Abstract
Field and climatic chamber studies revealed that walking at 4.5 km/h elicited greater thermoregulatory responses in Hereford cattle than did the possession of a wooly hair coat.
Under mild field conditions, walking caused sweating rate to increase to 150–200 g/m2/h within one hour (P<0.001); no significant differences were recorded between wooly-coated and clipped cattle.
Walking at 4.5 km/h on a treadmill in a climate chamber at 38°C and 34 mm Hg water vapour pressure elevated rectal (P<0.001) and skin (P<0.05) temperatures to levels considerably above those in stationary controls. There were no differential effects on sweating or respiratory rates, though the latter were generally higher in the exercising group.
Differences in skin temperature, sweating and respiratory rates between coat-types and exercise groups in the climate chamber were similar, but exercise resulted in a much greater rectal temperature response.
Overall, exercise represented a more potent thermoregulatory stimulus than a wooly hair coat.
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Vajrabukka, C., Thwaites, C.J. The relative influences of exercise and coat-type on the thermoregulatory responses of cattle. Int J Biometeorol 28, 9–15 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02193509
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02193509