Is Soaking Cows During Dry Period an Effective Management Tool to Reduce Heat Stress and Improve Pospartum Productivity?

Abstract

Avendaño-Reyes, L., Alvarez-Valenzuela, F.D., Correa-Calderón, A., Fadel, J.G. and Robinson, P.H. 2008. Is soaking cows during dry period an effective management tool to reduce heat stress and improve pospartum productivity? J. Appl. Anim. Res., 34: 97–100.

In order to determine the effect of a cooling system on prepartum physiological parameters and postpartum productivity, forty multiparous Holstein cows were assigned to one of two treatments 60 days prior to their expected calving date: cooled (soaking for 2 min twice daily) and non-cooled. The highest ambient temperature registered during the study was 49.5C and the average daily temperature humidity index was higher than 72. Cooled cows showed a trend (P=0.08) to reduce their respiration rate, however, rectal temperature, body condition score and body weight were not affected at all (P>0.05). Postpartum milk yield, milk fat and milk energy output did not show significant differences, nor reproduction parameters postpartum (P>0.05). Thus soaking Holstein cows during the prepartum period had no advantage on postpartum productivity under hot and dry conditions.

Keywords:

• Dairy cattle
• milk production
• heat stress
• cooling system
• reproduction