Farm & Flock— presented by Chicken Whisperer Magazine Keep Your Livestock Productive
When heat stress persists, livestock health, comfort and productivity can all suffer.
Beating the Heat
Protect Your Livestock Through Late-Summer Stress
By Christy Caplan
Late summer brings a special kind of challenge. The days stay hot, the humidity hangs on and the nights never cool down. For your animals, that combination can be tougher than the peak heat of midsummer. Prolonged heat stress wears on livestock over time, affecting their comfort, health and the productivity you depend on.
The good news? A few smart management choices can make a real difference.
Why Late-Summer Heat Is So Hard on Livestock
By the time late summer rolls around, animals have often been dealing with heat for weeks. That accumulated stress adds up. Instead of bouncing back overnight, livestock can stay run down, especially when the weather never gives them a break.
Warm overnight temperatures and high humidity are the real culprits. Animals rely on cooler nights to shed the heat they built up during the day. When the thermometer won ' t drop and the air stays damp, that recovery window disappears.
Different species show stress in different ways, but none are immune. WSDA state veterinarian, Dr. Amber Itle, told AcreageLife about the science behind it. " Livestock are most comfortable in environments where normal body temperature can be maintained with little or no effort, also known as the Thermoneutral Zone. Most livestock are most comfortable between 50 to 68 degrees, but this can vary based on species, humidity, time of year, age, hair coat thickness and wind. When that temperature range persists for prolonged periods, the animal will struggle to regulate body temperature, and heat stress may occur. When temperatures do not drop below 70 degrees or high humidity persists at night, animals are not able to recover, increasing risks of poor health outcomes," says Dr. Itle.
Late-summer heat is dangerous because animals have less chance to recover. Watch the overnight lows and humidity, not just the daytime highs.
14 AcreageLife August 2026 AcreageLife. com