Summer Stress Management in Dairy Animals

Dairy cattle produce milk most efficiently in environments where they can maintain their body
temperature at around 101.3-102.8 F (rectal). Relatively small increases in body temperature of at
least 1C result in detectable, deleterious effects on metabolism and tissue integrity, in particular, the
breakdown of body protein and a significant depression in production.
Milk production potential of dairy animals not only depends on balanced feeding, breeding, good
housing and management but also on the environment. Extremely high temperature can have
negative impact on the production and performance of animals.
Dairy cows are more prone to heat stress than other animals due to the genetic selection for
high milk production. The main limitation with crossbred dairy cattle in India is its susceptibility to
diseases and not adjusting with hot and humid climate resulting in the reduced milk production to
even much less than the half of their potential. Research findings have shown that exotic and
crossbred cows have less tolerance to summer stress than indigenous cows and buffaloes. The
environmental temperature and the relative humidity in months of May-June sometimes exceed 45
degrees centigrade and 60% respectively. The continuous high temperatures in summer make animal
body less resistant to fight against external infections. All dairy operations must be well planned with
regards to comfort of animals in summer.
Heat Stress
Heat stress is a result of an imbalance between heat gain and heat dissipation in an animal
and when the heat load of a cow is greater than her capacity to lose heat. The cows heat load is
determined by her own body heat production plus environmental heat that includes air temperature
and humidity and both are combined into a temperature humidity index (THI). The THI above 72 is
usually considered the point at which stress occurs.
The primary sources of heat gain from the environment are solar radiation and elevated
ambient air temperature. Atmospheric temperature and heat produced internally from basal nutrient
metabolism are the two sources of heat stress. As milk production and feed intake increases more
heat from nutrient metabolism is produced thus aggravating any heat stress incurred from
environmental sources. As the result, higher producing cows will experience more heat stress than
lower producing or dry cows. Humidity plays a significant role in heat stress.