Conforto térmico e o Compost Barn como alternativa para criação de vacas leiteiras: revisão

Abstract

Heat stress is a limiting factor for a good productive and reproductive performance of dairy cattle. In order to minimize these problems, many producers have chosen to confine their animals in systems that promote greater thermal comfort and well-being. One type of system that is widely used in dairy farming is Compost Barn, where the cows are housed in a shed with an extensive area of bedding that can later be used as compost. In this context, the objective was to carry out a literature review on thermoregulation, heat stress in dairy cow production, as well as the Compost Barn system as an option to mitigate the deleterious effects of high ambient temperature, and other necessary effects of this system. Dairy cows, especially when lactating, produce a lot of heat and this needs to be dissipated into the environment to maintain the thermal balance since they are homeothermic animals. When at room temperature it is between 5 °C to 25 °C, the energy expenditure for this is minimal, and thus, dairy cattle can have more energy for production and reproduction. High temperatures can reduce milk production by 10% or more. The Compost Barn system improves production of, reproductive performance, hull and udder milk health, milk quality and well-being. However, in Brazil, there is no question of comfort, comfort that does not provide efficiency as much as expected. It was concluded, therefore, that it is important to adapt the construction project of the Barn Compound installation to the needs of dairy cattle in tropical environment conditions.