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.