I have to say that I think the weather in Central Virginia is out to get me. Twice this winter, Juniper Moon Farm was snowed in with crazy, record-breaking blizzards. Now we are facing a heat wave with temps 10 degrees above average. It was 97 degrees in Palymra today, with about a million percent humidity.
The Angora goats are completely fine in this crazy heat- most Angoras are raised in Southern Texas and South Africa, after all- but my poor, sweet sheep are suffering. They would have fared better if the heat had ramped up in an orderly fashion, but a 10 degree spike is brutal for them. Of course I provide them with plenty of shade and a continuous stream of cool water throughout the day, but I worry.
Sheep cool themselves through respiration, and continual panting all day long can lead to mechanical pneumonia. Mechanical pneumonia provides the perfect breeding grounds for opportunistic bacterial to get into the animal’s lungs. In these conditions, bacterial pneumonia can be fatal in a matter of hours.
I’ve spent the weekend adding blocks ice to the water tank, checking and re-checking the flock for signs of distress. This afternoon, Sicily, one of my original Cormo ewes, started showing signs of heat stress. Labored breathing, snotty nose, listlessness- she had them all. I quickly mixed up some electrolyte solution and got it into her, and dosed her with antibiotics. Then Maggie helped me move Sicily and her lamb, Fairfax, into a stall in the barn where we can have a fan blowing on her and keep an eye on her tonight.
Sicily is already looking better, but she’s not out of danger yet. Even if she seems 100% by morning I’ll be keeping her in the barn for a few days or until this stupid heat breaks. Sicily is one hell of a ewe. She’s given me big, single lambs every year, and I was over the moon to get a ewe lamb out of her this year. It would kill me to lose this sheep. Kill. Me.
Please keep Sicily and Fairfax in your thoughts tonight.
MONDAY MORNING UPDATE: Sicily made it through the night and seems much better, although her breathing hasn’t returned to normal and her nose is still runny. I dosed her again with antibiotics and electrolytes and am going to keep her indoors again today in the cool. She isn’t happy about it but I’ll feel better today knowing she’s got a breeze on her.
Mr. Hopkins, my hay farmer, is bringing a large round bale over today and positioning it in the shade of the woods in the west pasture. My hope is that the sheep will stay in the shade munching hay for most of the day,rather than grazing in the heat of the sun all day.
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m sorry about the impact this intense heat is having on your fuzzy ones! It’s horrible how little we can help… Thoughts and prayers with the fuzzies.
I certainly wouldn’t wear wool today…..would you (ewe)? You are a wonderful caring shepherdess, you are doing a great job Susan! Thank you
Well and cool wishes to all of you and yours!
Thoughts and prayers of coolness and health for Sicily.
That would be our normal weather for June here in the foothills of California; bet you wish you could send it back. I sure hope Sicily is 100% better by now.
I’ve been using a mister during the day.
http://www.amazon.com/Orbit-10198-Arizona-Sidewinder-Flexible/dp/B0013I2LVY/ref=pd_sim_dbs_ol_18
Llamas are highly prone to heat stress as well, and Jerry really likes this.
Ooh! Maybe I’ll see if I can find one at Lowe’s tomorrow. Don’t know if they’ll stand under it but it’s worth a shot.
I’m rooting for the whole flock, and won’t stop worrying until you & Maggie let us know that everyone has adjusted and/or the temperature has normalized. Sending hopeful, cooling thoughts.
Restaurants use misters to decrease the temperature in outdoor seating areas. Might the same trick work on sheep? Don’t see why it wouldn’t.
I will. AND I wont complain about the heat anymore. I always feel bad for our black dog….but wearing a wool coat right now would suck.
Absolutely will keep Sicily, Fairfax and the rest of the flock in thoughts and prayers and the rest of the flock. Hmm.. better include you as well!
Heat & humidity are the worst. Keeping your flock in my prayers this week. Hope the weather breaks sooner than expected!
My understanding is that a mister will only work if the humidity is low. It is the evaporation of water that lowers the temperature and in high humidity, the water isn’t going to evaporate very fast because the air is already close to saturated. What are other sheep farms in the area doing to keep their sheep cool? It is a lot dryer where I live but on hot days, I see my goats lying out like a bunch of sunbathers on a beach,while the sheep huddle in every speck of shade they can find –my black sheep especially.
omg
i’m sending you all cool love streaming in waves of breezes
and low humidity!
dear sweet sicily be well
and you too susan
you absolutely can not die
not. die.
not. now.
understand? hope everyone is well
and that the heat breaks
lotsa love
rona and kehli the snuggle dog
I’ll be thinking cool thoughts for Sicily and Fairfax!
Will be keeping Sicily and Fairfax in my thoughts today. Hoping for a break in the heat to make everyone more comfortable.
Hope it cools down for you this summer.
Wow – prayers for a break in the heat there! It’s bad here, too, and much sooner than usual. I worry all summer about the alpacas. My sheep are pretty hardy breeds, used to warmer weather (Jacobs and Gulf Coast Natives), but the alpacas prefer to be up to their knees in snow to this.
I have fans on in the barn, and hay for them to nosh on until the shadows lengthen and they can stand to go out into the pasture. Electrolytes in everyone’s water, and hosing down the alpaca’s legs and bellies once a day. I don’t use misters for the reason given above: too much humidity. They end up soaking wet on their backs which actually holds the heat in their fiber. Not good.
I’m already dreaming of the first day of autumn… months away…
Misters are not so good for sheep. Most do not care for water externally — they are made of wool after all! You could try some soluble Vit E in their water tubs. It is a little pricey, and they might not drink it at first (water gets all cloudy), but it will definitely help. We are in hot/humid MO — the sheep who started drinking the water first are doing better. Watch also for bloat — a common complication of heat stress.
We add Vit E and apple cider vinegar to the water troughs in the heat, and are supplementing with kelp meal as well. And I’m always on the lookout for bloat! They seem to be adjusting now that we’re on day four or five of the heat, knock wood.
I know this might sound simple, but you do you have barn vent/fans? I live in NW Indiana, and when we get to some dog days, you can see every farmer in the area using them.. they’re high installed, large diameter fans that pull heat from the barn. I figure VA has to know about stuff like this because, well, it’s freakin’ hot there. I usually only see them on cow and pig barns, and then all of the livestock barns at the fairgrounds have them.