Heat Relief For Dairy Cows cows comfortable, according to Graves, can be as simple as adding shade, providing for air exchange and supplying more water. “Water is still the cheapest feed. You need water to make milk. And if you get stingy with the water, you will pay for it in your milk (Continued from Pag* A 1) times until he got the spray level he wanted. *’?' ' **' The Importance Of Comfort High temperatures make dairy cows so uncomfortable they won’t eat. When cows don’t eat, they don’t produce milk. But keeping dows open for good cross-ventllatlon the dairy barn of Ben Lapp was a welcome relief Insplte of the 90-degree weather during the meeting hosted by the Lapp Valley Farm on Wed nesday evening. ii i lira. Sprinklers stalled In the barnyai . are on timers ai ,<iow cows to - they eat at the feed bunk. Fans placed at the feed bunk accelerate cooling by evaporat ing the water. check,” warned Graves. Graves suggested removing walls, even in tie stall bams down to the cows ’ level to increase venti lation. Fans, if used, should be placed to move air away from the cow’s head and shoulder area. Exhaust fans, paddle fans and the large alley fans do little more than serve to make the power compa nies happy. Fans should be placed so that all cows benefit from the air movement. It can never be said too many times: a constant supply of cool water available goes along Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, July 16. 1986427 way in alleviating heat stress. Free stall bams can supply shade and must have an open ridge, no sidewall for constant air exchange. For best results the roof should be atleast six feet above the cow. Put sprinklers in the feed and holding areas. Avoid sloppy, wet udders which leads to increased cases of mastitis. Compressors Need Attention Hot weather is tough on com pressors, but according to Spencer, keeping it free of dust and placing it where there is adequate air flow will increase its effectiveness. A pre-cooling system can cut the workload for the compressor, but it takes up to three times as much water as the amount of milk being cooled. Hot and humid weather encour ages the spread of mastitis. Spencer urges the use of a .5 per cent iodine pre-dip and the con tinued use of a post dip between .5 and 1 percent iodine solution. In the bedding avoid sawdust which is an excellent host to mastitis causing organisms. Sand is the optimum bedding material in this muggy weather. Top Quality Forages Highly digestible forages should be in the feed bin during these hot, hot days. Digesting food is work and it raises the cow’s body temperature. Don’t make the cow work any harder than she has to, warned Adams. Use good corn silage to upgrade the ration as the mercury rises. Cows need up to 30 percent more water because they arc losing water and when they lose water they are losing minerals especially potassium and sodium. Adams suggested the use ofa bicarbonate to bring up these levels of needed minerals. To encourage feed intake feed during the coolest times of the day. Also, Adams suggest putting a hose in the feed bin to increase the moisture level in the dry feed. They do it in Hawaii and Califomi a and have found it works. The goal in hot weather is to keep feed and water intake levels up. Keep cows comfortable with shade, extra water and with adequ ate air movement. Feed during coolest periods in the day and make sure the ration is fresh, and that forage is highly digestible. Increase moisture level by turning on the hose. Also, milk needs to be cooled quickly, but don’t overwork your compressor. Keep it clean. Make sure it is installed where there is plenty of free flowing air. Prevent mastitis with pre-dipping and get that sawdust out of the bedding areas and replace with sand, straw, com fodder or peanut hulls.
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