Fans, Fans everywhere, and you are still having heat stress issues?

You have a barn full of fans, and still, every year, when the warm weather turns up, your production and reproduction drop. We know how frustrating that can be.  Temperature stress can have a significant impact on your bottom line. Airspeed and evaporative cooling are critical for effective cooling, and all fans are NOT created equal. 

Cows love to be cool. They are not warm-weather creatures. They also perform best when their lives are kept consistent. They do not like surprises or trying something new. The TMR mixer is an excellent example of this. Producers spend hours researching the best TMR mixer to buy before they make a purchase.

1. What kinds of knives does it have?
2. What are the shaker box results?
3. How long does it take to make a mix?
4. Do you have enough horsepower to run it?
5. Is every mouthful of feed the same?  

If we apply this same drive for consistency when purchasing a cooling solution for our cows, what questions would we ask?  

1. Can this fan achieve a minimum of 5mph effective airspeed in every stall?
2. What does the system offer when the temperatures really soar, and air cooling alone doesn't offer relief?
3. How does it provide the correct amount of cooling during spring and fall?
4. Where is the cooling happening? Is it where we want the cows to be, or are we forcing them to stand?
5. How much power will this complete system need?

This is the beginning of how a choice is made to suit a geographic location and barn type.  Making every day feel like a cool day for your cows will significantly impact your bottom line. Discovering your existing system's limitations and finding a way to provide that consistency is the golden key to preventing the damaging effects of heat stress. 

Nigel Cook, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine, says, 

"As temperatures begin to creep up, lying bout duration tends to go down. In fact, cows can lose about three hours of rest a day when heat stress temperatures are experienced.

“Cows accumulate heat while they’re lying down, adding about 1°F of body heat for every hour,” Cook says. “When they stand, they cool at about half the rate. When cows are lying down, they reach a tipping point, so they have to stand to cool themselves. And that’s what drives their change in behavior.”

While sprinkler systems can help minimize heat stress when animals are standing up, they don’t do much for the cow when she is lying down. Therefore, it’s vital to ensure your fans and ventilation system are keeping the animals cool.

Cook recommends spacing fans approximately 24 feet from each other and making sure they are angled correctly. This helps to layer fast-moving air and cool the cow efficiently. At a minimum, your cool airspeed should be 200 feet per minute." Optimizing Resting Behaviour

This is all fantastic information to know when choosing a cooling solution for your barn.

What is very interesting, is the effect lying time can have on core body temperature. A system that works to maintain core body temperature while the cows are lying in their stalls means that we aren't losing those precious three or four hours of laying time a day—maximizing production and performance.

The Core Cool system automatically adjusts the fan's speed according to the temperature and humidity in the barn. That means that if the temperature jumps up 20° during those spring and fall days, the system adjusts itself seamlessly to accommodate this variance. Intelligent water cooling is mounted above the stalls for evaporative cooling on days when air cooling alone doesn't offer enough relief to maintain core body temperature. The ultra-fine droplet creates an imitation sweat that works to keep her feeling cool without wetting the bedding.  For her, the temperature never changes. She has that consistency she craves. Every day feels like a cool day.

Are your 52" panel fans every 24 feet?

That is the recommendation. Every 24 feet to achieve an effective airspeed of 200 feet per minute, which is 2.27mph.  Let's do some math.

A 500ft long barn with 6 rows of cows
Would need. 500 ÷ 24 = 20 fans per row
6 rows x 20 fans/row = 120 fans

That's 120 fans to cool the cows with an airspeed of 200 ft/minute or 2.27mph

Both the 25" and 32" Core Cool fans have an effective airspeed of 440ft/minute or 5mph at 90 feet. They are doubling Nigel Cook's recommended minimum airspeed and more than tripling the distance of 24ft spacings to 90ft.  

Let's do some more math.

A 500ft long barn with 6 rows of cows
Would need 500 ÷ 90 = 5.5 Lets say 6 fans
6 rows x 6 fans/row = 36 fans

120 fans are offering 2.27mph vs 36 fans offering 5mph. The new Core Cool Series could be the solution for you.

It would be interesting to do the calculations in energy usage between 120 fans with AC, belt drive motors and 32" Core Cool with direct drive EC motors. I can do that for you if you are interested. info@kuhlerz.com

Another point to remember... those 120 fans give an airspeed of 2.27mph which doesn't offer much cooling effect once the temperature exceeds 18°C/64.4°F. Choosing a system that offers higher airspeed and with the added benefit of evaporative cooling above the stalls and at the feed bunk means your cows are kept comfortable and cool in the areas you want them to be spending most of their time. 

Want to make every day feel like a cool day for your cows?

It's the perfect time to make plans for the warm weather ahead. The new Core Cool Series has a solution to meet all your cow cooling needs.

Start the journey

1. Discovery Call,
2. Get a Layout Design,
3. Install and start cooling.

Call 1-844-GET-KUHL today! info@corecoolsystems.com if you prefer to email. 

Imagine how happy your cows will be when every day feels like a cool day!