Fairgoers over the weekend would have been cooler if they’d been on exhibit instead of trudging around the fairgrounds in 100-degree heat.
4-H club members kept their cattle, sheep, pigs and goats cool and hydrated with frequent wash-downs, fans and water available on-demand.
The animals are accustomed to being outdoors in the heat and the cold, but the added stress of the fair made their comfort a priority.
“They’re accustomed to the weather,” said Emporia veterinarian Duane Henrikson. “The only difference could be there’s a lot of people over there and a lot of excitement.”
Henrikson said the 4-Hers keep water available for the animals at all times.
“They’ll use spray bottles and spray ’em,” he said. “They keep ’em aerated that way, and try to keep the breeze going and everything like that. Usually they don’t have much problem with (the heat). ... As long as they take those precautions, very seldom do we get calls for an overheated animal at the fair.”
Cloverleaf 4-H Club member Jaimee Foster was making sure her exhibits were comfortable this weekend. She had climbed into the pen with a spray bottle to take care of her pigs, a Hampshire named Tina and a crossbred named Dice.
Jaimee, 7, is a first-year 4-Her who already has learned the importance of helping animals who must stay outside in the heat.
She squirted the spray bottle repeatedly at each pig, wetting them down with a steady mist of water as they lay snoozing in the pen.
“They’ll just get hot and maybe get sick,” Jaimee said, explaining how and why she tries to keep her pigs comfortable. “We spray them with water and we wash them maybe three times a day.”
A fan hung horizontally above the pen also provided relief.
At home, the livestock might have access to ponds or stock tanks, or cooling, watered-down mud to wallow in. Such precautions are necessary because those animals don’t have a perspiration mechanism to help cool their bodies.
“You never see a hog with sweat on him, or you never see a cow with sweat,” Henrikson said. “Of course with the cattle, their hair acts as insulation both ways. As long as they have some movement in the air, they can tolerate it fairly well.”
Henrikson said it is important to make sure that companion animals also are kept cool, with ample supplies of water and shade if they are kept outside.
Never leave an animal unattended inside a vehicle when temperatures warm. According to some sources, on an 80-degree day, in a vehicle parked in the sun, temperatures in a parked car can reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit in as little as 10 minutes.
Henrikson also cautioned that, while intentions are good, leaving a pet at home in a closed room could be deadly during a power outage.
“And, not to make things worse, but trailer homes are really bad about that because they really heat up,” he said.