Diurnal Temperature Patterns of Early Lactating Cows with Milking Parlor Cooling,

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Abstract
Ten cows in early stages of lactation (< 100 days postpartum) were used to test the effect of spinkler/fan cooling on vaginal temperature patterns. Cows were assigned to 2 groups matched according to milk production. The trial was divided into 3 periods: period 1, when one group was treated and the other group was not, period 2, when neither group was treated and period 3, when treatment was switched from period 1 between groups. Treatment consisted of forced air misting in a premilking holding pen, fan cooling during milking and forced air-sprinkling in a postmilking holding area. Weather conditions were measured by dry bulb, wet bulb and black globe temperatures. Black globe temperatures in pre- and postmilking holding areas were used to estimate treatment magnitude. All measures were obtained through radiotelemetry at 15 min intervals for 31 days. Animals were milked twice a day. Animals spent an average of 140 min in treatment at each milking. In morning and afternoon milking, treatment caused a transient increase of body temperature. This was followed in the afternoon by low vaginal temperatures for 1-2 h beyond treatment with lower temperatures throughout the day.