Conductive Cooling Technology Applied to Free-stall Beds for Holstein Cows in Central California

Abstract

Most dairies with free-stall barns in central or southern California use cooling systems consisting of fans combined with water soakers or misters to deal with the effects of heat stress on lactating dairy cattle during hot summer temperatures. Although these systems have been widely adopted and have been shown to be effective for minimizing losses in milk production related to summer heat stress, these systems require consumption of significant amounts of electricity and water for their operation. Conductive cooling technology was retrofitted into a free-stall barn to evaluate its potential effectiveness for cooling cows compared to a conventional cooling system. An overall purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of installing heat exchanger mats in beds of an existing free-stall barn. The primary research objective was to measure milk production for a short period of time during the summer in a randomized clinical trial comparing cows using freestall housing with fans and soakers with cows having access only to free-stall beds with heat exchanger mats providing conductive cooling.