UMN educator gives tips for keeping pets, livestock cooler during the summer

Mar 25, 2024

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – The last days of summer in Minnesota can bring a lot of heat, leaving people worrying about not only their health but their pets and livestock too.

University of Minnesota Educator Abby Schuft says animals can withstand heat better than we think, but something that consumers may not understand is how changing the feeding schedules of the animals could help.

“When the animal is digesting their feed,” said Schuft. “And using that feed to their advantage to grow and produce the proteins that we consume, it’s going to create body heat.”

Schuft says producers need to optimize when they can provide the feed and when it’s digested, and opt for feeding their animals earlier in the morning or later at night.

She also said there are many things people can do to help animals cool off, such as proper ventilation.

“A 2 to 4-and-a-half-mile-an-hour wind produced by a fan can really help those animals self-regulate their body temperature,” she said.

Other essentials for animals constantly in the heat are shade and access to cool and fresh water.

“Having stock tanks out in pastures where the sun is naturally heating up the water, making sure they’re changed out more frequently,” said Schuft. “Making sure water lines in confinement poultry or swine barns are flushed out so that they have fresh, cool water more readily available to them throughout the day.”

Scuff also encourages proper ventilation, saying just a 2 to 4-and-a-half-mile-an-hour wind from a fan can help animals self-regulate their body temperature.