Calf jackets? Yes or no…
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RDFF
Well-known member
When an individual is experiencing hypothermia, the most important immediate need is to increase CORE body temperature. Yes, the body DOES shut down/reduce blood flow to the extremities, if the CORE temp begins to drop, in order to maintain that CORE temp... so Rmc, you're exactly right there.
But the inverse is also true... If the CORE temp is able to be maintained without reducing blood flow to the extremities, the body WON'T restrict that blood flow to the extremities... and in fact, if the CORE temp is climbing above desireable levels, blood flow will be INCREASED, to all areas and particularly to the extremities to help achieve additional cooling throughout the circulatory system (so those more "remote body parts" become some of the most effective parts of "the radiator" of the body's heating/cooling system, because they're generally more "exposed" to the atmosphere and are thereby able to wick off excess heat more readily). If that's not effective enough, you'll begin to sweat, to achieve even more effective evaporative cooling as well.
It's possible that, though the CORE body temp is able to be maintained..., the extremities are still capable of wicking off enough heat that they STILL could be freezing up, if exposed to severe enough cold (i.e.: if it's cold enough outside, those remote body extremities, like ears and tails, or fingers and toes... could still experience frostbite, even if the CORE body temp is able to be kept warm, and even if they are getting full flow of blood going out to them... it can simply be cooling off too fast on it's way out and through those furthest extremities for the circulatory system to overcome the heat loss there). As it's returned on its way back through the normal body temp CORE... the blood will be warmed back up ... but the "radiative heat loss" out to and through the extremities is just too fast for the amount of blood flowing through them to compensate for... Thus, when that is the case, you need to further "insulate" your extremities, in addition to the CORE, with long sleeves, and with gloves, or even better, mittens (so all your fingers work together to maintain warmth, instead of all sides of each of your fingers being exposed to the cold). Mittens then, function to minimize the amount of area exposed to the radiative effect of the cold temps, vs. gloves.
This isn't rocket science. Pretty easy to understand. Any amount of insulation from the cold, to reduce radiative heat loss, no matter where it is on the body, will "help" to minimize the "radiator effect", and will "help" to prevent cold chilling... but maintaining the CORE temp is the most critical factor to preventing hypothermia (which is what the calf is beginning to experience if he's shivering... that too is a response of the body to the cooling of the CORE temp, in an attempt to "warm it back up"). Maintaining the CORE by wearing an insulated vest, can certainly HELP then toward prevention of frostbite in the extremities, but it can't necessarily ensure prevention of it all-together. However, wearing mittens and insulated winter boots on your hands and feet in cold temps, AS A FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE AGAINST HYPOTHERMIA (core temp dropping below normal), while only wearing a bikini bathing suit on the core of your body, would most certainly be an entirely foolish recipe for disaster.
I haven't ever used a calf jacket... I don't own any, and I'm not advocating that they need to be used. But to suggest that they can't serve a justified purpose in helping to prevent hypothermia is just wrong. Will it prevent frozen off ears? Maybe, maybe not, depending on how cold it is outside. But it can certainly potentially "help"... And it certainly would be helpful to prevent a calf from dying from hypothermia, even if his ears and tail might experience frostbite.
Travlr
Well-known member
TexasJerseyMilker
Well-known member
Dairy bottle calves 'nest' in the straw bedding. The hollow stems of dry straw hold the heat like hay does not. A calf has enough bedding when you can't see their legs (extremities) when they lie down.
Not quite super genius
By interfering with the cattle's own regulation of temp . While altering the temp of the core and not the extremities, you are rapidly reducing blood flow , temp, and functional use of the extremities.
Not talking about a very short term use of increasing the core temp of a calf that is all ready in extreme danger due to an already low body temp. But as a long term use of multiple hours or days such a calf blanket.
You are actually causing as many if not more problems then you are trying to prevent .
Much better option in my opinion is to increase feed to the amount needed to allow calves to self regulate across their entire body . Proper bedding , wind blocks, feed to allow them to regulate temp across their entire body.
Kind of like in a cold spell turning all you heat in your entire house to zero except one room and set that thermostat at 90
And then hoping the temp will dissipate to the entire house, rather then set the entire house thermostats to reasonable temperature.
TexasJerseyMilker
Well-known member
'leading to a rapid decrease in hand and foot temperature'
Human hands ands and feet and not like cattle hooves.
Human hands ands and feet and not like cattle hooves.
