CB-Lanc«stw Farming, Saturday, Juna 17, 1995
Keeping Swine Cool
Hot weather reduces swine per
formance more than cold weather,
resulting in significant economic
loss to the pork producer. While
producers have little control over
current depressed hog prices or
certain disease outbreaks, steps
can be taken to keep hogs, cool,
comfortable, and efficient.
Hot weather usually does not
result in death losses, but it can
cause conception problems and
subtle reductions in feed intake
that result in significant drops in
production. Reduced sow feed in
take also can affect baby pig per
formance. Larger pigs (animal in
gestation, farrowing, breeding,
and finishing phases of produc
tion) begin to feel effects of heat
stress about 70*F. If temperatures
remain above BS*F for more than a
short period of time, substantial
losses in performance and in re
productive efficiency can result
unless some type of cooling relief
is provided.
Pigs dissipate little moisture
through their skin certainly not
enough to rid themselves of ex
cess body heat Therefore, to re
lieve heat stress, they must depend
upon heat dissipation to their en
vironment in one or more of the
following ways: convection, con
duction, radiation, or evaporation.
Evaporative cooling from the
body surface also is possible if
some type of artificial surface
wetting is provided along with
adequate air movement over the
animals. Consult an agricultural
engineer for more information.
Prevent Horse Hyperthermia
During hot summer weather,
horse owners need to provide spe
cial care for their animals. Free
roaming horses are able to seek
out favorable conditions that pro
vide for their comfort during tem
perature extremes. Domestic hors
es, however, may not have the
same freedom to find refuge dur
ing such times due to confinement
in a horse stall. Heat and humidity
does affect the horse and, in se
vere conditions, can result in
death. For this reason, it is neces
sary that the horse owner provides
extra care during hot weather to
reduce stress and maintain the
health and well-being of the horse.
Under normal conditions, the
horse is able to cool itself by
sweating. As sweat evaporates
from the surface of the skin, heat
is lost and the body cools. This
cooling mechanism is not very ef
ficient during periods of high
humidity, however, because less
moisture evaporates. High hu
midity, hot weather, poor stable
ventilation, prolonged exposure to
direct sunlight, overwork, trans
port, and obesity can all contribute
to overheating a horse. This condi
tion is often termed hyperthermia,
heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat
stroke, or sunstroke.
Following are suggestions to
help horse owners prevent hyper
thermia:
• Strenuous riding activity
should be limited to late evenings
or early mornings when the tem
perature is cooler.
• Stabled horses should have
adequate ventilation.
• Blankets or sheets should be
removed from stabled horses dur
ing extreme heat
• Fan(s) should be used in the
bam or stall.
• Adequate shade should be
provided for all outside horses.
• Horses with long hair should
be clipped.
• The aisle of the bam can be
sprinkled with water to aid in
cooling in areas of low humidity.
• Horses should be transported
at cool times of the day and be
provided with adequate ventila
tion.
• Plenty of clean! fresh water
should be provided. The amount
of water consumed is influenced
by many factors such as environ
mental temperature, humidity, di
et and activity. At O*F„ the horse
will drink about 1 pint of water per
pound of dry feed. At 100*F., a
horse will drink about 1 gallon of
water per pound of dry feed con
sumed.
Immediately call your veterin
arian in the event that your horse
becomes overheated. It may be
necessary for the hose to receive
an intravenous injection of fluids.
Tips For Semen Handling
Artificial insemination (AI) has
been and will continue to be the
single most important tool for the
genetic improvement of the cattle
industry. With this in mind, the
proper handling of frozen semen
cannot be over-emphasized in a
successful breeding program. Of
course, semen handling is just one
link in a chain of events that has to
be conducted in a professional
manner, starting with herd health,
proper nutrition, good quality se
men. accurate heat detection, and
a competent AI technician.
Tim Schofield, president of
North American Breeders. Inc. in
Berryville, Va. offers the follow
ing tips that can help make AI
easier and conception more suc
cessful.
• Keep an up-to-date inventory
of the semen in your tank, espe
cially which canister each bull’s
semen is in. This alone will de
crease significantly the number of
times the semen is exposed just
trying to And the semen desired.
• Do not hold canes or canisters
in the neck of the tank for more
than five to eight seconds when
transferring or moving semen
from your tank. Handling tech
niques are more critical with
French straws because of the sur
face-to-air exposure.
■ Transfer the semen from the
canes to the water bath as quickly
as possible.
• Do not expose semen to direct
sunlight or wind.
• Pen cows up in the breeding
area before semen is thawed.
• Dry the unit thoroughly.
• Use a thermometer to prepare
the water bath. (Both amps and
straws require a 90-95 degree wa
ter bath. Amps require a 60-sec
ond thaw: and straws, 10 sec
onds.)
• In cold or wet weather, warm
the insemination gun with a towel
before loading.
• When using straws, cut the
sealed end of the straw off square
ly to prevent semen from leaking
between the straw and the pipette
or sheath.
• Protect the insemination gun
from outside temperatures when
walking to the breeding chute
(place it under your jacket).
• Read the identification on the
unit of the semen to assure you are
breeding to the bull of your
choice.
To ensure trouble-free service
from your semen tank, avoid stor
ing it on concrete and do not han
dle it roughly. Cracking the tank
will result in a loss of vacuum and
the chilling temperature of -320'F.
required for proper semen storage.
Time To Think Ram Selection
The majority of the genetic im
provement in a sheep flock results
from proper ram selection. Selec
tion of the ram starts with estab-
FARMER Sets Banquet
SOMERSET (Somerset Co.)
Senator Roger Madigan (R - 23rd
Dist.), chairman of the state Sen
ate Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Committee, will be the guest
speaker at a fundraising banquet
for FARMER to be held here on
July IS at the Ramada Inn, begin
ning at 7 p.m.
FARMER (Farmers Allied for
Responsive More Effective
Representation) is the bipartisan
political action committee of the
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau (PFB).
FARMER is dedicated to helping
elect and keep “friends of agricul
ture” in the Pennsylvania General
Assembly.
fishing a set of goals and outlining
the performance criteria necessary
to meet those goats. Purchases
should be made from breeders or
ram testing stations that provide
appropriate performance data.
Records are essential, including
immunization status, herd health
management and medical history.
Fertility evaluation (testicular size
and spermatozoa quality) should
be part of the selection criteria.
Spermatozoa output is directly re
lated to testicular size and weight,
which in turn is correlated with
body condition.
In ram lambs testicular growth
correlates with body growth and
levels off at maturity. The mini
mum scrotal circumference for a
yearling (12-18 mo.) ram should
be 33-34 cm. and 30-31 cm. for a
ram lamb (6-9 mo.). The semen
should have a minimum of 30 per
cent progressively motile sperma
tozoa, 7S percent morphologically
normal spermatozoa, and no white
blood cells.
A complete breeding soundness
evaluation includes a thorough
physical and conformational ex
amination plus a negative ELISA
test for B. ovis within 30 days of
purchase. Purchased animals, re
gardless of the source, should be
isolated for an observation period
of 30 days prior to introdution into
the flock. Contact your veterinar
ian for clarification of testing pro
cedures described in this article
and scheduling of a breeding
soundness exam.
The event will include an all
you-can-eat dinner buffet. ‘The
meeting room will only accom
modate 100 people, so reserva
tions will be on a first-come bas
is,” Yahner said. The cost of the
dinner is $35 per person, or $5O
per person and spouse. ‘The meet
ing is open to both Farm Bureau
members as well as non-mem
bers,” Yahner said.
To order tickets, send a check,
payable to “FARMER” to Penn
sylvania Farm Bureau, P.O. Box
8736, Camp Hill, PA 17001-8736.
Deadline for reservations is July 1.