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Heat Kills Cattle--Bad Deal

Richard Doolittle

Well-known member
Heat kills cattle in South Dakota
Associated Press
Published Tuesday, July 24, 2007


LANGFORD, S.D. - Heat killed cattle in the Langford area on Monday, and fire departments and others were called out to drench cattle with water.

Langford firefighters responded to two requests for water to cool off cattle, said Langford Fire Chief Monte Likness. About 100 head of cattle died in one feedlot and 30 to 50 in the other, he said.

Likness said he heard unconfirmed reports that fire departments from other towns were also called out to spray cattle.

Neighbors and South Dakota Wheat Growers also helped out at the feedlots in the Langford area, Likness said.

"Anybody with anything that would hold water," he said.

The temperature at Aberdeen reached 97 Monday, with a heat index of 106.

The high temperature in the state Monday was 108 at Philip. Mobridge and Faith both reached 107, while Buffalo, Pierre and Rapid City had a high of 106.
 

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
Yeap they will overheat in a feedlot situatuation durin heat like ya'll are havin up there. but out in the pastures.....they should come thru it fine. It can happen haulin stuff to the salebarn in a trailer. If you stop and sit still for any length of time. So best thing is to keep em movin down the road so there's wind circulatin thru the trailer. Especially up there cuz lots of you have the more enclosed trailers with tops, instead of the open cattle trailers like we use down here.

Sounds like a mister hose installation might be in order for them feedlots up there.
 

sic 'em reds

Well-known member
There's probably alot more to it than just being black hided. In the feedlot they are on a hotter ration than if they were out on pasture. The ration creates more heat as the ration is burned up through digestion, causing an increase in body temperature. I am not disagreeing that black hided cattle have a hard time in the heat, but there is more to this story than hide color.

Also I have heard that once you start "watering" down cattle you have to keep up with it. We get real hot up here and you never here much about this. El Oro and the other lots around here usually wet the pens rather than hose down the cattle.
 

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
No it's not necessarily the fact that some have black hide...it's that they are confined in a small area, and cramped together with little or no space for them to have air circulation. Don't matter what color the hide is..if you put em close together like that, on top of the hot rations mentioned....Yeap they'll over heat in alot cooler temps than what they are havin.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Submitted to: Livestock Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: April 25, 2006
Publication Date: October 16, 2006
Citation: Brown Brandl, T.M., Eigenberg, R.A., Nienaber, J.A. 2006. Heat stress risk factors of feedlot heifers. Livestock Science 105:57-68. doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2006.04.025

Interpretive Summary: The impacts of hot weather on cattle production are varied, ranging from little to no effect in a brief exposure, to death of vulnerable animals during an extreme heat event. Vulnerable animals have been described as ones afflicted with multiple stress factors. It was known that cattle with dark hides were more prone to heat stress. Other factors have been difficult to quantify. This report documents that fatness, hide color, health history, and temperament (calm or highly excitable) are important factors. Stress level was measured by breathing frequency of each animal. Above 25 deg/C, stress levels were increased in animals with darker hides and those previously diagnosed with pneumonia. Animals with more body fat, and those that were highly excitable were also more susceptible to stress. Each of these factors appeared to be independent, so if more factors were present, the risk was higher.
Technical Abstract: Heat stress in cattle results in millions of dollars in lost revenue each year due to production losses, and in extreme cases, death. Death losses are more likely to result from the animals vulnerable to heat stress. A study was conducted to determine risk factors for heat stress in feedlot heifers. Over two consecutive summers, a total of 256 feedlot heifers (32/genotype/year) of four genotypes were observed. As a measure of stress, respiration rates and panting scores were taken twice daily (morning and afternoon) on a random sample of 10 heifers/genotype. Weights, condition scores, and temperament scores were taken on a 28-day interval during the experiment. Health history from birth to slaughter was available for every animal used in this study. It was found that at temperatures above 25 deg/C, dark-hided animals were 25% more stressed than light-colored; a history of respiratory pneumonia increased stress level by 10.5%; each level of fatness increased stress level by approximately 10%; and highly excitable animals had a 3.2% higher stress level than calm animals. These effects appear to be additive.




Project Team

Nienaber, John - Jack
Brown Brandl, Tami
Eigenberg, Roger



Last Modified: 07/23/2007
 

cattleluvr18

Well-known member
aaww thats sad. i hose off my steers when its hot. and it helps with hair, so its a win win for me. but i couldnt imagine having to do a whole bunch of them. something would defenetly have to change.
 

Ben H

Well-known member
I've been paying more attention to heat stress this year when I didn't think my cows needed shade. The problem here in the North East is combining what you would call a moderately high heat with high humidity. Sunday I held a pasture walk for the Maine Grass Farmers Network, It was about 85-87 degrees and the humidity was 37%. That index is in the warning zone for cattle. When I did a pasture move I did have one cow panting. Gotta keep and eye on that humidity. When it's high, sweating doesn't do nothing for cooling.
 

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
Ben H said:
I've been paying more attention to heat stress this year when I didn't think my cows needed shade. The problem here in the North East is combining what you would call a moderately high heat with high humidity. Sunday I held a pasture walk for the Maine Grass Farmers Network, It was about 85-87 degrees and the humidity was 37%. That index is in the warning zone for cattle. When I did a pasture move I did have one cow panting. Gotta keep and eye on that humidity. When it's high, sweating doesn't do nothing for cooling.

Maybe this is where the brahman influence comes into play with our cattle, but at 85-87 degrees with 37% humidity our cows wouldn't be even lookin for shade. It's 80 degrees right now....8:40 am...with 79% humidity, I've been watchin our cows up in the afternoon between 2pm and about 6pm.....and they are out there grazin away. I guess they think this is mild weather we are havin since the temps aren't gettin much past 90 to 95 durin the day.
 

Ben H

Well-known member
one thing I forgot to mention...as soon as I moved them to the new paddock, they all started eating and forgot about the heat.
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
Brahma cattle sweat through the hide and other cattle do not. That's
why they do better in the south.

Right???????
Right????????

Come on, someone, aren't I right???????????????? :wink:
 

the_jersey_lilly_2000

Well-known member
They have more highly developed sweat glands than European cattle and so can sweat more freely. Other cattle have sweat glands, they just don't work like Brahman influenced cattle's do. Also the big ears..and all the extra hide on them, means there's more area for those sweat glands...therefore they disperse heat better.

Studies at the University of Missouri found that Brahman and European cattle thrive equally well at temperatures down to 8° F. They found that European cattle begin to suffer adversely as the air temperature goes above 70° F, showing an increase in body temperature and a decline in appetite and milk production as 75° F, is passed. Brahmans, on the other hand, show little effect from temperatures up to and beyond 105° F.
 

Ben H

Well-known member
You're right, from my dairy experience the comfort range is 20 -70 F. Ironically, when I was in Iraq there was a small herd of cows a shpard would walk a round town finding what they could for food, this was along MSR Michigan which is the road on the North Side of the base surronding BIAP (Baghdad International Air Port), and down the road from the Agriculture College. I was very suprised what breed they were....Holsteins.
 

Mike

Well-known member
Faster horses said:
Brahma cattle sweat through the hide and other cattle do not. That's
why they do better in the south.

Right???????
Right????????

Come on, someone, aren't I right???????????????? :wink:

Wrong. They do sweat, yes. But so do most other cattle.

Ears play a big part in Brahma cattle dissapating heat.
 

Clarencen

Well-known member
Yes cattle do sweat through their hide, but not as much as a horse or as much as we do. back when we used to milk, when we had cows in the barn it was obvious that they prespired. I have not noticed this so much with cows out in the open but did see it this year when cattle were bunched during hot days. Braham cattle have more developed sweat glands though. The ears, like the ears of the Jack rabbit, may also play a part. The jack rabbit's ears may be his air-cindutioner but they are also his thermostate. Did you know that rabbits have a main blood vessele that runs the length of its ear? Rabbits have been used to study blood circulation.

I believe a humans scalp is his thermostate. I recall an old fellow who was as bald as a billard ball, out with no cap, showing and demostrating some of the products his company built. We were all cold with ear laps down, but cold did not seem to bother him.
 

CattleArmy

Well-known member
We have a spring calving and we call it a fall calving herd but they more calve in August and September so perhaps it should be called summer calving :?. Two summers ago it was so hot here that we lost 5 baby calves due to the heat. Their body systems just aren't mature enough to handle excess heat.
 

azcowpuncher

Well-known member
Well i know in southern Az right now and when i was down there workin the heat gets to be 120 in the hottest part of the day and them cows are fine down there they run everything from holstien to bramer cattle and i have never seen anything die from the heat down there , now if you chouse them around in the hottest part of the day or try to work them you will kill them right along with your horses and maybe some of your men , thats why you gotta do things way way before the sun comes up . But like i said i have never seen anything die from the heat that wasnt bein choused or in some way tormented .
 

CattleArmy

Well-known member
azcowpuncher said:
Well i know in southern Az right now and when i was down there workin the heat gets to be 120 in the hottest part of the day and them cows are fine down there they run everything from holstien to bramer cattle and i have never seen anything die from the heat down there , now if you chouse them around in the hottest part of the day or try to work them you will kill them right along with your horses and maybe some of your men , thats why you gotta do things way way before the sun comes up . But like i said i have never seen anything die from the heat that wasnt bein choused or in some way tormented .

Possibly the cattle there are used to the heat and the ones up here just aren't? You raised an interesting point. When we lost the calves my dad talked to the vet and he seemed to agree that was the reason they had perished.
 
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