its hot! any tips for bottle calves?

[fiddle889]

Hello all,
when I was a kid my grandparents had bottle calves in hutches seemingly all year long. We got some bottle calves to teach the kids a bit of farming. Here in Texas it is hot. Do you all have any tips to keep the little guys cool. To be clear none of my calves are sick. I just know it's got to be tough on the little guys. I have shade, a small loafing shed, and a box fan for them. Any other preventative things I can do for them? My youngest wants to run him through the sprinkler (because they love doing that). is that harmful or a good idea? i just want to give the calves the best. thanks in advance y'all.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Sounds to me like ya got it!

No opinion on the sprinklers really. I would think hot and wet (while nice for a few minutes) would be miserable!

 

[Hereford2]

The only thing I do in hot weather, besides shade and fresh water is to give calves under 2 months old a bottle of half strength electrolytes in the middle of the day, halfway in-between the milk feeding.

 

[TCRanch]

Sprinklers or wetting them down can backfire if there isn't a breeze because it actually creates more heat. Don't do it unless they're directly in line with the box fan. Yes, it's rotten hot this time of year, but they're pretty resilient and should be fine with shade and access to drinking water. The only other thing is spreading straw in the loafing shed; makes it warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer.

 

[Son of Butch]

My youngest wants to run him through the sprinkler (because they love doing that). is that harmful or a good idea?

Bad, bad, bad idea.
Local feedlot thought spraying cattle down during a heat wave would be a good idea..... half dozen fat cattle ended up dying from heat stroke - organ failure.
Sprinklers without air movement has opposite effect on cattle. I think it's bcs wet fur traps body heat raising internal body temp.... all I know is a very bad idea without having fans to cool and dry them.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Glad some other folks have chimed in. I don't ever "sprinkle" mine. But I've usually got them during cooler months and provide shelter from wind, rain, snow etc.

I've had a couple born in this heat this year. Calves are thriving. Doesn't seem to bother them one bit!

 

[Buck Randall]

Bad, bad, bad idea.
Local feedlot thought spraying cattle down during a heat wave would be a good idea..... half dozen fat cattle ended up dying from heat stroke - organ failure.
Sprinklers without air movement has opposite effect on cattle. I think it's bcs wet fur traps body heat raising internal body temp.... all I know is a very bad idea without having fans to cool and dry them.

Sprinklers on a few calves in the back yard is a very different deal than sprinklers on thousands of fat steers on a lot. It won't hurt the calves.

 

[Buck Randall]

Hello all,
when I was a kid my grandparents had bottle calves in hutches seemingly all year long. We got some bottle calves to teach the kids a bit of farming. Here in Texas it is hot. Do you all have any tips to keep the little guys cool. To be clear none of my calves are sick. I just know it's got to be tough on the little guys. I have shade, a small loafing shed, and a box fan for them. Any other preventative things I can do for them? My youngest wants to run him through the sprinkler (because they love doing that). is that harmful or a good idea? i just want to give the calves the best. thanks in advance y'all.

Make sure they always have fresh water available. Dump it out and replace it at every feeding, even if they haven't touched it. They'll figure it out by the time they're a few days old, and calves that have access to water eat more solid feed, too.

 

[Son of Butch]

Sprinklers on a few calves in the back yard is a very different deal....

Sprinklers on a calf in a hutch is just going to create a mudhole and create more problems than it solves.
p.s.
never lock a calf inside a hutch in hot weather it will 'cook' him to death.

 

[Buck Randall]

Sprinklers on a calf in a hutch is just going to create a mudhole and create more problems than it solves.
p.s.
never lock a calf inside a hutch in hot weather it will 'cook' him to death.

The OP posted about running the calves through the sprinkler, not setting a sprinkler over the hutch. Nobody is that dumb.

 

[Son of Butch]

The OP posted about running the calves through the sprinkler, not setting a sprinkler over the hutch. Nobody is that dumb.

you're right, kids intuitively know not to sprinkle a hutch and running or pulling a calf in the heat of the day is a good idea.... kids tire themselves out and sleep well, plus they get to learn how not to treat animals.
murray's comment about an extra bottle of water with electrolytes for him (OP implied only 1 bottle calf in question the kid wants sprinkled) makes the most sense.

 

[fiddle889]

you're right, kids intuitively know not to sprinkle a hutch and running or pulling a calf in the heat of the day is a good idea.... kids tire themselves out and sleep well, plus they get to learn how not to treat animals.
murray's comment about an extra bottle of water with electrolytes for him (OP implied only 1 bottle calf in question the kid wants sprinkled) makes the most sense.

We have all the calves halter trained… they just thought letting it play in the sprinkler would be fun… I didn't know the science behind it so I was asking… not really sure why you have to be insulting to my kids… seems a bit rude… my cows get in the stock pond all the time….you know what I'll just ignore the rudeness…

 

[MurraysMutts]

The only thing I do in hot weather, besides shade and fresh water is to give calves under 2 months old a bottle of half strength electrolytes in the middle of the day, halfway in-between the milk feeding.

murray's comment about an extra bottle of water with electrolytes for him (OP implied only 1 bottle calf in question the kid wants sprinkled) makes the most sense.

Wasn't my idea. But probly a good one!

Tho I've never done it. I've always found shade, fresh clean water, and milk twice a day just seems to work