Steer Planet - Show Steers and Club Calves Forum

Hello,
  This upcoming show season will be my senior year in 4-h.  So to go out with a bang I want a calf with lots of hair, and let me tell you it is alot of work hosing down my show cattle two times a day.  So I can up with the idea of making a homemade calf cooler out of my stall were I keep my show steers.  So my question is if I were to create a homemade calf cooler will I be able to use a window unit? and will it be enough to cool down a 12X12X6 space?  If you have any other ideas or if you may have an answer to my questions they would be greatly appreciated.

Most window units will cool down to 55 or 60 degrees. If you want them to blow any cooler you can take it to your local heating and air company in your town and they can make it blow as low as 38 degrees. I was going to use on when out compressor went out on our meat cooler and that is the lowest that they could make ours blow. Hope that helps you out. When building your wall make sure you pack the insulation in there tight and you will have no problem loosing and cool air.
Chris and Wendy

It can work, but please remember if it's airtight (even relatively so) that you really need to invest in a magnetic door that pops open or an alarm that calls you (and preferably a couple of other people nearby) in the event that the power goes out or the temperature rises dramatically (a malfunctioning cooler unit can blow hot air), or be absolutely sure someone can check it at least every hour.  I've lost count of the number of cattle (that I know of) that have died in makeshift cooler rooms in recent years, just within say a 50 mile radius of me.  Even because someone in a hurry put them in one morning and forgot to turn the cooler on...

We use a water cooler and fans under an open barn with shade cloth around the "cooling area".  Not real cold, but it helps, and you can grow hair with a little work.  It's just our choice, but at least we don't have to worry about killing our cattle if something goes wrong.