Vulnerability assessments in dairy cattle farms based on individual sensitivity to heat stress.

Climate change (CC) is expected to increase temperatures and the frequency of extreme weather events, which renewed interest in heat stress (HS) effects on dairy cattle farms. Resilience is a key concept that should be considered to better understand the dairy farms exposure to HS and to combat CC-related risks. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the aspects of HS vulnerability for Tunisian dairy cattle farming systems.

Thermotolerance indicators related to production and physiological responses to heat stress of holstein cows.

Heat stress (HS) adversely influences dairy cattle welfare and productivity. This study aimed to investigate the effects of HS on production and physiological parameters of Holstein cows. Two experiments each lasted 6 weeks were conducted in four Tunisian farms, firstly during summer under HS (n = 80, THI = 77) and later during autumn under thermo-neutral (n = 80, THI = 54) conditions.