Effects of Environmental Temperature on Cattle Physiology

Dairy animals respond to environmental temperatures in different ways. Both high and low temperatures affect the animal’s performance variably but stress the animal resulting in reducing the overall productive and reproductive performance. Heat stress is more adverse and comparatively difficult to manage. Stress impact post-absorptive energy and lipid metabolism by impairing liver function and enforce stress by depressing the immune system. The whole mechanism reduces performance of animal. Similarly, extreme cold weather compromises the performance by lowering the energy levels but impact is obviously lesser than the heat stress. Temperature enforce the changes in hormone release interfering the reproductive health in female, while scrotal exposure to the high environmental temperature enforce low sperm production in bulls.