How To Keep Your Barnyard Cool this Summer

Heat waves can be extremely stressful for barnyard animals and symptoms are often rapid. Here is a guide full of ideas for helping your animals stay cool during excessive heat and how to help them stay healthy and hydrated!

Chickens:

• Fans pointed towards the roost and towards the nesting boxes

• You can freeze creamed corn in muffin pans and throw to the chicken

• Cut cold watermelon into fourths and let them peck it from the rind

• Water balloons can be filled and frozen as a way to keep water pans cool for longer periods of time.

• Provide any type of shade that is big enough for the entire flock

• Try freezing a Tupperware container with water and cut strawberries or frozen chunks of fruits for them to pick as it thaw

Signs of heat distress in chickens include...

• Panting and breathing heavily with their beak wide op

• Holding their wings away from their body

• Lethargy

• Not eating the feed

• Pale combs and wattle

• A decrease in egg production

Goats:

• Ensure that water containers are full and clean and they are placed in the shade. Expect to be refilling water much more often

• Adding ice blocks can be done by freezing Tupperware containers or a milk jug cut in half (so the block can slide out

• Goats can be given electrolytes either from a farm store or you can mix a bucket of Gatorade (mine liked the lemon-lime flavor) but this bucket must be changed daily

• Offer free choice salt to dilute urine and lower the chances of urinary tract problem due to dehydration

• Goats can be shorn in summer

• Does late in gestation should not be transported unless necessary and should be in well ventilated areas with clean bedding to avoid ammonia fumes due to urine

• Fans are great but cords need to be high enough that they can not be reached because goats will absolutely chew them. Make sure the fans are blowing downward from above or through a panel and the goats unable to chew or play with the fan.

Heat stress in goats looks like...

• Panting and sticking tongue out of their mouth

• Elevated rectal temperature over 105°

• Sweating is not normal for goats but they are capable of it as a last resort for cooling down. This is a red flag

• Weight loss and sunken bellies

• Pale gums or dry mouth

• Skin tenting from tugor test

• Loss of consciousness

Horses:

• Horses absolutely need shade. Pale nosed horses or horses with light coats will sunburn and sunscreen is recommended

• Horses should not be tacked or ridden when it is above 100 degrees outside. Save the ride for another day!

• If your horse seems extra hot and in need of attention, sponge it down with ice-cold water

• Spray your horses down with hoses and provide a lot of cold, fresh water for drinking. Outside water should be changed daily in the summer to avoid grime and contaminants such as bird feces or mosquito larvae

• If it is going to be hot, ride early in the morning and consider riding without a saddle or saddle pad.

• Add electrolytes to the water! Gatorade works well for goats, but isn't strong enough for horses. You would need very strong Gatorade! I recommend an electrolyte made specifically for horses from a farm or feed store.

Horses in heat distress will...

• Have an elevated heart and/or respiratory rate

• Feel very tired and have droopy ear

• Experience skin tenting with tugor test

• Have a rectal temperature of over 103 degrees

• Sweat profusely or stop sweating. Sweating is fine and normal, but there is a minimum and maximum. If their coat is moist with sweat, this is normal, however if the sweat is dripping without reasonable cause such as exercise or playing accompanied by a soaked mane, tail, or feathers, this may be excessive!

Pigs

• Soak some mud for them to wallow in! This is their favorite way of cooling off is just laying or rolling in some cold mud!

• Provide cold water and adjust feed. Pigs will feel like eating less, so they will appreciate feed that is very dense in nutrient

• Offer plenty of shade and an escape from the sun

• Use of misters is perfect for swine. You can build your own or purchase, but you'll need a water hose for this purpose

• Install a lot of fans blowing onto their backs and on their face

Pigs in distress will...

• Pant

• Lose their appetite

• Vocalize a little extra or even moan in discomfort

• Feel stiff or develop muscle tremors

• Feel more reluctant to move or stand