Effect of Water Sprinkling Over Shed-net Covered Cattle Shed on Shed Environment and Milk Yield of Cows During Summer Season

Abstract

The experiment was conducted in the cattle shed of OUAT livestock farm. The shed was partitioned into two equal rooms by a brick wall each having the dimension of 25 x 30 ft size. In one part, 90% grade green shed-net was covered over the asbestos roof and five micro water sprinklers were fitted over the long axis of roof. The normal asbestos roof of other part of the shed was left as such. In animal housing the roof plays a primary role in the determination of thermal exchanges of heat in animals. The experiment was conducted for one week in hot summer during second week of May. Water was sprinkled over the shed-net covered asbestos roof for 10 minutes by help of a 0.5 hp electric motor pump at hourly intervals from 11AM to 3 PM during hot period of the day when outside ambient temperature raised above 36 0 C. The THI of the shed-net covered shed with water sprinkling was found to be within mild heat stress range (72-79) during the whole day with only 0.2 L mean decrease in average milk yield per cow over one week indicating a better microenvironment for cows in hot summer. But in case of the cows kept under normal asbestos shed there was a decrease of 0.43 L in average milk yield per cow over the same period indicating that moderate heat stress during noon period affected the productivity of cows to some extent.