STI.

]DIES ON THE, BODY TEMPERATURE AND RESPIRATION

RATE OF BUFFALO COWS UNDER NORMAL CONDITIONS
K. A. Ar-rlrl em I. A. Auuro
Department of An'imal' Proiluction, Faculty of Agriculture,
Al,exandria Uniztersily, Al'erandria, Egypt

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Received for publication February 28,19571

ABSTRACT

The results of observations on the body temperature and respiration

rate of 10 buffalo cows, kept in open sheds during the summer in Egypt,

over a Deriod of 24 davs. are reDorted.

Therb was a wide range of variation between cows in their body reactions.
The diurnal variations in body reactions tended to coincide with diurnal
variations in atmosoheric conditions.
Vapour pressure was more closely correlated to physiological responses than
was arr temDerature.
Measurements of body temperature appeared to give a better assessment
of heat tolerance than did resoiration rate.

INTRODUCTION

Body temperature and respiration rate in animals are influenced by

climatic and other factors. It is desirable to measure these body reactions
as they are primary criteria in indicating differences between animals in
heat tolerance (1). Estimates of repeatability (2) of these attributes
give evidence as to their relative significance in this respect. The object
of the investigations reported was to determine the relative importance of
air temperature and vapour pressure (7) on body temperature and
respiration rate of buffalo cows. Another object of the work waS to determine the repeatability of these physiological measurements.
MATERIAL AND METHODS

Ten buffalo cows from the University herd were used in this study.
There were (1) four open cows in the early stages of lactation; (2) two
dry cows in late stages of pregnancy; and (3) four open dry cows. The
average age of these cows in lactations is given in Table 1.
The test animals were kept in open sheds and the experiment was carried
out during the months of May, June and July, 1956. The summer of
that year was comparatively severe in Egypt, and the animals appeared
to be under more heat stress than usual.
Four observations of rectal temperature and respiration rate were made
on each animal on 24 separate days. Feed was withdrawn before the
tests and the cows were standing quietly. The observations were taken
at 8 a.m., 10 a.m., 12 noon, and 2 p.m. Rectal temperature was measured
by a clinical thermometer inserted to its full length and left in position
for 3 minutes. Respiration rate was measured by counting the flank
movements for two undisturbed half-minute periods and the average
of the two measurements was then taken.
I Present address: DeDartment

Africa.

of Animal Production, Ministry of Animal Resources, Khartoum, Sudan,

130

131

ALrM AND ATTMED-sruDrES oN BUFFALo cows

19571

December,

Teer-n 1.-NuMBER oF LAcTATToNS oF EAcH cow wrrrr (a) rvtn'lw

DArLY BoDY TEMPERATURE AND RESPIRATToN Re':rBl erqo (b)
DAILY YIELD OF THOSE

IN MILK

T
Body temperature
Groups

Number of
lactations

Mean

Respiration rate

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I
D
G

All open lactating

lzl

38.30

o. o25

34.29
38.24

38 .25

3a.27

o.o24

o.o24

o.025
0.021

o. o25

J6. JJ
J6.J5
J6. JJ

34.12

o. o25
o. 016
o. 018

38.08

o.017
o.017

A1l pregnant dry

l:l
l3l
t3l

o.025

3a.t4

38. 14

All open dry

3a.12

0. 017

std.

error

error

error

I
B
L

Daily milk yield

std.

std.

lb.

min.

10.98
11.10
10.98
1o.74
10.95
11.36

o.l7+

.45

o.194

tr.54
11

9.99
9.82
9.88

10. 19

9.97

0.165

o.t67

o.156
o. 165
o. 190
o. 199

14.90
15.60

t2.46

8.08

12.76

o.37
1.10
o.35
o.2a
o.52

o.131
o.131
o.131
o. 130
o. 131

I Body temperatures and respiration rates were taken four times daily and the above figures are avenged
from these readings.

Dry and wet bulb temperatures in the open sheds were noted at

each

observation using a whirling hygrometer (1).

All cows were fed on wheat straw ad libitum. The concentrate ration
was given at the rate of 3 kg. daily to open dry cows and 4 kg' to pregnant
dry .o*.. The open milking cows' however' received 3 kg' of meal, plus
1 kg. more of concentrate for every 5 lb. of milk produced'
'I-he concentrate ration was made up of undecorticated cotton seed
and rice bran at 1 : 1 ratio, and was fed in two parts, at 6'50 a'm' and
4.50 p.m.

Throughout the experiment, the cows were fed on sweet sudan grass
between the hours of i0.30 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. They were watered four
times daily, at 6.30 a.m., 9.30 a.m., 12-30 noon and 4 p'm' The cows in
lactation were milked twice daily, at 7 a.m. and 5 p'm'' and the milk
yield was reCorded to the nearest 0.5 lb. at each milking'
The data were classified according to cows, groups, days and readings.
The analysis of variance applied was similar to the 'time' analysis given

byWilm(8)andadoptedinastudybyPatchell(4).Subsequent
statistical methods used were as outlined by Snedecor (6)'
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Performance of Anirnals

Table 1 shows the performance of the cows during the experiment.

The results in Table 1 indicate that the mean body temperature and
respiration rate in open milking cows were higher than the mean values
obtained for the open dry cows. The values for open lactating cows
were lower than those of the pregnant dry group.
The difference in body reactions of open dry cows and producing cows
confirms other observations (1). The possible cause for the lower responses
obtained on open dry cows is their lower metabolic rate'

r32

CANADIAN JOURNAI OF ANIMAL SCIENCE

[Vol. 37

TAsr,B 2.-MEAN, RANGE, sTANDARD DEvTATIoN AND coEFFTCIENT oF VARTATIoN

OF TEE ATMOSPHERIC AND PEYSIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON AI,L COWS
AT EACE OF FOUR DAILY READINGS THROUGIIOUT
TIIE COURSE OF THE EXPERIMENT
i

Time of reading

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8 a.m

10

a.m. I

l-t-t-lAir

Mean
Range
Standard deviation
Coefficient of variation

noon I

12

p.-. l

Average

temperature oC.

io.27

26-35

31 .27

30.96

2.70
4.64

2.59
8.36

26-36

2.47
8.16

Vapour pressure mm. Hg.

Mean
Range
Standard deviation

2r.77
14.I-29.6
4.62

22.aO

t6.o-31 .7
4. 59

Coeffcient of yariation

21.22

20.13

Mean

38.24

38.16
37 .8-38.7
o.22

24.OO
4
19

23.64

26.O1

17.6-34.6

t8.7-37 .9

4.86

s .56

.68

.50

2r.37

20.55

38.29

38.23

Body temperature oC.

Range

Stmdard deviation
Coefficient of variation

37

.a-3a.7
o.20
o.s2

38.21

37.7-38.8
o.21

o.55

0. 57

Respiration rate
Mean
Range
Standard deviation
Coefficient of yariation
r Averages

.5-r7 .5
1

.61

15.26

'ARTANCE

1L.47

10.66

8. O-18 .5
1 .53

I .50
14.o7

13,33

FoR BoD.,. TEM'ERATURE AND RES'TRATToN RATE

Source of

Body

variation

Total

B. Animals (A)
B. Groups (G)
W. Grorips'
-(D)

B. Davs

D.xA.
D.xG.

D. x W. Groups

B. Readines (i{)
A.
G.

W. Groups
D.

A.x R.

O : not significant
- significant at tTolevel

Respiration
rate

temperature

(d/t)

**

f minutel

10.55
7

o.2l

o.54

of two readings.

Tns'-n 3.-ANArysIS oF

R.x
R.x
R.x
R.x
D.x

38.O-38.9
o.20
o.52

959
9
2

23
207

46

t6t
3

27
6

2l

69

62r

(M.sq.)

(F.)

0.919 ++
3.892 ++
0 .070
0.832
0.050 ++
0.124 ++
++
0 .028
0.708 ++
0.023 0
0.031 o
0 .020
0.027 + +
0.016

(M.

"q.)

(F.)

38.898 ++
167.180 ++
2.246
47.352 ++
r.826 ++

3.74e + +
|.277
7s.s27 ++
0.911 0
1.242 0
0.816

1.379 ++

0.850

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December,

1957]

ALIM AND AHMED-sruDIES oN BIJFFALo

cows

133

comparison of climatic and physiological measurments (Table 2)

made at different times shows that the steady rise in air temperature
and vapour pressure tends to coincide with diurnal variations in body
reactions. Ho*".r"., cows had their meal in the morning and usually
consumed a large amount of wheat straw at this time while the weather
was relatively lool' They also ate less straw under hot conditions'
Co.rr"qrr"ntty, tfre disturbed body reactions observed in the first readings
presumably indicate effects of feed ingestion (1)'
Bod,y Temperature and. Respirat'ion Rate
Analysis of variance (Table 3) shows that there was a highly significant

sources

of variati,ons in

were also highly significant variations

on different days or at different times
of the same day' The highly significant interactions DXA and DXG
mean that animal or group responses were not the same on different days
throughout the experimenial period. On the other hand, the interactions
RX4. and RXG did not .iro- uny significant effect. _This lndicates
tnaftne pattern of body temperatureand respiration rate behaviour from
animal to animal, and from gioup to group' was the same for the different
readings throughout the eiperimeni. A highly significant interaction
U"t*"""" reading"s and days for these body reactions is to be expected because

animal

o, grottp effect. There

between animal- reactions made

of the variation*s in climatic conditions at any one reading on different days'

correlati,on between Bod,y Reacti,ons and climatological obserttations

Simple correlation coefficilnts of the average daily observed physiological
and climatological values were calculated for individual cows. These
*ere" pooled for cows of similar groups' The.results are given
".li*ui"t
in Table 4. It will be seen that body temperature and respiration rate
CoEFFIcTENTS BETwEEN THE AvERAGE DArLY ArR
BODY
TEMPERATURE AND VAPOUR PRESSURE AND TEE AVERAGE DAILY
TEMPERATURE AND RESPIRATION RATE OF INDIVIDUAL COWS

Teere 4.-CoRRELATToN

Correlation coefficientsl

Cows or

groups

n
B

D
All open lactating
G

drv
All oreenant
'-L

M
N

B'IxRR

BTXAT

BTxVP

RRXAT

0.839
0.818

0.431

0.796

0 .468
0 .430

0.602

o.443

0. 710
U.

376

0.617
0.684
0.505

0.428

0 .663

'J/
0.712
0.720

0.455

0.4r4

0.563

0.269

0.569
0.627
0.598
0.305
o.262

0.442
o.649

0. 399
0. 381

0.232

0.717

0.369
0.391

0.299

0. 189

0.442

0.348

0.392
0 .411

0.420
0.398
0 .408

0.32t
0.430
0.268

0.295

RRxVP
0.569
o.672
0.581
0.616

0.610
0.737

0.720
o.724
0 .465

0.573
o.337
0.370

All open dry

0 .498

0.311

0.312

0 .331

o.443

Totals

0.663

0.375

0.528

0.379

0.577

BT : Body temperature
Respiration rate
AT Air temperature
VP = Vapour pressure
RR =
:

134

CANADTAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCTENCE

lVol. 37

TeerB S.-SuMMARTZED coMpARrsoNs oF

CoRRELATT.N coEFFrcIENTs FR.M TABLE 4

BETWEEN THE PIIYSIOLOGICAL REACTIONS IN TIIE DIFFERENT GROUPS
OF COWS AND THE CLIMATOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS

Correlation coefficients

Groups compared

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BTxRR
t-test
Open lactating cows vs. preg-

nant drv
cows
-dry
cows vs. open

-t-

T-

-r

++

++

Pregnant

orv cows
Open lactating cows vs.
dry cows
O:
+, ++ :

difierence not significant

difference signifiiant at STo and,

l/6levet rspectively

were well correlated. However, vapour pressure appears to be more

important than air temperature in determining physiorogicai responses
within
climatological pattern prevailing during the experiment. The
-the
regression obtained shows that with 1 mm. Hg. rise in vipour pressure,
the rectal temperature increases by 0.012" c., and the respiration rate
increases by 0.086 per half-minute.

The summarized comparison based on t-test of significance for the

,"u.iiorr. and climatological data for all groups is given in Table 5. From this table it can be
seen that there was no difference between groups in the degree of their
body reactions to air temperature. The opin milking and dry pregnant
groups also tend to respond to the same extent to the iecorded featuies of
the environment. However, all group correlations were highly significant
differences between correlation coefficients for body

statistically.

Repeatabi.li,ty of Bod.y Reactions

. The-repeatability of body temperature and respiration rate was determined by the intra-class correlaiion technique. The carculations were
made within readings and are presented in Tible o. These results show
TEST,B 6.-RaPEATABILITY oF BoDY TEMPERATURE READINGS AND
RESPIRATION RATES OF ALL COWS

Time of
reading

8 a.m.
10 a.m.

12 noon

2 p.m.
Averages

Repeatability estimates
Body temperature

Respiration rate

0.232

0.181

0.112
o.120

0.078

0. 160

0. 105

0.158

0.124

0.128

December,

19571

ALIM AND AHMED-sruDIES oN BuFFAro

cows

135

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that there is a wide range of variation between estimates of body reactions

at different readings. The values for body temperature tend to follow
the animals' responses to the conditions at the time of observation.
Similar estimateJon respiration rate do not seem to follow this trend.
The repeatability estimates based on the average of four daily readings
were 0.195 for body temperature and 0.172 for respiration rate. These
values are, of course, higher than 0.158 and 0.124 for the two characters
when single records were used (2).
It will be noted from the above results that there was little difference
between the over-all repeatability estimates of these physiological responses
under the conditions of the experiment. However, measurements of body
temperatures, when the cows are under stress, suggest a slight superiority

ovei the respiration rates in determining heat tolerance. The importance

of body temperature in this respect had also been reported by other workers
(3,5).
REFERENCES

K. Manual of field studies on the heat tolerance of domestic animals.

F.A.O., Rome. 1953.
2. Lush, J. L. Animal breeding plans. 3rd ed. Iowa State College Press, Ames, lowa'
1. Lee, D. H.
1947.

3. McDowell, R. E., D. H. K. Lee, and NL H. Fohrman. Repeatability-of an experimental

heat tolerance test and the influence of season. J. Animal Sci. 12 : 757-764. 1953.
4. Patchell, M. R. Direct effects of climate on cattle. New Zealand J. Sci. Technol.

:1-9. 1954.
M. Heritability of heat tolerance in dairy cattle. J. Dairy Sci. 30 : t37-144.
1947.
6. Snedecor, G. W. Statistical methods. 4th ed. Iowa State College Press, Ames, Iowa.
36

5. Seath, D.

1946.

7. U.K.

Air Ministry. Hygrometric tables. 4th ed. H.M.

1944.

8. Wilm, H.

G.

1945.

Notes on analysis of experiments replicated in

Stationery Of6ce, London,

time.

Biometrics

: 16-20.