Original Scientific Article
The effect of thermal environment on daily milk yield of dairy cows
Metodija Trajchev ,
Dimitar Nakov * ,
Sreten Andonov

Mac Vet Rev 2016; 39 (2): 185 - 192

10.1515/macvetrev-2016-0084

Received: 20 January 2016

Received in revised form: 10 May 2016

Accepted: 23 May 2016

Available Online First: 02 June 2016

Published on: 15 October 2016

Correspondence: Dimitar Nakov, nakovd@zf.ukim.edu.mk
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Abstract

The primary objective of this research was to evaluate the impact of environmental air temperatures on the milk production of dairy cows. Therefore, the experiment was carried out at the height of summer (from 15th of June to 15th of September) in three small family dairy farms and one commercial dairy farm. In total, 51 dairy cows from the black-white breed were subjected to the study. The season of research was divided into three periods: the period before the hot season, the period of the hot season and the period after the hot season. In each period there were three test days selected that were used for recording the air temperature inside and outside the barns and cow’s daily milk yield. Unvaried associations between the test day milk yield of cows and independent environmental and cow factors were done using the linear mixed model for repeated measurements. The statistical model showed that the farm management system and the hot season of the year had significant infl uence on daily milk yield per cow at the level of p<0.001. The test day per periods of the season when milk control was performed and the average test day environmental temperature showed statistically significant influence on daily milk yield per cow at level p<0.01. The present results revealed that environmental air temperatures contributes to considerable loss in the milk production of dairy cows.

Keywords: dairy cow, environmental heat stress, milk yield

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Copyright

© 2016 Trajcev M. This is an open-access article publishedunder the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License whichpermits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,provided the original author and source are credited.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declared that they have no potential conflict of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Citation Information

Macedonian Veterinary Review. Volume 39, Issue 2, Pages 185-192, p-ISSN 1409-7621, e-ISSN 1857-7415, DOI: 10.1515/macvetrev-2016-0084, 2016

The all content of the Macedonian Veterinary Review, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.