HOT Weather suggestions to cool off our horses and other pets?

[Miniv]

Today hit 90+ here....and the forecast is that we could reach 100F over the next few days.....It's a sudden change

for both humans and animals and made me wonder what people do to help their horses AND other FUR friends feel

more comfortable........(other than bring them all into an air conditioned house! LOL) Sadly, we own a very old

farm house with no A/C, so rely on fans.

Obviously we keep all our water troughs/dishes full. We have 5 bunnies, so I have started putting ice bottles in their hutches.

We also have chickens which I worry about.....Have thought about dumping ice cubes in their water pans.

Any suggestions?

 

[Erickson Miniature Horses]

I clip all my horses. make sure they have plenty of water and keep them in pastures with lots of trees and shade.

 

[amysue]

I hang up shade cloth in paddocks that do not have trees. I hang fans in the barns and keep water troughs full. If it gets hot before everyone sheds out, then I clip them. We feed early in the morning and late in the evening when it is cooler. I sponge off the sweaty horses with vetrolin bath if they need it. My cows like the sprinkler and the calves and dogs like the kiddie pools. I started setting up the pool for the dogs and when one of the holstein calves started splashing in it, I set up one in the calf pen with a rubber mat in the bottom so they dont slip.

 

[Magic Marker Minis]

We live in Tucson and the temps are at record highs (110-115).

All our horses are shed out and have plenty of water. Dogs have water troughs to get in. Ducks have water. We spray the ground in the chicken coop. Rabbits are in the air conditioned house. Water bottles melted too fast.

 

[chandab]

For chickens... I saw a deal on FB a while ago about freezing corn for them to work on. Don't recall the amounts, but mix canned corn with water and freeze in muffin tins, then give frozen treat to chickens. I'm going to guess unsalted corn, but could be wrong.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

We got a mister and fastened it along the side of the chicken pen. The mister also works on the side of the corral for the horses. Some horses like to stand in it, others think water will kill them. In the heat of the summer I go out and set the hose end sprayer on Mist and wet the horses down. The water-haters I have to halter. Of course, they go and roll afterward!

We haven't been very hot yet here, thank goodness!

 

[Cayuse]

Electrolytes or a bit of salt to encourage drinking for the horses. I have fans in the barn but try not to use them at the first of the year to let them naturally acclimate to the heat, if it is stinking hot I will use them, though. I also will hose them if it is super hot, not all over but on their chest and neck (I was told by the vet the fasted way to cool down an overheated horse is to focus the cool water on where the large blood vessels run, the neck being one place) and that seems to work. I start slow with a mist so I don't shock them with the cold. They like the hose . I don't turn out in the hottest part of the day, either.

I make sure I use enough bug spray to keep them from getting all hot and bothered from fighting insects.

 

[NewToMini's]

If you only have Mini horses, a kiddie pool might be nice. They could get in it and lay down or roll.

Or just hose them down in the hottest part of the day

 

[Jean_B]

Here I have more trees than meadows so it's not a problem. But when I lived in Arkansas where we frequently were over 100 degrees, my horses spent time splashing in the pond. I know one person put one of those big barn fans (5 or 6 feet wide) at the edge of her pasture with a sprinkler in front of it, which acted like a swamp cooler/mister. Her mares quickly learned to stand in front of it.

 

[paintponylvr]

Another trick with the chickens is to freeze fruit (watermelon, other melons, apples, berries) and then drop the frozen bits into a water filled tub (round rubber feed tub for the minis?) and let them "bob for bits".

You could search for other ideas on backyard chickens dot com. Lots there...

We have hosed ponies down or sponged them while they were tied up and eating. Like others, we concentrated on large muscle groups over the top of the body and the neck chest. The last of the water in a bucket was sloshed over a rump.

I was told not to clip our double coated dogs but to keep them groomed and bathed so that their coats didn't mat up and when shed was pulled by the grooming/bathing. They have had access to kiddie pools - I've learned to get smaller ones so I can empty them regularly as they like to pee on them and that's just...gross...

 

[susanne]

This may seem normal in other parts of the country, but this is quite a change from our liquid sunshine that is more typical of an Oregon June!

We use a lightweight dial-a-spray type of sprinkler. We run the hose through the no-climb fence (toward the top) and then attach the sprinkler on the inside. The sprinkkler hangs against the fence, so it sprays out into the corral. Flash and Scarlett love to get soaked; Mingus hates flying water, but he stands just beyond the spray where the air is cool. Blues Traveler, our yearling, sticks with the shade of the giant fir trees.

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

For my dogs I get wet dog food in little plastic containers for little dogs, and stick them in the freezer to make 'Popsicles.' Huge hit. Also filling the Kong toys and popping in the freezer.

As for horses, nothing beats a garden hose

 

[Ryan Johnson]

If you are going to hose your horses down just make sure to scrape them off as excess water will draw in heat . I also try not to turn out during the hottest parts of the day.