HOW TO KEEP SHEEP COOL IN SUMMER

With the summer heat fast approaching, it’s time for many sheep farms to start thinking about keeping livestock safe during the hot season of the year. Whilst sheep are very adept at staying warm during the bitter months of the year, the opposite is true of summer - heat stress can not only impact lamb growth but even prove fatal. So ahead of any impending heatwaves, ensuring you know how to keep sheep cool in summer is an important piece of knowledge in any shepherds’ book.

RECOMMENDED READ - MY GO-TO SHEEP BIBLE

SHEARING

An immediate option that may spring to mind is shearing. However, this should be avoided during the summer months. Why? Because a small amount of fleece actually helps your sheep regulate her body temperate. She can trap cool air by the skin and help prevent heatstroke.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t shear - in fact, in many countries is illegal due to welfare standards NOT to shear. For best practice, shear in the late spring when it’s warm enough for your flock not to get too cold but there are still a few weeks for fleece growth. This means when the summer hits, your animals will have enough sheep wool to regulate temperatures more efficiently. I’ve put together a handy list of the best sheep keeping supplies, so take a look at my recommendations.

Shearing is an important part of sheep welfare.

WATER

It might sound obvious, but lots of fresh, clean water is also essential. Sheep will drink a lot of water during hot weather to help cool themselves down. If you’re lucky enough to have an automatic water trough, the daily checks to ensure it’s working properly and is clear of algae and other debris is important. If you’re having problems with algae try popping a couple of goldfish into the tank!

Depending on the number of sheep you have, and this goes for paddocks with automatic drinkers too, it’s worthwhile adding additional buckets. There is often a strict hierarchy within any flock and the most dominant members will position themselves near the drinkers. Lambs and ewes lower down the ranks may be headbutted out of the way and not get enough to quench their first, so spreading additional water sources around a field is a good idea.

An extra consideration is that to lambs. Depending on when you lambed, your baby sheep may still be on sheep’s milk. If this is the case, pay careful attention to the state of your ewes udders and whether they still have milk. If heat and drought has stopped grass growth, you may need to offer some additional feed to ensure that lambs get the milk, and therefore, hydration, they require.

SHELTER

Something I often find that is grossly overlooked is access to shelter. When sheep are allowed to roam over large areas or have access to more traditional pastures, they will seek out shade when it’s too hot; choosing a group of boulders, a hedgerow or the canopy of a tall tree to find some respite from the sun. It is NOT adequate to think ‘sheep don’t need shelter’ and stick them in a field in direct sun with nowhere to go. This is something I’ve heard, and seen, far too many times.

However, shelter does NOT have to be expensive or elaborate. If you’re running paddocks with electric fencing, move the area around a tree or next to a hedgerow where some shade will be cast. Alternatively, construct an easily moveable shelter - I have an old trampoline with tarps bungeed over the top. It’s lightweight, was free and offers adequate space for the sheep to get underneath and out of the sun.

Shelter’s don’t have to be elaborate. Here’s my ewe lamb one; an old trampoline frame with tarps.

IDENTIFY HEAT STRESS

Despite doing all you can, there are times when sheep will still get heat-stressed. It’s more common in lambs as they require more hydration, but don’t overlook your ewes and rams too. Sheep will normally become uncoordinated, may breathe rapidly and will look in distress; often laying down but unable to get comfortable.

Swift action is key in this case. Sheep should be removed from sunlight immediately and cooled down; wet them with hose or bucket of water but don’t drench them as this will ruin any thermo-regulation they’re already doing with their fleece. Standing them in a trough of water can also help as it will cool their legs. Also wet their face, not only cooling them but they will be encouraged to drink from the droplets running off their nose.

If you’re looking at how to keep sheep cool in summer, then I hope some of my above advice helps. If sheep do get heat stress; don’t despair! Simply learn from the incident and act; perhaps there were too few buckets, perhaps dominant ewes were hogging the shade and more is needed, or maybe it was just one of those things - after all, animals aren’t always the most sensible of creatures!

If you have any questions, please ask below.

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