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Livestock Housing in Warm Climatic Conditions: Monitoring Impacts and Defining...
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Livestock Housing in Warm Climatic Conditions: Monitoring Impacts and Defining Mitigations Strategies

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal System and Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 August 2024) | Viewed by 2336

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Provvidenza Rita D'Urso

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Di3A), University of Catania, 95123 Catania, Italy
Interests: livestock buildings; ammonia and GHG emissions; precision livestock farming; monitoring; measuring; barn management; animal behaviour; statistical analyses
Dr. Alberto Finzi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
Interests: manure management; nutrients recovery; livestock buildings; ammonia and GHG emissions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global demand for livestock products is expected to increase by 2050, mainly due to the increasing human population. Due to climate change, heat stress is a growing issue for livestock production, since it produces negative effects on animal health and welfare, and reproductive performance. Moreover, a warm climate affects ammonia and greenhouse gases emissions, the quality of feed crop and forage, water availability, and biodiversity. The main challenge for the livestock sector in a warm climate is how to identify, improve and promote strategies for reducing animal heat stress and the related effects.

This Special Issue welcomes recent results from the research teams that assess these effects of warm conditions on livestock breeding and the related mitigation strategies. Original research and reviews will be considered for this Special Issue and will be not limited to the following topics:

  • Housing conditions, facility design, and indoor climate control: building geometry and materials, equipment, ventilation system and cooling;
  • Animal welfare and behaviour: monitoring systems and strategies to increase animal welfare;
  • Yield and quality of livestock production;
  • Ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions: gas concentration monitoring, emission modelling, and emission factors estimation at the farm and landscape level;
  • Animal manure production, storage and utilization chain;
  • Application of monitoring systems for precision livestock farming: instruments, measuring techniques, and methods;
  • Mitigation strategies and techniques to control emissions and reduce climate change impacts on livestock.

Dr. Provvidenza Rita D'Urso
Dr. Alberto Finzi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ammonia
  • greenhouse gases
  • emissions factor
  • livestock production
  • measurement techniques
  • animal welfare and behaviour
  • housing management
  • heat stress
  • mitigation strategies

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 16637 KiB  
Article
Assessing Temperature Distribution inside Commercial Stacked Cage Broiler Houses in Winter
by Senzhong Deng, Zonggang Li, Yongxiang Wei, Yang Wang, Baoming Li and Weichao Zheng
Animals 2024, 14(18), 2638; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14182638 - 11 Sep 2024
Viewed by 616
Abstract
The temperature inside broiler houses is crucial to broiler health, welfare, and productivity. High stocking density in broiler houses can easily lead to nonuniform temperature conditions, which would cause broilers to suffer cold and heat stress. It is essential to assess the temperature [...] Read more.
The temperature inside broiler houses is crucial to broiler health, welfare, and productivity. High stocking density in broiler houses can easily lead to nonuniform temperature conditions, which would cause broilers to suffer cold and heat stress. It is essential to assess the temperature distribution inside broiler houses and investigate the factors that affect temperature uniformity. Therefore, in this study, temperature, wind velocity, and differential pressure were monitored in the aisle, at the sidewall inlet, and outside the sidewalls of a commercial stacked-deck cage broiler house in Northeast China aiming to continuously monitor the temperature throughout the entire fattening period. Results show that the maximum temperature difference increased from 1.85 °C to 6.43 °C, while the daily fluctuation increased from 2.27 °C to 5.80 °C. The highest temperature was consistently recorded at the side of the exhaust fans (p < 0.001) in the longitudinal direction. In the lateral direction, the temperature difference varies periodically with solar radiation. The average temperature at the southern location (23.58 ± 1.97 °C), which faces the sun, was higher than that at the northern location (23.35 ± 1.38 °C), which is in the shade, during periods of solar radiation (p < 0.001) at the last testing period. However, without solar radiation, the northern location recorded a warmer temperature (23.19 ± 1.41 °C) compared to the southern location (22.30 ± 1.67 °C) (p < 0.001). The lateral temperature differences are strongly positively correlated with solar radiation and wind speed (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the inside temperature nonuniformity and fluctuation increased as the broiler age increased, which affected the production performance of broilers. Nonuniform solar radiation and wind speed can lead to differences in the inlet temperature and air volume between both sidewalls, thereby affecting the uniformity of the lateral temperature inside the house. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Livestock Housing in Warm Climatic Conditions: Monitoring Impacts and Defining Mitigations Strategies)
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28 pages, 4153 KiB  
Article
Heat Stress Effects on Physiological and Milk Yield Traits of Lactating Holstein Friesian Crossbreds Reared in Tanga Region, Tanzania
by Vincent Habimana, Athumani Shabani Nguluma, Zabron Cuthibert Nziku, Chinyere Charlotte Ekine - Dzivenu, Gota Morota, Raphael Mrode and Sebastian Wilson Chenyambuga
Animals 2024, 14(13), 1914; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14131914 - 28 Jun 2024
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Abstract
Global warming caused by climate change is a challenge for dairy farming, especially in sub-Saharan countries. Under high temperatures and relative humidity, lactating dairy cows suffer from heat stress. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects and relationship of heat [...] Read more.
Global warming caused by climate change is a challenge for dairy farming, especially in sub-Saharan countries. Under high temperatures and relative humidity, lactating dairy cows suffer from heat stress. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects and relationship of heat stress (HS) measured by the temperature–humidity index (THI) regarding the physiological parameters and milk yield and composition of lactating Holstein Friesian crossbred dairy cows reared in the humid coastal region of Tanzania. A total of 29 lactating Holstein Friesian x Zebu crossbred dairy cows with 50% (HF50) and 75% (HF75) Holstein Friesian gene levels in the second and third months of lactation were used. The breed composition of Holstein Friesians was determined based on the animal recording system used at the Tanzania Livestock Research Institute (TALIRI), Tanga. The data collected included the daily temperature, relative humidity, daily milk yield, and physiological parameters (core body temperature, rectal temperature, respiratory rate, and panting score). THI was calculated using the equation of the National Research Council. The THI values were categorized into three classes, i.e., low THI (76–78), moderate THI (79–81), and high THI (82–84). The effects of THI on the physiological parameters and milk yield and composition were assessed. The effects of the genotype, the parity, the lactation month, and the interaction of these parameters with THI on the milk yield, milk composition, and physiological parameters were also investigated. The results show that THI and its interaction with genotypes, parity, and the lactation month had a highly significant effect on all parameters. THI influenced (p ˂ 0.05) the average daily milk yield and milk fat %, protein %, lactose %, and solids–not–fat %. As the THI increased from moderate to high levels, the average daily milk yield declined from 3.49 ± 0.04 to 3.43 ± 0.05 L/day, while the fat % increased from 2.66 ± 0.05% to 3.04 ± 0.06% and the protein decreased from 3.15 ± 0.02% to 3.13 ± 0.03%. No decline in lactose % was observed, while the solid–not–fat % declined from 8.56 ± 0.08% to 8.55 ± 0.10% as the THI values increased from moderate to high. Also, the THI influenced physiological parameters (p ˂ 0.05). The core body temperature (CBT), rectal temperature (RT), respiratory rate (RR) and panting score (PS) increased from 35.60 ± 0.01 to 36.00 ± 0.01 °C, 38.03 ± 0.02 to 38.30 ± 0.02 °C, 62.53 ± 0.29 to 72.35 ± 0.28 breaths/min, and 1.35 ± 0.01 to 1.47 ± 0.09, respectively, as the THI increased from low to high. The THI showed a weak positive correlation with the average daily milk yield and fat percentage, whereas the protein, lactose, and solids–not–fat percentages showed negative relationships with THI (p ≤ 0.05). CBT, RT, RR, and PS showed positive relationships (p ≤ 0.05) with THI. These negative relationships indicate that there is an antagonistic correlation between sensitivity to HS and the level of production. It is concluded that the THI, the genotype, the parity, and the lactation month, along with their interactions with THI, significantly influenced the milk yield, milk composition, and physiological parameters of lactating Holstein Friesian dairy crosses at THI thresholds ranging from 77 to 84. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Livestock Housing in Warm Climatic Conditions: Monitoring Impacts and Defining Mitigations Strategies)
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