China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2020, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (11): 3510-3517.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2020.11.012

• Animal Nutrition and Feed Science • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Evaluation of Thermal Environment of Cowshed and Correlation Analysis Between Thermal Parameter and Physiological Parameter of Dairy Cows in Central Plain of Hebei

ZHAO Shoupei1, LI Xuemei1, GAO Yuhong1, SUN Xinsheng2, GUO Jianjun3, HAO Zangen4, MAO Sen3   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China;
    2. College of Information Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding 071001, China;
    3. Institute of Livestock Research, Chengde Academy of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences, Chengde 067000, China;
    4. Kangdi Feed Additives(Tianjin) Co., Ltd., Tianjin 300270, China
  • Received:2020-04-28 Online:2020-11-20 Published:2020-11-20

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate thermal environment of cowshed in four seasons in central plain of Hebei,and analyze the correlation between the temperature parameters and physiological indexes of dairy cows.Three dairy cow houses with different building structures were selected,the thermal parameters (ambient temperature (Ta) and relative humidity (RH)) and physiological parameters (respiratory rate,rectal temperature and body surface temperature) were detected.The results showed that the Ta,RH and index of temperature and humidity (THI) changed significantly in four seasons (P<0.05),the average daily temperature in summer was the highest (28.59 ℃),and the average daily temperature in winter was the lowest (1.55 ℃).In summer,dairy cows were suffering from mild heat stress for 15.5 h every day,and from moderate heat stress for 6.0 h.In winter,dairy cows were under mild cold stress for an average of 12.0 h per day.The Ta and THI of three cowsheds in each season had no significant differece (P>0.05),except for that in winter.Compared with the cowshed with low wall or roller blind,the average Ta in the cowshed with only roof was 0.80-1.27 ℃ higher in summer and 1.36-1.84 ℃ lower in winter.In addition,the physiological parameters of dairy cows were extremely significantly higher in summer than those in other seasons (P<0.01).The respiration frequency or rectal temperature of cows among cowsheds in summer were significantly different (P<0.05),and the seasonal difference in body surface temperature was significant (P<0.05).Correlation analysis of thermal parameters and cow physiological parameters showed that the respiratory frequency,rectal temperature and body surface temperature were positively correlated with THI and Ta (P<0.05).However,there was no significant correlation between physiological parameters and RH (P>0.05).The results provided scientific basis for environment evaluation of cows,and physiological status of dairy cows were inferred according to environmental thermal parameters,which provided data for occurrence and early warning of stress.

Key words: dairy cows; temperature-humidity index; respiratory rate; rectal temperature; correlation analysis

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