Effect of lactation on diurnal temperature patterns of dairy cattle in hot environments

Vaginal temperature patterns were obtained from 15 Holstein cows through radiotelemetry. Animals were divided into three groups with five animals per group: 1) cows in early lactation, less than 100 days postpartum, 2) cows in late lactation, greater than 240 days postpartum, and 3) dry cows. Animal temperatures, dry bulb, wet bulb, and black globe temperatures were monitored every 15 min for 17 days. Analysis of variance showed no significant difference for daily mean vaginal temperature between lactation groups. However, on hotter days, lactating cows had higher temperatures than dry cows. Daily mean vaginal temperatures of cows in early lactation were correlated with daily mean dry bulb temperature, black globe temperature, and relative humidity. Comparison of group temperature patterns isolated differences to specific times of day. In groups with early and late lactations, temperatures were lower in either group after milking. Vaginal temperatures were higher in lactating cows than in dry cows through most of the day. Results were 1) diurnal temperature patterns differ among groups; 2) lactating cows are sensitive to environmental changes; and 3) animal management can affect patterns of animal temperature.