How to fight heat stress

Heat stress in dairy cattle causes difficulty in eliminating heat from metabolism resulting in increased respiratory rate and water ingestion, reduced feed ingestion and metabolic activity resulting in loss of productive efficiency and reproductive performance (hypofertility, embryo mortality etc.).

The first intervention needed to mitigate the negative effects is the ‘installation of fans to help the animals dissipate body heat.

In periods of intense heat, to support ventilation, it is advisable to use low-pressure shower cooling systems laid along the feeding lane, on the rack, and/or in the most critical areas of animal herding such as the waiting room at milking.

The appropriately combined use of ventilation and cooling allows the evaporation of water sprayed onto the cows’ skin, resulting in lower body temperature and improved welfare conditions.

Mitigating heat stress through intensive cooling in summer brings positive effects that linger beyond the season, with estimates of a 10 percent increase in annual milk production compared to herds where cows are not adequately cooled.

Coolibri supplies and installs low-pressure cooling systems that by their choice of materials, such as stainless steel piping and brass suction nozzles, guarantee a professional and long-lasting solution.

Automatically activated by Coolibri control devices, they integrate seamlessly with ventilation, leaving the ‘end user complete parameterization of the timing and pace of operation.

Coolibrì cooling systems, thanks to intelligent management and ‘innovative plant design, are characterized by high water savings ensured.

A system with Coolibrì controllers makes it possible to decrease/increase sprinkling as perceived stress (THI) changes, minimizing consumption when it is least needed; in addition, hours of operation during milking and nighttime can be excluded, thanks to activation timers.

Coolibrì’s innovative sensor system, which can also be applied to existing systems through the use of presence detectors, maximizes savings by activating sprinkling only in areas where animals are stationed and thus only where and when it is really needed.

To give weight to the savings, a comparison was made between a standard plant and a Coolibri plant without and with occupancy sensors.

The water use resulting from the reading of actual climatic conditions recorded during May-October 2019 of an average (80 m) rack system was calculated.

The difference in consumption is given by the number and duration of sprinklings that initiate at the same THI, differing in the timing and times of activation.

A standard plant keeps the duration of wetting and the pause between sprinklings constant throughout the day.

The comparison highlights a water saving of 38% with the use of the Coolibri control unit alone and at least a 52%* if the system is complete with Coolibri presence sensors; appreciable not only in terms of cost, but also for a more functional resource management without wasting energy and water!

*Estimating a constant presence of animals in ¾ of the rack; in the absence of animals the savings is theoretically 100%.