Mitigating winter vagaries in dairy animals: A review

Abstract

Productivity of dairy animals gets compromised with adversity in thermo-neutral zone. Maintaining animals between lower and upper critical temperature of thermo-neutral zone optimizes production. Optimum health and production of dairy animal mandates adequate management. Acclimatization to cold stress thrusts on increase in voluntary food intake, rise in resting metabolic rate, augments metabolic capacity, increase in hair coat thickness, hair length and density, shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis accompanied with adrenal hormonal rush as cold exposure advances. Objective of the article articulates about mitigation of winter vagaries to optimize production and health. Mitigation of cold stress can be achieved through increasing barn temperature, reducing humidity, ensuring better ventilation, bedding to protect from cold floor, lukewarm water for drinking purpose, hay and concentrate provision for more heat generation and energy balance, dry teats to protect from frostbite, heat lamps, calf jackets and warm blankets.