Things to avoid when housing cattle in mild conditions

Most farmers around the country have started the process of housing cattle and have at least some, if not all of their cattle housed for the winter.

October has been an unusually mild month and grass growth rates have remained good for the time of year in most parts of the country.

However, heavy rainfall has caused ground conditions to deteriorate and has made grazing grass covers more difficult, causing many farmers to make the decision to house cattle.

Also Read: Grass growth good, but grazing tricky

Housing cattle

Ideally, cattle should be housed when temperatures turn cooler as housing cattle in mild weather is often linked to pneumonia outbreaks.

A pneumonia vaccination protocol is beneficial in reducing the risk of a pneumonia outbreak but this only forms part of the solution to reducing the risk of Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) in cattle at housing.

When cattle are being housed, all possible steps should be taken to avoid stress in livestock.

Overstocked pens, weaning, and internal parasites such as lungworm are all simple factors that can stress cattle and thus should be addressed before cattle are housed.

Clipping the winter hair growth from cattle’s backs at housing can be beneficial in helping the animal regulate its body temperature. It can also be beneficial with regards to where a pour-on lice treatment is being used.

Many farmers also opt to clip the hair on tails at housing to help keep the animal clean while in the shed.

Ventilation is a key issue in cattle sheds and inadequate air circulation will greatly increase the risk of BRD issues in cattle.

Farmers should ensure that air vents in the cattle sheds are not obstructed and that air is freely circulating around the shed. However, the pens must not be too draughty.

Some farmers have cattle sheds with better ventilation than others, with well-positioned open-fronted sheds providing great air movement for cattle.