HEAT STRESS
Sep 19, 2022
With summer approaching, so is the heat. Higher temperatures and humidity with lower wind speeds increase the risk of heat stress. When cattle are heat stressed, performance can be decreased. If you notice the cattle panting or hanging their mouth open, that is a great indication that your cattle are heat stressed.
There are a few things to help prevent your cattle from being heat stressed. The best thing you can do to help prevent heat stress is to make sure the cattle have access to plenty of fresh water. Make sure there is adequate headspace around the water supply so the cattle aren’t crowding around it. If the cattle seem to be crowding the water source; supply another source in a different location to help prevent crowding. When the cattle are crowded their body heat will be radiating off one another, causing their core body temperature to rise. This will increase the amount of heat stress they experience. Another way to help reduce heat stress would be to provide shade for cattle to escape from the direct sun. The longer the cattle are exposed to the direct sun the greater their core body temperature becomes which increases heat stress.
Research has been done on feeding and the effects of heat stress. One option that was looked at was changing the feeding time in order to minimize the metabolic heat during the hottest part of the day. After eating, their core body temperature rises due to the digestion of the food, referred to as metabolic heat. Another option would be to feed XTRACT Caps XL; this product is from Pancosma and is made of a plant extract of one plant and is standardized at 20% Capsicum oleoresin. An increase in dry matter intake and water intake was observed when Capsicum was being fed. A decrease in body temperature is typically a result of increased water intake. The research that has been done on this product was done on dairy cows. Just because they were dairy cows does not mean it will not work on beef cattle. Both
are bovine and their systems function the same. CPM does carry XTRACT Caps XL to help our producers try preventing heat stress.
If you have any questions about heat stress, how to help cope with it, or about XTRACT Caps XL please contact your feed representative! We love helping our producers succeed and reach their goals!
Janessa Updike
“If the plan doesn’t work change the plan, not the goal!”- unknown
Janessa Updike
Sales Nutritionist
(402) 260-9697
janessau@cpmfeed.com
David Claycomb
Sales Rep
(402) 380-1009
davidc@cpmfeed.com
Brady Brester
Sales Rep
(402) 615- 1213
bradyb@cpmfeed.com
Cody Sweeter
Sales Rep
(402) 367- 2840
codys@cpmfeed.com