Heat Stress

As temperatures rise and humidity levels soar in summer, heat stress becomes a critical concern for farm animals. It can significantly hurt animal welfare, productivity, and your farm’s bottom line. Take charge now with these five proactive strategies to keep your livestock cool, safe, and thriving all season.

Heat stress is a real headache for farmers, especially when it affects both broilers and layers. With rising global temperatures, it's crucial to keep your animals cool and healthy. During scorching days, chickens tend to eat less and drink more, reducing their activity. This can hit their performance hard and place their health at risk. So, what's the solution? Special feed additives packed with nutrients like vitamins, minerals, enzymes, organic acids, and essential oils are your secret weapon.

As global temperatures rise, heat stress has become a formidable challenge in livestock management, leading to significant financial losses due to increased mortality rates. Heat stress occurs when an animal's body cannot dispel excess heat, impairing performance, health, and survival rates.

Poultry, unlike other farm animals, can't sweat. Their feathers trap heat, and their high metabolic activity makes them particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures.

As temperatures rise, the health, productivity, and reproductive success of your pigs hang in the balance. When it comes to swine management, heat stress is a real threat even at temperatures as low as 23°C with over 75% humidity. Take proactive steps now to keep your pigs cool, healthy, and thriving.

Why heat matters: as temperatures and humidity rise, so do the challenges faced by your dairy herd. Understanding and managing heat stress is crucial for maintaining cow health and performance.

At Jefo Nutrition, we’re keenly focused on helping producers tackle a significant challenge: reducing stress in dairy cows. Through a recent survey, we asked dairy producers to name their top stressors. Unsurprisingly, "heat stress" was a frequent mention during the summer survey, but "animal handling" also emerged as a significant concern.

Did you know that chronic stress is a silent threat to your dairy cows' well-being? Chris Gwyn from Jefo Nutrition, featured in Successful Farming magazine, sheds light on how stress leads to major health issues and what you can do to help your herd thrive.

Did you know that investing in nutrition and management during periods of heat stress can lead to higher returns? By addressing your herd's needs, you enhance productivity and well-being, making your summer easier and more profitable.

Did you know that heat-stressed dry cows cost the U.S. dairy industry a staggering $810 million annually in lost milk production? But there's good news! By cooling these cows effectively, you can boost farm profits and cow health.

Today, we talk about the ups and downs of dairy milk component yield across seasons: Why do we see production dropping during summer time? Why does this happen? What has been investigated? How can it be mitigated?Learn more about it with Dr. Lance Baumgard.

In this episode, Chris and Dr. Trevor DeVries explore how stressors like heat, overcrowding, regrouping, and inconsistent management impact transition cows, emphasizing the importance of minimizing stress to improve health, intake, and production outcomes.

Listen to Dr. Trevor Devries as he joins Chris to discuss the impact of different stressors on cows.