Cow Shade?

[Stocker Steve]

Cows seem to like shade on a hot day. I can not blame them, but when you get all those improved pastures cross fenced there may not be shade in every single paddock...

How hot can it get before the performance of English breeds in the sun is reduced?

 

[tsmaxx47]

our red angus stock picks out a spot in the hottest part of the pasture. it's been in the upper nineties for the last four or five days and it doesen't seem to bother them a bit. haven't noticed any performance difference, but i wasn't really looking for any since there's nothing i can do about it. could use some rain but there's nothing i can do about that either. did i see that its been in the lower 100's in southern minnesota?

 

[3waycross]

Stopped to look at my cows on my way home from work today and all of them were laying out in the sun chewing their cuds at 4pm. The were within 150ft of a lot of shade and didn't seem to care. red and blk alike. It was around 85 degrees, which is plenty hot for here and at this altitude the sun is like a microwave oven.

 

[Howdyjabo]

I have a loafing area with shade for the day-- turn the cattle to the rotations in the evening(4-5pm) and put them back in the loafing area in the morning(10-11). I also only have water in the loafing area.
When its real hot they only eat that part of the day anyhow. And it saves on lots of plumbing. Also it teaches them to move real good. They want grass at night and they want water in the morning.

 

[Stocker Steve]

We hit a high of 103 yesterday. Forecast is for 50s, which is what I prefer.

 

[Anonymous]

I design all my cross fencing keeping shade trees in mind. I realize that for established fields and operations this may not be possible for everyone. But down here shade is a must. I can watch my group chase shade during the heat of the day

 

[TheLoneRanger]

Here in northern Cal it is a good idea to give them shade

 

[Lucky_P]

The farm manager attended one of the MO Grazing School sessions conducted by Jim Gerrish, back in '94. At that time he was saying 'cows don't need shade; if they're in the shade, they're not out grazing.' Don't know if he and other MIG gurus are still sticking to their guns on that, but *I* think they need access to shade here and in areas further south.
I understand that if they're loafing in the shade, that the fertilizer value in manure and urine they deposit under the trees will move out of the productive forage areas, and perhaps stocker cattle can do OK without shade in hot/humid climate, but it's been pretty well documented that heat stress is extremely detrimental to fertility and can cause embryonic/early fetal loss. I want my cows and heifers to have access to shade when temps are into the 90s and higher.

Cattle on our place are fenced out of the woods(cattle are p-poor timber-stand managers), with the exception of a 40-ft setback into the edge of the forest at the upper edge of most of the paddocks, where they also have access to rubber-tire water tanks gravity-fed from a pond uphill from the pastures.
Out of 21 5-acre paddocks, we have 3 in which the cows do not have access to shade - unless they walk 1/4 mile back down the lane to shade; they do have access to standing water in a waterway that crosses those paddocks - at least until it dries up, but most years, there's water standing there until way late in the summer.
I've begun planting some trees(pecans/oaks/walnuts) along the fencelines for those paddocks, but it'll be 10 years before they provide significant shade - if I can keep the cows/horses from destroying them - have to fence them off.

 

[TexasBred]

Sounds like someone needs to explain to Jim that cattle do not graze 24/7.

 

[robertwhite]

Don't know if the heat bothers them, but it has been in the upper 90's for about a week and a half now and my cows put themselves in the barn from about Noon until 5 or so.

 

[agmantoo]

I never deny the herd shade if the temp is above the mid 80s F. At times they may have to walk some distance but they will go to shade given the opportunity. Eating fescue daily mandates they get shade. Most of the grazing is now done late evening and very early morning. The cattle spend the day drinking and chewing cud. I have never knowingly lost an animal to heat stress but I do believe I would if it was not for shade as the temps rise to the high nineties where it is now during the day.

 

[plumber_greg]

I'm the same way Agman, will watch the heat and put them in a pasture without adaquate shade on cloudy or rainy times. It can be managed. My water source is in the sun with trees not far from it. Farthest pasture from the back of it is 1/4 mile.
Jim Gerrish decided that that experiment did not work. The black breed he used had a 58% conception rate in the two years of the experiment, if I remember correctly. He said and I agree that the ideal pasture for manure distribution would be a shade tree on 80' grids, with the water in the sun. Anyone got a pasture like that? gs

 

[3waycross]

I gotta wonder how many pages it's going to take for us to reach a consensus that cattle like to stand or lay in the shade when it's hot outside. :bang: :2cents:

 

[TexasBred]

I gotta wonder how many pages it's going to take for us to reach a consensus that cattle like to stand or lay in the shade when it's hot outside. :bang: :2cents:

Ain't that a fact....and they'll get in the water too if it's available. (Almost human ain't they??)

 

[Tod Dague]

http://www.bae.uky.edu/publications/AEUs/aeu-91.pdf
There is a design on page 10.

 

[MO_cows]

I gotta wonder how many pages it's going to take for us to reach a consensus that cattle like to stand or lay in the shade when it's hot outside. :bang: :2cents:

I didn't think it was about what they LIKE versus whether or not they NEED the shade to remain in good health and productive??? But, yeah, we could go on for pages and days and conclude that some do and some don't. Your mileage may vary.

 

[3waycross]

I gotta wonder how many pages it's going to take for us to reach a consensus that cattle like to stand or lay in the shade when it's hot outside. :bang: :2cents:

I didn't think it was about what they LIKE versus whether or not they NEED the shade to remain in good health and productive??? But, yeah, we could go on for pages and days and conclude that some do and some don't. Your mileage may vary.

EXACTLY :tiphat:

 

[Howdyjabo]

A neighbor has no shade for his feeders- he claims to do just fine
But his calves look miserable

I just couldn't do it here.
We have fescue and the humidity is awful
I wouldn't worry as much if I was out west- and had eared cattle

 

[djinwa]

Obviously shade is a good thing, but how critical it is depends on several factors associated with heat stress.

Heat stress increases in cattle that are black, fat, on dirt, and without wind. Cool nighttimes are important, as cattle dissipate heat overnight.

I think heat stress is generally underappreciated, especially considering the conversion of many breeds to black.

Here's a good article, which I've posted before.

http://vetmed.iastate.edu/vdpam/extensi ... eef-cattle

 

[djinwa]

Here's another interesting piece:

http://www.iowabeefcenter.org/Cattlemen ... 0study.pdf

Summary
The weather on July 11 and 12, 1995 was a deadly
combination of high temperature, high relative
humidity, no cloud cover and no wind. The
combination of heat and humidity has been
matched only five times in Iowa's 101 years of
weather records. Estimated cattle death loss in a
13-county area of West Central Iowa was 3,750 head
or 2.32% of the cattle on feed. A survey of 36 beef
producers with 9,830 head of cattle on feed in 81
lots was summarized. Thirty-five lots with shade (24
square feet per head) reported an average death
loss of .2% as compared to 46 lots without shade
with losses of 4.8%. Producers reported a
disproportionately higher death loss in dark-hided
cattle. Non-shaded lots facing south, southwest, or
west had higher death loss than lots facing east or
southeast. Heavier animals were more susceptible
to heat stress. Lots containing heifers that were fed
MGA had lower death loss ( 3.8% vs. 6.2% ) as
compared to lots with heifers but not receiving
MGA.