Effect of low temperatures on milk yield, body weight and feed intake of dairy cows
1995
Broucek, J. | Mihina, S. | Hetenyi, L. (Vyskumny Ustav Zivocisnej Vyroby, Nitra (Slovak Republic)) | Arave, C.W. | Nakanishi, Y.
Thirty Holstein cows were matched by stage of lactation and milk yield by pairs. They were then randomly assigned to housing treatment groups. The trial group was kept in an open free-stall barn and the control group in a warm enclosed tie-stall barn. Milk yield was measured twice daily by computer, feed consumption was recorded individually. An average of minimum temperatures in the open barn was lowest during the eighth (-19.4 degrees C) and during seventh out of twelve weeks of the experiment, the averages below -10 degrees C were recorded. The average milk production during the whole period of the experiment (32.7 kg and 30.96 kg) was significantly different. Cows from the control group housed in a warm barn showed higher body weight during the whole experiment compared to the trial group. The differences, however, were not significant. In both groups the body weight increased from the second to the twelfth week. During the whole experiment feed intake was higher in dairy cows kept in the open barn. Highly significant differences were recorded during 1st, 2nd, 5th, 10th, 11th and 12th week and the greatest difference during the whole period of observation was on the tenth week when the first group consumed 35.3 kg of feed in an average and the second group 23.5 kg. The average daily feed consumption in the animals from the open barn during the whole experiment was 35.79 kg, which is 123.1 % of the intake of the dairy cows kept in the warm barn. During the whole experiment, the feed consumption per 1 kg of milk in dairy cows from the open barn was higher by 16.8 % compared with the control group from the warm barn.
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