Know how to treat heat stress in livestock if preventative actions fail and animals in your herd are suffering.

In our two last blog posts, we shared information on preventing cattle heat stress and how to spot the symptoms of heat stress, because heat stress in livestock can have a negative impact on animal health and productivity, which affects your operation’s bottom line. Florida’s summer combination of heat and humidity makes heat stress a possibility just about every day.  Know what to do if you have an animal experiencing heat stress from Agriculture Victoria, a government site from Australian, another locale that sees high temperatures often. See the information below.

Treatment Options for Heat Stress in Livestock

Treating heat stress in livestock or other animals on the farm is pretty similar to treating heat stress in humans. The Agriculture Victoria website advises:

  • “Move them to the shade immediately, preferably somewhere with a breeze. If animals are too stressed to move, pick them up and move them or provide shade where they are.
  • Offer plenty of cool clean water but encourage them to drink small amounts often. Spray them with cool water, especially on the legs and feet, or stand them in water. Use sprinklers or hoses for cattle, pigs and horses. Lay wet towels over them. Dogs and cats can be placed in buckets/troughs of cool water. Poultry should not be wet down unless there is a breeze to aid the cooling process.
  • Increase air movement around them. This can be done with fans, ventilation, or wind movement.
  • Decrease stocking rates to allow animals room to lie down.
  • If the animal shows no sign of improvement contact your local vet for assistance.”

Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions -or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.