HEAT STRESS

AND ITS IMPACT

ON FERTILITY
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

1. What´s heat stress?

2. Heat exchange in cows
3. Indicators of heat stress
4. Signs of heat stress
5. Heat stress and reproduction
6. Managing heat stress
7. Summary
8. References
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

1.What´s heat stress?

There are several sources of heat that affect cows:
 The first and most important is the heat accumulated by direct radiation from the sun.
 The heat of digestion of forage.
 Conduction is also responsible especially when cattle are crowed together.

Air temperature
and solar radiation
Metabolic heat as
a result of eating
and digesting feed.

Humidity level
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

1.What´s heat stress?

When the effective environmental temperature exceeds the thermal
zone of comfort or thermo-neutral zone, cows experience heat stress.
Heat stress is one of the leading causes of decreased production
and fertility in dairy cattle. Heat stress can cost
the dairy producer over 400 €/cow 1.

During warm
summer months,
milk production
HEAT ECONOMICAL can decrease
STRESS LOSSES 10-35 %

DECREASED Around 80% of these losses 20% are related with health
PRODUCTION AND are associated with drop of issues (impaired reproduction,
FERTILITY productivity mastitis, acidosis…)
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

2. Heat exchange in cows

If the metabolic heat and the heat gained from the environment is higher than the
heat lost, the cow experiences heat stress.
The temperature difference between the cow and the environment influences on
the heat exchange which is continuous and involves the processes of:

Radiation , conduction , convention and evaporation3

Transfer of energy Transfer of energy Transfer Heat loss

to or from a body between objects of energy between by sweating
by means that are in physical an object and and breathing.
of emission contact. its environment,
or absorption of due to fluid
electromagnetic motion.
radiation.

Being aware of all these processes is essential to assist the cows’ cooling processes.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

2. Heat exchange in cows

Direct radiation from Heat to the environment
the sun and the sky. via radiation and
convection. Sweat evaporation
from lungs via
evaporation.

Heat is absorbed… Heat is lost…

…when the air …when the air

temperature is temperature is
higher than the lower than the
cow's temperature. cow's temperature.

Radiation and conduction Heat transferred

from the ground or to the ground via
other surfaces. conduction and radiation.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

3. Indicators of heat stress

Tools to assess the risk of heat stress - Breathing rate
It is important to monitor how cows are facing hot temperatures.
Counting cow´s breath rate and determine temperature humidity index allow to avoid future problems related with high temperatures.

Cow´s breathing rates: it is the first sign of heat stress, often

before elevated core temperature.

 40-60 breaths/min. Normal rate.

 60 breaths/min. About 39 ºC of body temperature.
Take action.
 <70 breaths/min. Severe heat stress.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

3. Indicators of heat stress

Tools to assess the risk of heat stress - THI
Heat stress is related with temperature and relative humidity, and can be measured with the temperature-humidity index (THI).
THI is currently used to estimate cooling requirements of dairy cattle in order to improve the efficiency of management strategies to reduce heat
stress and it is calculated using the following equation: 

THI = (Tdb – [0.55 – (0.55 x RH/100)] x (Tdb – 58)

This formula uses dry bulb temperature (Tdb, ◦F) and the relative humidity (RH). The RH is
divided by 100 to express the percentage in decimals.
The heat stress evaluation scale for dairy cows was originally first established in the 1960s.
But, today there is a reduction on the threshold THI at which losses of production occur.

+ Why?

This increased sensitivity to thermal stress is due, in part, to the increased milk
potential of dairy herds.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

3. Indicators of heat stress

Which THI indicates the initial decreases in milk production?
A recent study conducted in well-controlled environment, as close as possible
to real-life conditions updated this scale. A level of thermal stress for the dairy
cow corresponds to each temperature/humidity couple2.

Stress Threshold
The heat stress threshold was previously
set at a THI value of 72. But this study Mild-Moderate
shows that a THI of 68 is low enough to stress
cause adverse effects on milk
production, health and reproduction. Moderate-Severe
stress

This corresponds to 22°C ambient Severe stress

temperature with 45 % of humidity, 
a rather common condition in moderate
climates.

University of Arizona revised heat stress scale.

 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

4. Signs of heat stress

Noticeable signs of an excessive heat load
Recognising the signs of heat stress in cows is essential to implement practical strategies. Cows experience an increase in body temperature in hot weather because they cannot
lose all of the body heat they produce to the environment.

Behavourial signs
 Reduced time in lying down
 Reduced time in ruminating -
 Bunching
 Slobbering And remember…
 Seeking shade
 Reduced activity but increased Heat stress
respiratory rate (>80 consequences are:
breaths/minute).  Increased body
 Reduced feed intake

+
temperature (>102.5°F)
 Agitation and restlessness  Reduced milk yield
 Open mouth breathing (>10%) and butterfat
 Lack of coordination level (0.2-0.3%).
 Trembling  Reduced reproductive
performance.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

4. Signs of heat stress

And what about what we cannot see?
Heat can have disastrous effects on the productivity, health and welfare of cows.
Cattle reduces its feed intake during hot weather, about 8-12 % or more 2.
The decreased forage* intake alters the composition of the rumen,
leading to acidosis and a reduced fat content of milk.

* Forage generates more heat than a grain ration, which contributes to more reduced intake.

Also, under high heat load, about 15 % of this heat is lost directly from
the body core via the respiratory tract. The remainder must be
transferred to the skin where it is then dissipated evaporatively 4.

+ Does heat stress affect more at some stage of life?

Typically, early lactation cows are most swiftly and severely affected.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

5. Heat stress and reproduction

The impact of heat stress in lactating cows is very important, in part due to the depressed dry matter intake. But heat stress also compromises reproductive performance and
various health outcomes in addition to the lower yields2.
In order to implement strategies of management against heat stress we must first understand how and why it may affect dairy cattle:

FERTILITY

 The reduced milk yield is a result

 Decreased growth and development of increased body temperature
 Less feed intake induced-decline in feed intake,
 Altered metabolism as well as alterations in endocrine profiles,
 Decreased milk production energy metabolism and other
 Decreased immune function unidentified factors.
 Increased incidence of disease
 Decreased reproductive performance
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

5. Heat stress and reproduction

The biological mechanism by which heat stress impacts production and reproduction is partly explained by reduced feed intake, but also includes other physiological changes
(glucose and insulin) which lead to a net decrease in nutrient/energy availability for production.
This decrease in energy results in a reduction in energy balance and explains why cows lose significant amounts of body weight when subjected to heat stress3.

LARGE INTESTINE
 Altered endocrine status.
RUMEN
ESOPHAGUS  Reduction in rumination and nutrient absorption.
OMASUM
 Increased maintenance requirements.
SMALL
RETICULUM
INTESTINE
ABOMASUM

 Decrease in energy availability for production

 Lactating cows enter into negative energy balance

 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

5. Heat stress and reproduction

The negative effects of heat stress on reproduction parameters are not only immediately obvious,
but persist well into the fall months, even after cows have returned to more comfortable environmental conditions 4.
The summer-depression in fertility is greater, and lasts for more months in high producing cows
compared to less producing. As more efforts are made to increase milk yield, by genetic selection
or improving feeding, cows will be more susceptible to heat stress. Nowadays cows are more susceptible to heat stress than they were before which can explain partially that dairy cows have generally a lower reproductive performance today than 20 years ago 5.

What heat stress does to cow´s reproduction In months associated with heat stress,
75-80% of the estrus behaviour can be missed.
 Decreased length and intensity of estrus
behaviour Percent Missed Estruses
 Decreased conception rates Seasonal variation in the
 Increased risk of embryo death estimated proportion of missed
estruses in a Jersey herd in North
 Reduced calf birth and viability Florida. Data come from Thatcher
and Collier (In D.A. Morrow, ed.,
Current Therapy in
Conception rates of 12% or less are Theriogenology 2, Philadelphia,
common during the summer in hot areas. WB Saunders, 1986)
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

5. Heat stress and reproduction

Why is heat stress related to poor fertility
There are multiple causes for the poor fertility during heat stress. These are some
of the effects caused by high temperatures6:

Disrupt the function Direct damage to the oocyte Reduced levels of

of the follicle and the embryo progesterone

Heat stress can affect the
follicle for the last 26 days of
its growth.
Once the oocyte is released from the follicle at Progesterone is
ovulation it can be damaged by heat stress. The responsible for
early embryo is sensitive to heat stress until
maintaining pregnancy.
about day 3 of pregnancy when it becomes
resistant to maternal hyperthermia.

Limiting inseminations to the cooler part of the day is, therefore, not enough, because by the time of insemination, the follicle has
already been damaged. Moreover, if conception does occur, the resultant embryo will be susceptible to heat stress for the first two
to three days of gestation6.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

5. Heat stress and reproduction

And remember that feed intake decreases in heat stressed cattle…
… resulting in negative energy balance which triggers:

 Anovulation Insuline: Required for follicular development.

 Change in plasma concentrations of

IGF1 and glucose: Follicular growth and implantation.

Negative EB

Impact on Hormonal
fertility changes
Reduce intake
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Experts recommend to be proactive and start to take measures already in cool
season to assure a good managing of heat stress in the herd.

Cool season Hot season

 Review existing infrastructure,  Provide shade

such as shade and sprinklers.  Increase the amount of water available to the herd
 Think about further infrastructure  Modify the diet to mantain feed intake
and investments.  Provide for a good air exchange in the barn
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

How to help cows maintain cold and improve fertility?
 Cooling strategies
 Nutrition strategies
 Reproductive management
 Genetic selection
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Cooling strategies
Many cooling systems for cows have changed over the
years. They must be implemented depending on the
geographic location and the type of housing.
To keep cows cool, shade is the most effective way of
reducing heat load because it blocks solar radiation.
Using evaporative cooling, by sprinklers and fans,
maximize heat loss.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Cooling strategies
A recent study7 indicated that cooling of dairy heifers for a short time before and
after artificial insemination, especially with sprinkler and fan, can increase
pregnancy rate during heat stress.

When it is not feasible to provide intensive cooling (for example,

in grazing dairies) it can also be advantageous to cool cows
around ovulation6.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Cooling strategies
Cows exhibit individual preferences for cooling strategies. This variability between
cows indicates that the behavioral response to water is an important
consideration in the design of sprinkler systems used for summer cooling.
A study in 20118 used cows with free access to an overhead
shower activated by floor pressure. The results indicate
a great variability between individuals.

 Average of 23 visits to the shower each day.

 Average of three hours total.
 The range of time the shower varied from 0 to 8.2 hours!
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Is it beneficial cooling dry cows?
Despite the lower consume of dry matter of dry cows relative to lactating cows,
heat stress has also significant negative impacts on yield in the subsequent
lactation, and those effects persist throughout lactation9.

Cooling dry cows…

 Improves milk yield in the next lactation, and…
 Improves their immune status at a time of significant risk for disease

+ When should dry cows be cooled?

As early in the dry period as possible to maximize the benefits
to the cow.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Nutrition strategies
During periods of heat stress, the nutrient requirements of animals are altered.
To maximize feed intake, it is necessary to reformulate rations.

HEAT STRESS
Responsible for 36%
of the decrease in Decreased DMI Decreased rumination Decreased nutrient absorption
milk production when
cows are heat-
stressed

Net decrease in Increase in

nutrient and maintenance
energy availability requirements
for production
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Nutrition strategies
Appropriate nutritional management during heat stress might improve the cow´s thermal
balance and reduce body temperature.

To increase the energy and nutrient density, we can:

 Increase the digestibility of fiber.

 Add fat (high energy content and low heat increment).
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Nutrition strategies
Some additives and minerals have been tested over the years to evaluate their effect on heat
stressed cows10.

 Dietary Cr supplementation at level of 6 mg/head/day

 Glutamine
 Direct-fed microbials
 Saturated fatty acids
 Vitamin E
 Niacin
 Yeast cultures
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Reproductive management
It is well known how heat stress impacts on dairy cattle fertility. Reproductive programs can be modified through
hormonal manipulations, embryo transfer, etc. to bypass those critical periods. The aim is to improve the low
fertility of lactating dairy cows during heat stress.

An injection of GnRH on day five of

the estrous cycle may reduce
Injection of hormones pregnancy loss during heat stress
by stimulating ovulation and the ATTENTION
formation of a CL. These programs will not
overcome the negative
impacts of heat stress on
Increases pregnancy rate by oocyte maturation and
allowing embryos to bypass the embryo development.
Embryo transfer
period when they are most
sensitive to elevated temperature5.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Reproductive management.

Oestrus The aim is to reduce losses in reproductive efficiency caused

synchronization by poor detection of estrus. For example, a five-day
PRID+eCG-based fixed time AI improves fertility over
protocols spontaneous estrus in heat stressed cows12.

Some breeds are more thermotolerant than others. The use

Influence of sire of B. t. indicus sires may result in higher conception rates in
and breed lactating Holstein cows during summer heat stress, and can
affect embryonic loss, too13.

Manipulation of embryonic synthesis of heat shock proteins

Other methods and use of antioxidants to reduce free radical damage
associated with heat stress.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

6. Managing heat stress

Genetic selection
There are many studies that show that genetic selection for thermotolerance is beneficial.
The aim is to develop strategies to simultaneously improve heat tolerance and increase
productivity.
The heat stress response is under heat shock transcription factor (HSF) regulation. It has been
shown that the central role that HSF1 has in coordinating thermal tolerance suggest that
there is opportunity to improve thermal tolerance via gene manipulation14.

A recent study showed that
15
selection for heat stress is
possible, and it could be
particularly effective for
environments with a high
average THI.
But attention!
Rectal temperature (RT) during heat stress has moderate
heritability, but genetic correlations with economically
important traits mean that selection for RT could lead to
lower productivity unless methods are used to identify
genes affecting RT that do not adversely affect other
traits of economic importance16.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

7. Summary
Highlights
 Heat stress is one of the leading causes of decreased production and
fertility in dairy cattle, and can cost the dairy producer over 400 €/cow.
 The most severe consequences of heat stress include less feed intake,
altered metabolism, decreased milk production, decreased immune
function and decreased reproductive performance.
 The temperature–humidity index (THI) is an accurate indicator of heat
stress in dairy cows. A THI of 68 (corresponding to a 22 ºC ambient
temperature with 45 % of humidity) is low enough to cause adverse
effects on milk production, health and reproduction.
 A poorer reproductive performance is related to
a decreased time of estrous behaviour in cows, decreased
conception rates, increased risk of embryo death
and reduced calf birth and viability.
 Managing heat stress includes cooling, nutrition and reproductive
strategiesand genetic selection.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

7. Summary
Highlights
 Cooling dairy heifers before and after artificial insemination can
increase pregnancy rate during heat stress
 Cooling dry cow improves milk yield in the next lactation, and
improves their immune status.
 There are several nutritional strategies that can improve the cow´s
thermal balance during heat stress.
 Modifying reproductive programs might reduce losses in
reproductive efficiency.
 It is possible to do genetic selection for both production
and heat tolerance.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

8. References
1. St-Pierre NR, Cobanov B, Schnitkey G. Economic losses from heat stress by US livestock industries.
Journal of Dairy Science (2003); 86:E52-E77.
2. Burgos R. And Collier RJ. Feeding strategies for high-producing dairy cows during periods of elevated
heat and humidity. Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference, April 19-20, 2011.
3. Dealing with heat stress in Australian dairy herds. http://www.coolcows.com.au/
4. Finch VA. Body temperature in cattle: Its control and relevance to production in the tropics. Journal of
Animal Science (1986); 62: 531-542.
5. Managing reproductive performance during times of heat stress (2010). Dairy Cattle Reproduction
Council.
6. Hansen PJ (2006). Managing the Heat-Stressed Cow to Improve Reproduction. Proceedings of the 7th
Western Dairy Management Conference. .
7. Moghaddam A, Karimi I, Pooyanmehr M. Effects of short-term cooling on pregnancy rate of dairy heifers
under summer heat stress. Veterinary Research Communications 2009;33(6):567-75.
8. Legrand, A., K.E. Schütz, and C.B. Tucker. Using water to cool cattle: behavioral and physiological
changes associated with voluntary use of cow showers (2011). Journal of Dairy Science. 94:3376-3386.
 Heat stress and its
impact on fertility

8. References
9. Dahl GE. Impact of Dry Cow Cooling on Subsequent Performance and Health. Proceedings 48th Florida Dairy Production
Conference, Gainesville, March 21, 2012.
10. Rhoads M. Impact of heat stress in dairy cattle. 2nd ReprodAction Cattle Symposium – Nice 2014.
11. Soltan MA. Effect of dietary chromium supplementation on productive and reproductive performance of early lactating
dairy cows under heat stress. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition (2010); 94(2):264-72.
12. Garcia-Ispierto I, Roselló MA, De Rensis F, López-Gatius F. A five-day progesterone plus eCG-based fixed-time AI protocol
improves fertility over spontaneous estrus in high-producing dairy cows under heat stress. Journal of Reproduction and
Development (2013); 59(6):544-548.
13. Pegorer MF, Vasconcelos JL, Trinca LA, Hansen PJ, Barros CM. Influence of sire and sire breed (Gyr versus Holstein) on
establishment of pregnancy and embryonic loss in lactating Holstein cows during summer heat stress. Theriogenology
(2007); 67(4):692-7.
14. Collier, R.J., J.L. Collier, R.P. Rhoads, and L.H. Baumgard. Invited review: Genes involved in the bovine heat stress response.
Journal of Dairy Science (2008);91:445-454.
15. O. Ravagnolo and I. Misztal1 Genetic Component of Heat Stress in Dairy Cattle, Parameter Estimation. Journal of Dairy
Science (2000);83:2126–2130.
16. Dikmen S, Cole JB, Null DJ and Hansen PJ. Heritability of rectal temperature and genetic correlations with production and
reproduction traits in dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science (2012);95:3401–3405.
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