We’re in the dog days of summer, so extreme heat is always on our mind as we monitor the weather forecast. Most farmers can likely share a story of a weather disaster on their farm; my first came 30 years ago with a shocking loss on an incredibly hot summer night on range. It made our local newspaper, which is never how we’d want to make news. Knowing we’re in the season, I thought I’d share our hot weather gameplan that we’ve already put to use many times this summer.

As a starting point, it’s important to know that heat is a bigger challenge for bigger turkeys. Young poults like it hot, so we worry more as turkeys age. As they grow, it’s the wicked combination of heat and humidity that can be deadly, particularly when we don’t have a good breeze.

Ironically, we often have an easier time keeping birds comfortable when they have a barn to return to, because we can move a lot of air with fans indoors. When a flock is completely out on pasture, we’re at the mercy of Mother Nature to keep the air moving, and to give us cooler nights for some relief. That nightmare loss on range in my teenage years happened when the wind quit and the temp never dropped. Few things feel more helpless as a farmer.

Our best heat defense on range is spraying our birds with cool water from a tank we pull behind a tractor. We’re both giving them a cool mist, and also keeping them moving to find water and fresh air. It’s the joke around here that flocks are initially skittish when we first hose them down, but soon come running when they see the water wagon rolling out. On the hottest days, it’s a steady parade of water rolling out to the birds.

Of course, if it’s hot for turkeys, it’s hot for all of us who care for them. I’m grateful for our team, who work extra hours on the hottest days, sacrificing human comfort to provide bird comfort. We all do what it takes to keep the turkeys happy. As we move into the cooler fall days that turkeys love, we’ll breath a collective sigh of relief that we’ve successfully made it through the dog days of summer.

Thanks for valuing all the care and effort that goes into our farming model.