What are livestock covers?

What are livestock covers? Well to put it plainly, tarp covers that go over your livestock. Not to be confused with Livestock Cover, though every farmer should have his or her insurances in place; Livestock covers are commonly found in the forms of shade structures and or shelter structures.

These covers are not limited to only certain kinds of livestock; they can be utilised over all cattle, pigs, horse or sheep pens, yards or arenas. Common set ups for cover are over open pens or holding yards as well as providing covering over the race or other walk ways in between loading ramps and yards.

Providing cover for one’s livestock is of the upmost importance. Livestock who are exposed to intense heat and constant radiation can result in reduced wellness and even death. While a lot of farmers choose to build numerous shed or steel structures out in their paddocks or fields, this is highly impractical. What farmers need are shade shelters that are portable and temporary. Some shelter designs include a portable frame that can easily be lifted and repositioned anywhere it is needed.

Cover is ideal for protecting one’s animals from all manners of weather types; heat from the sun, being drenched in rain and wind or freezing just from the cold and damp mornings and nights. In order to protect your animals enough from all these elements, there are a few different design options you would need to consider.

In order to protect your animals from the sun, you would only need a pretty standard set up. Either designed like a dome shape or flat like a shade sail, you would only need to set up a roof for your animals to take shelter under away from the sun’s hot rays.

When it comes to rain or wind, no one enjoys being constantly hit with it and the same goes for animals. Whilst they can handle it better than humans, they cannot take it on forever without falling ill or even succumbing to death. In this case, a shelter or shade that not only covers overhead but also along the sides, especially whichever direction the rain and wind is coming from. This provides the animals with not only cover but also something to break the wind and rain from hitting them at full force. A common design often seen are structures that have three side walls covered as well as a slanted roof to allow rain water to run off and not gather above animal’s heads.

The cold, whilst harder to provide cover from, there is a way. Most animals are pretty hard to affect with the cold and often gather together in order to preserve body heat to the whole group. This however only works long term if the animals have a place they can go that will assist in trapping their body heat in with them. Similar to the design mentioned above for rain and wind, a shelter that provides cover on all sides would be much better suited. With a door that is closable, this allows a framer’s livestock with full enclosure which not only keeps any chill winds at bay but also aids in trapping their body heat inside and keeping the whole lot of them warm from dusk until dawn.

Providing cover to a framer’s livestock is integral for their survival. There are plenty of different designs for all sorts of weather conditions; you just need to understand what will work best for you and your livestock.