On the influence of the alternation of two different cooling systems on dairy cow daily activities

Abstract

Among the causes that influence cow welfare, heat stress induced by microclimatic conditions is one of the most relevant and many studies have investigated the efficacy of different cooling systems on animal health status. Nevertheless, the direct influence of the cooling systems on possible modifications of dairy cow behaviour has been addressed in a few studies and the related results were affected by the presence of a paddock, which gave a refuge from hot temperature. Since an alteration of the daily time budget spent by dairy cows in their usual activities can be associated with changes in their health status, this study investigated the effects of the alternation of two different cooling systems on lying, standing, and feeding behaviour of a group of dairy cows bred in a free-stall dairy house where animals had no access to a paddock. The barn was equipped with a fogging system associated with forced ventilation installed in the resting area and a sprinkler system associated with forced ventilation installed in the feeding area. The two systems were activated alternately. The results demonstrated that the management of the two cooling systems affected the analysed behaviours. Though the activation of the cooling system installed in the resting area encouraged the decubitus of animals in the stalls, the activation of that one of the feeding alley could not be able to influence the standing behaviour and had only a moderate positive influence on the feeding activity.

Improving natural ventilation in renovated free-stall barns for dairy cows: Optimized building solutions by using a validated computational fluid dynamics model

“…Several research works in literature studied the effect of microclimatic conditions on cow welfare. Heat stress induced by adverse hot climate conditions could cause feed intake reduction, decreased milk production, alteration of fertility and behavioural changes (Kadzere et al, 2002;Porto et al, 2017;D'Emilio et al, 2017). In this regard, as reported by D'Emilio et al (2017), heat stress affects the productivity of cows in a different way in relation to their production phase.…”

“…As stated by Seo et al (2009), the control of microclimate parameters is required to increase the productivity of livestock farming and, in this context, many studies were carried out to investigate the efficacy of different cooling systems. Some papers studied the effects of systems equipped with sprinklers and fans for direct wetting of the animals combined with forced ventilation on both cow physiology (e.g., reduction in rectal temperature, respiratory rate, dry matter intake, rumination time, lying time), lactation performance (milk quality and yield) (Avendaño-Reyes et al, 2010;Berman, 2008Berman, , 2010Avendaño-Reyes et al, 2012) and cow behaviour (Porto et al, 2017;D'Emilio et al, 2017). However, some research works studied how to mitigate heat stress in dairy cows by using only passive systems, such as natural ventilation.…”

Assessing Influence Factors on Daily Ammonia and Greenhouse Gas Concentrations from an Open-Sided Cubicle Barn in Hot Mediterranean Climate

“…However, in the literature there is a lack in the investigation on gas concentrations in open structures with partial or whole absence of perimeter walls. These structures are typical in a hot summer Mediterranean climate (Csa in Koppen classification) where the natural ventilation is generally integrated by a cooling system (e.g., fans and sprinklers) to reduce heat stress of the cows [ 10 , 11 ]. Consequently, the indoor microclimatic conditions are both influenced by the outdoor climatic conditions and the management of the barn (e.g., switching on/off of the cooling system, setpoints for climatic parameters, and number of cooling sessions).…”

<b>Assessing different holding pen cooling systems through environmental variables and productivity of lactating cows

“…Among the causes that influence the wellbeing of cows, microclimatic conditions are a relevant factor (Porto, D'Emilio & Cascone, 2017). In adverse environments, cows activate their thermoregulatory mechanisms seeking to dissipate heat, having as one of the effects the release of adrenaline, which decreases blood flow to the mammary gland and reduces milk ejection (Machado et al, 2011).…”