Responses of dairy cows to short-term heat stress in controlled-climate chambers

2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (7) ◽  
pp. 1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Garner ◽  
M. Douglas ◽  
S. R. O. Williams ◽  
W. J. Wales ◽  
L. C. Marett ◽  
...  

The objective of the present research was to describe the physiological and production responses of lactating dairy cows during and after sudden exposure to temperate-climate heat-wave conditions, compared with cows in thermoneutral conditions. Twelve lactating multiparous Holstein–Friesian dairy cows were housed in controlled-climate chambers for 4 days. Six were exposed to a short-term temperature and humidity challenge (THc, diurnal temperature and humidity fluctuations inducing moderate heat stress; temperature humidity index 74–84) and six cows were exposed to thermoneutral conditions (THn, temperatur humidity index 55–61). Cows were also measured during a 7-day pre-experimental and 14-day post-experimental period. Physiological indicators of heat stress were measured, including rectal and vaginal temperature and respiration rate, which indicated that the THc in controlled-climate chambers induced moderate heat stress. The cows exposed to the 4-day THc reduced their milk yield by 53% and their dry-matter intake by 48%, compared with the cows in the THn treatment. Milk yield of THc cows returned to pre-experimental milk yield by Day 7 and dry-matter intake by Day 4 of the post-experimental period. The short-term heat challenge induced metabolic adaptations by mobilising adipose tissue, as indicated by increased non-esterified fatty acids, and amino acids from skeletal muscle, as indicated by increased urea nitrogen to compensate for reduced nutrient intake and increased energy expenditure. Endocrine responses included greater prolactin concentrations, which is associated with thermoregulation and water metabolism. The cows exposed to THc displayed production and physical responses that facilitated lower metabolic heat production and greater heat dissipation in an attempt to maintain homeostasis during the short-term heat exposure. These results indicated that the conditions imposed on the cows in the controlled-climate chambers were sufficient to induce heat-stress responses and adversely affected production in the lactating dairy cow, and the delay between the return to normal feed intake and milk yield following the heat challenge suggests a period of metabolic recovery was occurring.

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 722
Author(s):  
Jang-Hoon Jo ◽  
Jalil Ghassemi Nejad ◽  
Dong-Qiao Peng ◽  
Hye-Ran Kim ◽  
Sang-Ho Kim ◽  
...  

This study aims to characterize the influence of short-term heat stress (HS; 4 day) in early lactating Holstein dairy cows, in terms of triggering blood metabolomics and parameters, milk yield and composition, and milk microRNA expression. Eight cows (milk yield = 30 ± 1.5 kg/day, parity = 1.09 ± 0.05) were homogeneously housed in environmentally controlled chambers, assigned into two groups with respect to the temperature humidity index (THI) at two distinct levels: approximately ~71 (low-temperature, low-humidity; LTLH) and ~86 (high-temperature, high-humidity; HTHH). Average feed intake (FI) dropped about 10 kg in the HTHH group, compared with the LTLH group (p = 0.001), whereas water intake was only numerically higher (p = 0.183) in the HTHH group than in the LTLH group. Physiological parameters, including rectal temperature (p = 0.001) and heart rate (p = 0.038), were significantly higher in the HTHH group than in the LTLH group. Plasma cortisol and haptoglobin were higher (p < 0.05) in the HTHH group, compared to the LTLH group. Milk yield, milk fat yield, 3.5% fat-corrected milk (FCM), and energy-corrected milk (ECM) were lower (p < 0.05) in the HTHH group than in the LTLH group. Higher relative expression of milk miRNA-216 was observed in the HTHH group (p < 0.05). Valine, isoleucine, methionine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, tryptophan, lactic acid, 3-phenylpropionic acid, 1,5-anhydro-D-sorbitol, myo-inositol, and urea were decreased (p < 0.05). These results suggest that early lactating cows are more vulnerable to short-term (4 day) high THI levels—that is, HTHH conditions—compared with LTLH, considering the enormous negative effects observed in measured blood metabolomics and parameters, milk yield and compositions, and milk miRNA-216 expression.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 485-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. H. Ominski ◽  
K. M. Wittenberg ◽  
A. D. Kennedy ◽  
S. A. Moshtaghi-Nia

AbstractDairy operations located in many temperate climates experience a decline in milk production associated with short-term moderate heat stress during the summer months. The duration and intensity of this heat stress differs dramatically from the sustained, intense heat experienced in many tropical and subtropical countries where the vast majority of heat stress research has been conducted. As such, many of the strategies utilized to ameliorate production losses associated with sustained, intense heat may not be effective in temperate climates. The objective of this research was to characterize the production responses of lactating dairy cows during and after short-term, moderate heat exposure and, to determine if feeding a fungal culture, Aspergillus oryzae, during a 5-day heat stress period, could effectively alleviate the associated production losses. In a two-period, cross-over design, eight mature lactating cows were given a total mixed ration with or without Aspergillus oryzae. Each 15-day period consisted of a 5-day thermoneutral phase, a 5-day heat stress phase and a 5-day thermoneutral recovery phase. When exposed to moderate heat stress for a 5-day period, cows experienced a rise in vaginal temperature and a decline in dry-matter intake. Following the 5-day heat stress phase, milk yield declined by a factor of 0·09. Supplementation with Aspergillus oryzae had no effect on vaginal temperature, dry-matter intake, water intake, milk yield or milk components. These data indicate that short-term, moderate heat stress, which occurs during the spring and summer months in temperate climates, will significantly decrease production in the lactating cow. Addition of fungal cultures to the diet during the period of imposed heat did not ameliorate production losses associated with this type of heat stress.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 104
Author(s):  
Shulin Liang ◽  
Chaoqun Wu ◽  
Wenchao Peng ◽  
Jian-Xin Liu ◽  
Hui-Zeng Sun

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using the dry matter intake of first 2 h after feeding (DMI-2h), body weight (BW), and milk yield to estimate daily DMI in mid and late lactating dairy cows with fed ration three times per day. Our dataset included 2840 individual observations from 76 cows enrolled in two studies, of which 2259 observations served as development dataset (DDS) from 54 cows and 581 observations acted as the validation dataset (VDS) from 22 cows. The descriptive statistics of these variables were 26.0 ± 2.77 kg/day (mean ± standard deviation) of DMI, 14.9 ± 3.68 kg/day of DMI-2h, 35.0 ± 5.48 kg/day of milk yield, and 636 ± 82.6 kg/day of BW in DDS and 23.2 ± 4.72 kg/day of DMI, 12.6 ± 4.08 kg/day of DMI-2h, 30.4 ± 5.85 kg/day of milk yield, and 597 ± 63.7 kg/day of BW in VDS, respectively. A multiple regression analysis was conducted using the REG procedure of SAS to develop the forecasting models for DMI. The proposed prediction equation was: DMI (kg/day) = 8.499 + 0.2725 × DMI-2h (kg/day) + 0.2132 × Milk yield (kg/day) + 0.0095 × BW (kg/day) (R2 = 0.46, mean bias = 0 kg/day, RMSPE = 1.26 kg/day). Moreover, when compared with the prediction equation for DMI in Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle (2001) using the independent dataset (VDS), our proposed model shows higher R2 (0.22 vs. 0.07) and smaller mean bias (−0.10 vs. 1.52 kg/day) and RMSPE (1.77 vs. 2.34 kg/day). Overall, we constructed a feasible forecasting model with better precision and accuracy in predicting daily DMI of dairy cows in mid and late lactation when fed ration three times per day.


2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 1548-1557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelson Massaru Fukumoto ◽  
Julio Cesar Damasceno ◽  
Fermino Deresz ◽  
Carlos Eugênio Martins ◽  
Antônio Carlos Cóser ◽  
...  

The objective of this study was to evaluate milk yield and composition, dry matter intake, and stocking rate in pastures with tanzania grass (Panicum maximum cv. Tanzânia), star grass (Cynodon nlemfuensis cv. Estrela-Africana), and marandu grass (Brachiaria brizantha cv. Marandu). The grasses were managed in a rotational grazing system with Holstein x Zebu crossbreed cows, with a 30-day resting period and three days of paddock occupation. The pastures were fertilized with 1,000 kg/ha/year using the 20:05:20 (NPK) formula, split in three applications during the rainy season. It was used a complete random block experimental design with three factors being studied and two replications. In the experiment, four cows/paddock were used and, when it was necessary, regulator animals were added in order to obtain a supply of 7% body weight green forage dry matter. The animals were individually fed concentrate at 2 kg/day during the experimental period. Milk yield did not differ among the three grasses, with values of 9.1; 9.1; and 8.7 kg/cow/day for pastures with tanzania grass, star grass and marandu grass, respectively. Similarly, grass did not affect milk chemical composition. Stocking rate was similar among the three grasses, with values of 4.6; 4.5 and 5.0 UA/ha for tanzania grass, star grass and marandu grass, respectively. The highest dry matter intake was observed for tanzania grass with 2.6% of the body weight while stargrass (2.3%) and marandu grass (2.4%) did not differ among each other. The highest dry matter intake on tanzania grass pasture was not reflected on milk yield per animal. Milk yield and composition and stocking rate are similar among the evaluated grasses.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Ouellet ◽  
Izabella M. Toledo ◽  
Bethany Dado-Senn ◽  
Geoffrey E. Dahl ◽  
Jimena Laporta

The effects of heat stress on dry cows are profound and significantly contribute to lower overall welfare, productivity, and profitability of the dairy sector. Although dry cows are more thermotolerant than lactating cows due to their non-lactating state, similar environmental thresholds are currently used to estimate the degree of heat strain and cooling requirements. Records of dry cow studies conducted over 5 years in Gainesville, Florida, USA were pooled and analyzed to determine environmental thresholds at which dry cows exhibit signs of heat stress in a subtropical climate. Dry-pregnant multiparous dams were actively cooled (CL; shade of a freestall barn, fans and water soakers, n = 107) or not (HT; shade only, n = 111) during the last 7 weeks of gestation, concurrent with the entire dry period. Heat stress environmental indices, including ambient temperature, relative humidity, and temperature-humidity index (THI), and animal-based indices, including respiration rate, rectal temperature and daily dry matter intake were recorded in all studies. Simple correlations were performed between temperature-humidity index and each animal-based indicator. Differences in respiration rate, rectal temperature and dry matter intake between treatments were analyzed by multiple regression. Using segmented regression, temperature-humidity thresholds for significant changes in animal-based indicators of heat stress were estimated. Stronger significant correlations were found between the temperature-humidity index and all animal-based indices measured in HT dry cows (−0.22 ≤ r ≤ 0.35) relative to CL dry cows (−0.13 ≤ r ≤ 0.19). Although exposed to similar temperature-humidity index, rectal temperature (+0.3°C; P &lt; 0.001) and respiration rate (+23 breaths/min; P &lt; 0.001) were elevated in HT dry cows compared with CL cows whereas dry matter intake (−0.4 kg of dry matter/d; P = 0.003) was reduced. Temperature-humidity index thresholds at which respiration rate and rectal temperature began to change were both determined at a THI of 77 in HT dry cows. No significant temperature-humidity threshold was detected for dry matter intake. At a practical level, our results demonstrate that dry cow respiration rate and rectal temperature increased abruptly at a THI of 77 when provided only shade and managed in a subtropical climate. Therefore, in the absence of active cooling, dry cows should be closely monitored when or before THI reaches 77 to avoid further heat-stress related impairments during the dry period and the subsequent lactation and to mitigate potential carry-over effects on the offspring.


2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 351 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. KRÍZOVÁ ◽  
J. TRINÁCTÝ ◽  
M. RICHTER

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of leucine supplement in the form of rumen-protected tablets on milk yield and composition and plasma amino acids in four high-yielding lactating Holstein cows. The experiment was carried out as a cross-over procedure and was divided into 4 periods of 14 d (10 d preliminary period and 4 d experimental period). Cows were fed ad libitum a diet based on maize silage, lucerne hay and a supplemental mixture. The diet, defficient in methionine, lysine, and leucine, was supplemented with methionine+lysine (Control) or methionine+lysine+leucine (Leu) in rumen protected form. The dry matter intake, milk yield and milk yield expressed in energy corrected milk did not differ significantly between the treatments. Milk protein content and yield did not show statistically significant variation. The contents and yield of casein, fat, lactose and urea were unaffected by the treatment. Blood metabolites did not vary between the treatments. The introduction of Leu resulted in higher plasma levels of proline (p


2010 ◽  
Vol 55 (No. 11) ◽  
pp. 468-478 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Poláková ◽  
V. Kudrna ◽  
A. Kodeš ◽  
B. Hučko ◽  
Z. Mudřík

The main aim of this study was to investigate experimentally the effect of different composition of non-structural carbohydrates (NFC) in prepartum feed rations administered to high-yielding dairy cows at a high concentration of NFC in the diet on dry matter intake both before and after parturition and on subsequent milk performance, body condition and physiological traits of rumen fluid and blood. Thirty-six high-yielding dairy cows were allocated into one of the three well-balanced groups (K, O, and C), and each group received a different feeding rations. Feeding rations differed in non-structural carbohydrate (NFC) structure. The "K" (control) group received a feeding ration with NFC in the form of maize starch in particular, while the feeding rations of the other two (experimental) groups contained either (besides maize starch) saccharose from dried sugar beet (the "O" group) or a dominant amount of NFC was in the form of saccharose (the "C" group). After calving, all dairy cows were given the same feeding ration from the first day after parturition. The experiment was conducted for 21 days before and 50 days after calving. FR in the form of total mixed ration was offered ad libitum. Dry matter intake, milk performance, body condition, live weight, and blood and rumen parameters were recorded for the duration of the experiment. Average daily dry matter intake before calving was highest in the "K" group (14.32 kg per head). Differences among groups were statistically significant (P &lt; 0.05). Prepartum dry matter consumption dropped as the rate of saccharose in the diet of cows increased. Dry matter consumption levelled off after calving. Milk yield was also highest in the "K" group (43.71 kg/head/day), but fatness of milk and thus the production of fat corrected milk were lowest in this group. The highest milk fat content (4.10%) and fat corrected milk production (44.03 kg/head/day) were recorded in the "C" group, whereas the highest milk protein concentration was found in the milk of the "O" group. The composition of NFC affected dry matter intake before parturition, but these concentrations did not significantly affect dry matter intake, milk yield, milk composition, live weight, body condition or blood serum and rumen fluid parameters after calving


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (6Supl2) ◽  
pp. 4565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ériton Egidio Lisboa Valente ◽  
Mario Luiz Chizzotti ◽  
Cristiane Viol Ribeiro de Oliveira ◽  
Matheus Castilho Galvão ◽  
Silas Sebastião Domingues ◽  
...  

<p>Genetics differences between breeds may determine the tolerance to high temperature, effect dry matter intake and consequently cattle performance. The effect of temperature and humidity index (THI) on diurnal, nocturnal and daily intake, water intake, physiologic parameters and behavior of Nellore (<em>B. indicus</em>) and Angus (<em>B. taurus</em>) bulls were evaluated. Eight Angus and eight Nellore young bulls (337±7.4 kg and 16 months of age) were allocated in two climate-controlled rooms for 32 days. In the period 1, all bulls were housed in thermoneutral conditions (TN, THI = 72.6) for 10 days. In period 2 (10 days), four Angus and four Nellore bulls were subjected to low heat stress (LHS, THI = 76.4) in daytime, and four Angus and four Nellore bulls were subjected to high heat stress (HHS, THI = 81.5) in daytime. The diurnal and daily dry matter intake (DMI) of Nellore were not affected (P&gt;0.05) by heat stress. However, Angus bulls decreased diurnal DMI by 24% and daily DMI decreased (P&lt;0.05) by 15% on HHS. In TN Angus bulls had higher (P&lt;0.05) daily DMI (36.2 g/kg of BW) than Nellore (29.1 g/kg of BW), but in HHS they had similar (P&gt;0.05) daily DMI (31.6 and 30.2 g/kg of BW, respectively). We observed an increase (P&lt;0.05) in respiratory frequency, but water intake was not affected (P&gt;0.05) by heat stress. The heart rate decreased (P&lt;0.05) with heat stress. No differences were found (P&gt;0.05) in feeding behavior. Therefore, THI stress threshold should distinct for Angus and Nellore bulls. The use of feed intake information may improve the prediction of thermic discomfort on specific climate condition. </p>


Author(s):  
Dagnachew Hailemariam ◽  
Ghader Manafiazar ◽  
John A. Basarab ◽  
Paul Stothard ◽  
Filippo Miglior ◽  
...  

This study compared the different residual feed intake (RFI) categories of lactating Holsteins with respect to methane emission, dry matter intake (kg), milk somatic cell count (SCC, 103/mL) and β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB, mmol/L). RFI was calculated in 131 lactating Holstein cows that were then categorized into –RFI (RFI<0) vs. +RFI (RFI>0) and low (RFI<-0.5 SD) vs. high RFI (RFI>0.5 SD) groups. Milk traits were recorded in 131 cows while CH4 and CO2 were measured in 83. Comparisons of –RFI vs. +RFI and low vs. high RFI showed 7.8% (22.3±0.40 vs. 24.2±0.39) and 12.9% (21.1±0.40 vs. 24.2±0.45) decrease (P<0.05) in DMI of –RFI and low RFI groups, respectively. Similarly, –RFI and low RFI cows had lower (P<0.05) CH4 (g/d) by 9.7% (343.5±11.1 vs. 380.4±10.9) and 15.5% (332.5±12.9 vs. 393.5±12.6) respectively. Milk yield was not different (P>0.05) in –RFI vs. +RFI and low vs. high comparisons. The –RFI and low RFI cows had lower (P<0.05) SCC in –RFI vs. +RFI and low RFI vs. high RFI comparisons. BHB was lower (P<0.05) in low RFI compared to the high RFI group. Low RFI dairy cows consumed less feed, emitted less methane (g/d), and had lower milk SCC and BHB without differing in milk yield.


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