Provide Animals with Cool, Clean Water and Shade – RADA

Livestock farmers are being urged to provide continuous access to cool, clean water and adequate shaded shelter to protect animals from heat.

Speaking at a recent JIS Think Tank, Livestock Specialist at the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA), Maxine Brown, said that animals lose moisture while trying to keep themselves cool and may become dehydrated unless farmers make sufficient water available.

Animals pant to cool down using rapid breathing to evaporate moisture from their tongue, mouth, and lungs.

“When the animal pants and is losing water vapour… it is also possible for them to get dehydrated,” Ms. Brown points out.

She said that simply supplying water is not enough, adding that the temperature of the water needs to be monitored to ensure animals are getting the relief they need.

“If you have your water lines running on top of the soil, you realise that it heats up quickly. Therefore, even though you’re giving your animals water, you may [be] giving your animals warm water,” she pointed out.

Farmers are also advised to pay attention to materials used for housing.

Zinc, which is widely used in goat houses, poultry houses and piggery units, can absorb heat and make the environment more uncomfortable.

“You can paint the roof with reflective materials so that you can create a little bit of a cooler environment for the animals,” Ms. Brown pointed out.

She added that the same principle can be applied to water tanks to reflect heat, preventing stored water from becoming warm before it reaches livestock.

Ms. Brown also advised farmers to take measures to reduce overcrowding.

“Persons… will have a poultry house [that] may be able to house a hundred birds but when the time is hot, you may need to put in less birds so that they can be comfortable and put on the weight that they need,” she explained.

“If you have a lot of birds in the space [and] the environment is very hot, what the birds will be doing is drinking and not eating. Once they are not eating… they’re going to be losing weight. They’re not going to be producing eggs… you may also find that some of them even die because they’re not eating to get the energy they need,” she points out.

The effects can also extend to dairy animals and their offspring as mothers that have kidded, eat poorly and lack adequate water, may not produce enough milk.

Their offspring may then fail to grow or develop as strongly as expected.

“These are some of the things that we have to understand about livestock, which is why we recommend different interventions,” Ms. Brown said.