insects from biting the animals within the farm area.
Distribute Salt Blocks
Giving animals a salt block is always necessary, as it helps the animals restore the electrolyte balance, especially during the summer heat. Animals know when and how to lick the salt block as per their electrolyte content in the body.
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