Mitigating heat stress effects on lactation via nutrition in dairy cows

Heat stress, defined as temperature and humidity above the threshold of animal comfort, is experienced in Canadian dairy farms each year despite the improvements in cooling conditions and results in important reductions in production of milk and of milk components. Such reductions represent lower production efficiency and therefore higher environmental impact per unit of product and significant losses in profitability for producers and for the processing industry. Importantly, dietary interventions focused on the mitigation of production loses could be easily implemented in dairy farms across Canada and result in improved production efficiency and profitability for the dairy sector. In the present proposal we set out to test the effects of increasing the supply of nutrients capable of mitigating heat stress-related production loses (select lipids, amino acids, minerals and vitamins). TO BE CONT’D

Faculty Supervisor:

Rachel Gervais

Student:

Alexis Ruiz

Partner:

Centre de recherche en sciences animales de Deschambault

Discipline:

Animal science

Sector:

University:

Université Laval

Program: