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Heat lamp on calves? -50 degrees next few nights

J

Justin SE IOWA

Member
I have 3 calves weighing around 500 lbs. It is gonna be -50 wind chill the next couple of nights here in south east Iowa. They have a 12 by 12 foot lean to that is open to the east. They have all the hay they want to eat and I feed them grain twice a day. I am thinking of hanging a couple of heat lamps in there so they can stand under them? Or would this make them sick? Opinions please.
 
Dry and out of the wind, at that age, that"s all they need, especially at that size. They"ve been acclimating all Fall with longer hair coats since they"ve been outside.
 
they should need the heat lamps.... we've had wind
chills up into the -50 a bunch this winter already,
as long as they have feed and shelter they'll be
ok... might not grow as fast as they do a 32
degrees, but it shouldn't kill them.
 
At that size they should be fine with feed and shelter from the wind. The heat lamps might just make them worse off.

What we have been doing all day is to get good bedding on top of some packed manure. The manure will produce HEAT and the fresh bedding will keep them dry. In some of the sheds this pack/bedding is three feet deep right now. Those calves lay right down and have their bellys warm. You can see the steam when they get up to eat/drink.

So just bed them up heavy and they should be fine. IF you have a concrete floor DO NOT clean all the manure off it. Just put dry bedding over the top of the manure. Manure generates heat.

They will not see the -50 wind chills as they have a wind break. The winds will be out of the north in most of Iowa when the real lows get here Monday/Tuesday.
 
The wind chill doesn't matter if their out of the wind. They'll be fine with some straw so long as their out of the wind.
I don't want to scare you, but if the wind is from the east, those calves are as good as dead. There is nothing worse than an east wind, so should that be the case, you're going to have to find a way to make that 3 sided building a 4 sided building.
 
if you can park a round bale in front of shelter
closing one side cattle are very good at taking
care of themselves if there healthy dont worry
.i have jersey and angus they have choices
where to lay they will always find a good
spot.if you watched back in the day when we
had snow and cold beef cows would walk
around with snow on there backs for a couple
days before it fell off. its wierd to see my
jerseys after a snow storm stand up with snow
on them must be good insulation
 
I've seen a lot of fires started that way,just be careful. Remember too that it's only windchill. If they're out of the wind,I'm not going to worry about it with mine.
 
Heat lamps wont do much .As long as they are fed good and have bedding and a wind break they will be just fine.When it is really cold like it is right now you need to keep the energy level up[increase corn some] and the suggestion of putting some round bales and just leaving enough room to get in is a good idea.Healthy cattle are tough the worst is cold and wet.
 
I have parked a couple of gravity boxes or something to block the wind on an open side building or shelter.
Plenty of food and fresh water and a dry place to lay down out of the wind and they Will be fine.
 
Heat lamps are just a good way to start a fire. If something touches the bulb, it breaks & the white hot filament falls in the bedding & you have a fire. Neighbor lost his shed with sheep that way.
 
Do they have plenty of dry bedding to lay on? Straw, woodchips, corn stalks, etc. will keep them off the cold ground or concrete. Closing off part of the open side will cut down on the wind exposure. If they are out of the wind, dry and have bedding to insulate them from the cold ground the wind chill won't affect them as much as the actual air temperature will.
 
Heat lamps too dangerous. As others have said just make sure they lots to eat and they can get out of the wind.
Don't forget the water & good luck.
 
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