Effect of cooling strategies on milk production, physiological variables and blood profile during hot-dry and hot-humid summer in Sahiwal cattle

Abstract

The present experiment was undertaken to study the effect of misting and splashing during hot-dry and hothumid months in lactating Sahiwal cattle. The study was conducted during May, June (hot-dry) and July (hothumid) with monthly average temperature-humidity index (THI) of 79.88, 80.57 and 85.36, respectively. Eighteen lactating cattle were selected on the basis of days in milk, milk yield, and parity and then divided into three groups: control (no cooling), cooling by misting and cooling by splashing. Milk production was not affected by hot-dry and hot-humid heat stress in Sahiwal cattle. RT and RR were significantly lower in misting and splashing group as compared to control during hot-dry period. The heat stress-induced leucocytosis, lymphocytopenia and neutrophilia were significantly ameliorated by both misting and splashing during the study period. Heat stress-induced alterations in serum creatinine, sodium and ROS concentration were significantly mitigated by misting in hot-humid climate. The prolactin level significantly decreased in animals by misting during the study period. The results suggested that misting was more efficient than splashing as a cooling strategy in hot dry condition while splashing was more effective in hot-humid condition and mitigated the heat stress-induced alterations in different welfare parameters but could not fully nullify it. However, the resultant stress was not sufficient enough to decrease the milk yield in Sahiwal cattle. It may also be concluded that the Sahiwal cattle have high heat tolerance and could sustain production even in a hot-dry and hot-humid environment.

Relief of The Impact of Heat Stress on Friesian and Cross-Bred Friesian Dairy Cows by Water Showering under Egyptian Hot Humid Summer Conditions in Nile Delta

“…In the hot-humid condition, PR was significantly ameliorated by both misting and splashing (Yadav et al, 2021b) in lactating cows and by wallowing (Yadav et al, 2016) in lactating buffaloes, which was in agreement with the current study. In normal dairy cows, PR ranged from 54 to 84 beats per min.…”

“…Showering was found to be largely effective in inhibiting the elevation of prolactin and cortisol levels. Under heat stress conditions, the splashing reduces both prolactin and cortisol concentrations in lactating cows (Yadav et al, 2021b) which substantiates the results of the present study. The RT, RR, PR, cortisol, prolactin, as well as thyroxine levels were demonstrated to be functionally related to THI (Djelailia et al, 2021), corroborating present results.…”

“…The decreased in electrolyte concentrations was attributed with their loss during sweating in cooling the body during heat stress, meanwhile, the cooled groups electrolyte levels did not changed because the heat loss from the body as a dampened skin surface by sprinkling was able to minimize animal heat load. Sprinkling helped in maintain sodium and potassium balance during summer stress in lactating Sahiwal cows (Yadav et al, 2021b).…”

“…Serum AST and ALP activities were measured to assess the influence of different heat stress-alleviating interventions either in growing calves (Marai et al, 1995) and in cows (Yadav et al, 2021b). Exposure to heat stress results in elevated levels of AST and reduced levels of ALP activity in dairy cows (Shaarawy et al, 2023).…”

Effects of Breed Differences and Parities on Milk Proximate and Mineral Compositions in Nigerian Cattle Breeds under the Extensive System

“…The value of milk protein ranged 3.91-4.52% obtained from the current study agreed with the range value of 3.72 -4.01 for local cows in Sudan and Holstein Friesian in their first parity 13,14 . The ranged value of milk protein obtained from the present study was higher than 3.51 for Murrah buffaloes in their first parity 15 , and also higher than 3.24 for Holstein Friesian in their first parity as reported in a study by Bonded et al 8 . The variations in milk protein could be attributed to the animals' genetic makeup.…”