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Wisconsin farmer gets creative to care for cold cows

Posted at 8:30 PM, Jan 04, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-04 23:20:02-05

You hear us talk about keeping your pets safe when temperatures dip below zero, but farmers don’t have the luxury of moving all their livestock indoors. 

A farmer out in De Soto says to keep cold winds out of the barn, he tacks down tarp. 

But this precaution has a downside because if they’re blocked off the airflow, they have to keep industrial fans running. 

“If we get too much stale and stagnant air, and a lot of moisture that builds up in the barn and they have to re-breathe that, then that causes pneumonia,"  said farmer William Walleser. 

Farmers can also give the cows a constant supply of food to help maintain their body temperature. 

On any given day, they’ll eat about 2 percent of their body weight in food.