Winter environmental effects on dry-matter intake of stabled and unsheltered holstein cows

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to verify the association of environment and feed intake and also to measure the variation on dry-matter intake of stabled and unsheltered holstein cows, as a function of temperature decrease, during the winter in humid subtropical climate. The experiment was developed in Santa Maria, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, during July and August, 1986. There were used 12 Holstein cows with ration based on corn silage fed for "ad libitum" consumption, distributed in two sets: stabled cows and cows maintened in padlots. The experimental design was completely randomized. The daily dry-matter intake of unsheltered cows (0.095 ± 0.006 kg/kg^0.75), was significantly different (P< 0.01) from the stabled ones (0.077 ± 0.005 kg/kg^0.75). There was significant correlation (P < 0.05) among dry-matter intake of unsheltered cows and environmental temperature, air humidity, wind velocity and precipitation, with coefficients varying from -0.58 to 0.51 while the feed intake of stabled cows was only correlated significantly (P < 0.05) with the environmental temperature at 7 a.m. with coefficient of -0.27. These results show that feed intake of Holstein cows kept in padlots was higher than in stabled cows, due to lower environmental temperatures, as high as 0.36 kgDM/cow for each unit of air temperature decrease and for each unit of increase of relative humidity and wind velocity at 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., simultaneously.