It’s cold outside and your livestock feel it too

AGRICULTURE NEWS - South Africa is known for its beautiful landscape, jaw-dropping sunsets and the roaring highveld thunderstorms, but when a cold front hits the shores of South Africa, the entire country gets the shivers.

Our animals can’t fend for themselves against the cold weather, and it is our human duty to protect them too. The provision of feed, water and shelter will minimise the impact of this cold-weather spell on your animal’s health, well-being, and production.

Here are some practical tips that you can implement on your farm to protect your animals from the cold:

Make sure that your animals have shelter – even if it is a pile of hay bales that they can hide behind from the wind.
Move pregnant ewes or cows that are going to calve or lamb to a camp where there is more shelter or preferably even in lambing pens or stores.
Make sure newborn animals get enough colostrum for energy and immunity
Make sure the animals have enough to eat.
Water can easily freeze and become unavailable for long periods of time, so make sure your animals have water to drink that is not frozen (break the layer of ice so they can at least get access to the water).
For extra energy to keep the animals warm, add Electroguard (an Afrivet product) to the water. The Vit B complex will also assist in relieving stress in these animals.

Shelter from the cold is crucial, especially when the winds pick up, making the tactile temperature so much colder. Therefore, there must be at least one bale per ewe (across the direction of the prevailing wind) behind which it can lie. Build a wall with the hay bales.

Of course, in the greater picture, all animals should be up to date with their vaccinations – especially against winter diseases like pneumonia.

Also, avoid plungedipping during a cold front. When animals are wet, they are much more susceptible to the cold. If you need to treat for sheep scab or biting lice during a cold front, it is better to use an injectable drug like Ecomectin 1%. Sheep that have recently been sheared need more shelter.

Photo: Supplied