Daughters of heat-stressed dams have decreased productivity
Recent research from Dr. Geoffrey Dahl at the University of Florida reported that heat-stressed dry cows lost milk in her subsequent lactation, and their daughters have lower birth body weight, reduced reproductive efficiency, and produced less milk in her lactation. On the other hand, they also found several benefits of cooling during the dry period: 1) improves dry matter intake and immune status during dry period; 2) increases milk in subsequent lactation, which is related to increase in mammary growth; 3) increases daughters’ birth weight.
Figure 1: Heat-stressed dry cows lost milk in subsequent lactation.
Figure 2: Daughters of heat-stressed dams have reduced reproductive efficiency and decreased milk yield.
